Active pickups

J D Sauser · From: Wellington, Florida

I wonder if any have some input (good or bad) about active pickups, like;
Do you know how they work?
How are they different than traditional pickups?
Have you tried it on steel (pedal or non)?
Advantages / Disadvantages?
Tone?

This comes as a follow up to a previous thread called "You who know of pick-ups" www.steelguitarforum.com/Forum11/HTML/006833.html which has not turned out very succesful (IMHO)... meaning the question is still unanswered.

I still want to try to have a 12 string pick-up built with 4 independent coils with tone controls each... 1 for strings 1 thru 3, another for strings 4 thru 6 and so forth.
Manufactureres are also invited to come up with a solution too.

Thanks! ... J-D.

[This message was edited by J D Sauser on 30 May 2005 at 01:26 PM.]

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Active pickups are merely pickups with an integrated or associated preamp of some sort. They have gain (compared to a standard passive pickup), and require batteries. Active pickup designs are employed far more with piezos, as piezos sound pretty crummy without some kind of preamp/equalization. Passive magnetic pickups do a pretty good gob, and are very trouble-free.

Battery-powered gear is more likely to let you down on a gig. In the case of an effect, like a stomp-box, this isn't a big disaster. But when it's your guitar battery that just crapped out, that's quite another matter. In short, I won't use active pickups until they offer some significant advantages (which they currently do not).

If you're willing to pay a considerable sum, there's probably a pickup manufacturer out there who will custom-build you a magnetic pickup with 4 separate coils . That's not an "active" pickup, it's just 4 passive ones in the same package. Realizing there's always the possibility that it won't do what you want, and that you would not be entitled to a refund on your "custom design", would you still want to pony-up many hundred dollars just to try?

Something to think about!

[This message was edited by Donny Hinson on 30 May 2005 at 03:58 PM.]

David Spangler · From: Kerrville, TX USA

Ditto to what Donny said. I have considerable experience with active pickups on 6-string electric guitars and can talk about EMG pickups. The advantages are: 1)Less susceptible to hum/noise 2)Low impedance 3)long battery life 4)Relatively inexpensive. The low-impedance feature maintains your tone at all volume settings and partially accomplishes what Brad Sarno's Black Box does (low impedance output). Also, you can use longer cables with less high-frequency loss. The pickups have a small preamp potted in resin along with the bobbin and winding. The tone and volume pots are 25K rather than 250K or 500K as used with passive pickups. I have been DISAPPOINTED WITH THE TONE. Seems like after all these years, they would get it right, but not yet. I'm back to passive pickups and putting up with the minor limitations to get TONE.

------------------
David Spangler

J D Sauser · From: Wellington, Florida

So there's no real big difference between the pickup as such? If tone is not satisfying (with the active pickup), could then a traditional pickup be hook with an on board active control (a micro preamp)
Please bear in mind that I will have a pickup with 3 or 4 coils after another, each one with a tone and volume control before the signals get united into one output. It has been indirectly suggested to me that IF I'd do that, I ought to considder active controls (powered controls for better control, not just cutting highs but with the ability to push, let's say the mids or so), thus my question about active pickups.
So, I think that my question now boils down to; in what is a traditional pickup with an active (powered) control different to a so called "active pickup"?

Thanks for your replies so far. ... J-D.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Typically, in a true 'active' pickup, one doesn't worry about how much output is produced. The idea is wind for desired tone, and get output/tone-changes via active preamp and eq.

For example, one can wind a thin (e.g., strat-like) humbucker with the same or smaller number of total turns as a regular single-coil. This sounds different than the usual 'two-coil' humbucker. Even a single coil produced with a lot less windings has less noise, since electromagnetic interference coupling is roughly proportional to the number of turns in the coil.

In another example, one can change the pickup magnet material or even omit the magnet. This decreases the pickup's inductance, which decreases high-frequency attenuation from inductive reactance, but also lowers the output. Some of Bill Lawrence's pickups are the best example I can think of of this approach, which is not exactly 'active', but also not 'high-impedance'.

In either of these approaches, one can get the volume and tone changes desired using an active preamp/eq. With low impedance active designs, especially, one can get a number of different tones, drive a longer cable, more consistently drive effects, etc.

Now I love Bill Lawrence pickups, especially for steel or jazz guitar. Clear, balanced and sweet-sounding, IMO. On the other hand, I usually don't care as much for typical guitar 'active' pickups. To me, they tend to sound a bit 'sterile', at least straight into an amp. It's probably got a lot to do with the fact that most guitar amps are designed for high impedance pickups. Really, the interaction between pickup, effects (if present), and amp are critical. Most people I know who use 'active' pickups also use effects heavily.

I think it's hard to get most players (and thus manufacturers) to accept and design really new and different things. There's a lot of inertia to change, IMO. High impedance design still dominates guitar amps

J D Sauser · From: Wellington, Florida

Dave, thank you for your insight!

So, to make a compromise... could one just used standard pickup (high imp.) and add the active controls to it?
What would be a good source for quality on board controls (mid and treble + & - plus vol.)?

Thanks! ... J-D.

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

I put an EMG active pickup on a Sho~Bud LDG and I was very pleased with the results.
Erv

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