Electric Guitar Pickups

Hello all, in today's post I will be discussing the the two main types of electric guitar pickups, the Single-Coil, and the Humbucker. Before we break down the differences between the two pickups, first lets go over what a pickup is.

An electromagnetic pickup consists of a permanent magnet with a core material such as alnico, (a combination of aluminum, nickel, and cobalt), or ceramic poles. The poles are wrapped with a coil of fine copper wire which has many thousands of turns. To produce sound, an electric guitar "picks up" energy being created using the coils of copper wire and the magnets. The vibration of the steel strings produce a matching vibration in the magnet's magnetic field and therefore creates a vibrating current in the coil. This produces a signal that is usually sent through a cable into an amplifier.

There are many variations of pickup configurations, but the two most common are the single-coil and the humbucker. A single coil pickup is just that, it is a single coil wrapped around the magnetic poles. This type of pickup is very bright, noisy, and has a sharpness and bite to the sound it creates. A humbucker is two stacked single coils. Because they are stacked the polarity is wound the opposite direction to remove the noisy hum a single coil alone creates, and the pickup creats a rich, warm, full sound that sounds great when it is overdriven or distorted.

One of the most widely recognized single coil guitars is the Fender Stratocaster, whereas the Gibson Les Paul is one of the most widely recognized humbucker guitars. These are just two of many guitars that use these pickups, but they are often referred to when distinguishing between the two pickup styles.

Electric Guitar Pickups Demo

Here is the video of a quick demonstration of the two main types of electric guitar pickups demonstrated by a friend of mine, Rob. Please excuse the background noise, this was video taped at Guitar Center during business hours.

Line 6 Spider IV 30w

Hello all, in today's post I will be discussing the benefits and features of the Line 6 Spider IV 30w, 30 watt combo amplifier. This is a very good solid state amplifier with multiple effects settings. Its single 12 inch Celestion Custom speaker delivers great definition, clarity and feel which makes for a great sounding small practice amp. It is just right for relaxing on the couch at home, or for warming up for a gig.

The Line 6 Spider IV 30 has 12 amp models to choose from ranging from very clean to insane distortion that famous rock stars helped create so it has very realistic sounding modeling tones. It is also easy to create, save, edit and recall four complete amp settings with the push of a button. It has 7 Smart FX settings which you can use up to 3 at once. The effect models were inspired by celebrated stompbox and studio effects and the Bass, Mid and Treble knobs behave like the EQ controls of the modeled amplifiers. It has three different volume controls with the Drive knob, Channel volume, and Master volume.

The Line 6 Spider IV 30 comes in a black textured vinyl covering with a black grille cloth. Some of the other features include a built-in tuner, headphone/direct output, high-quality direct-recording output, and an auxilary CD/MP3 input. It also includes an output jack for optional Line 6 FBV foot controllers, which makes for add hands-free channel switching, wah-wah/volume control and more.

There are 12 dialed in amp models. Two different tones for each Clean, Twang, Blues, Crunch, Metal, and Insane channels. There 4 channel memories for user-created tones, and 7 different Smart FX (3 at once) modeled after celebrated stompbox and studio effects. They include Chorus/Flange, Phaser, Tremolo, Delay, Tape and Sweep Echoes, Reverb. All of the time-based effects are synced by the Tap Tempo button.

The Line 6 Spider IV 30 is the perfect practice amplifier if you are looking for a very easy to use modeling amp with lots of effects and special settings at an affordable price.

Line 6 Spider IV 30w Demo

Here is the video of a quick demonstration of the features of the Line 6 Spider IV 30w amplifier demonstrated by a friend of mine, Jesse. Please excuse the background noise, this was video taped at Guitar Center during business hours.

Fender Frontman 25R Demo

Here is the video of a quick demonstration of the features of the Fender Frontman 25R amplifier demonstrated by a friend of mine, Jesse. Please excuse the background noise, this was video taped at Guitar Center during business hours.

Fender Frontman 25R

Hello all, in today's post I will be discussing the benefits and features of the Fender Frontman 25R, 25 watt combo amplifier. This is a very basic solid state amplifier and is great for getting a nice clean or dirty tone without spending a ton of money. Its single 10 inch Fender Special Design speaker makes for a great sounding small practice amp. It is not loud enough by itself to be heard over other instruments, but it is not designed to be. It is just right for relaxing on the couch at home, or for warming up for a gig.

The Frontman 25R has dual selectable channels, normal and drive. The normal channel is often referred to by players as the "clean channel", whereas the drive channel is also known as the "dirty channel". To get a nice crisp clean sound, you can simply balance all of the equalization settings by turning each EQ (treble, mid, bass) knob to the 12 o'clock position.

The Frontman 25R has awesome reverb. That is what the "R" in 25R stands for. It has it's own reverb control. You can turn the reverb knob just a little to get a small amount of reverberation or you can crank it up to get that famous surf-rock sound of the 1960's.

The Frontman 25R comes in a black or red textured vinyl covering with a silver grille cloth. It has a headphone jack, dual selectable channels (normal and drive),an auxiliary input for external media use such as a cd or MP3 player, equalization options with separate treble, mid, bass, volume, gain and drive controls, reverb for effects, and an optional footswitch input for remote channel selection.

The Frontman 25R is the perfect amplifier if you are looking for a very basic amp without lots of effects and special settings.

Welcome to my blog, my name is David and I will be posting some information about electric guitars and amplifiers. I will discuss basic maintenance for guitars, including cleaning and restringing your guitar. I will also do some reviews and comparisons about some of the different electric guitars, effects pedals and amplifiers on the market today.

In the process of reviewing these instruments and accessories, I will discuss how to get specific sounds one might be seeking. Along the way I may get some tips or some reviews from fellow musicians as well! 

The target audience that this blog is intended for is beginning to intermediate guitar players or enthusiasts. If you want to know a little bit more about me, feel free to visit my microsite for Guitar Center. http://stores.guitarcenter.com/experts/david-h-42
Although I do work as an employee for Guitar Center, this blog is based on my personal opinions and knowledge only. It is not endorsed by Guitar Center or any other music industry corporations.

I will be adding to my blog every Wednesday each week for the next month or two. Please keep checking back each week for the latest updates, videos, and photos.  Feel free to add comments, ask questions, or post some of your own knowledge of the subject. I look forward to sharing some of my knowledge and opinions with you all. See you soon!