Can The Sound Of A Pickup be Infuenced By Wood Types

Will your voice come through if there are no strings on the guitar?
I suspect not.

Oh geez, there is no way on earth I'm going to take the strings off just to talk into the pickups on that thing!

You do it.
 
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Will your voice come through if there are no strings on the guitar?
I suspect not.
I once had an extremely cheap strat copy (made in China). It was a complete POS. I can confirm that the pickups in it were so bad that you could indeed talk into it without string on it. It was a load of fun doing that with a few different pedals on.
 
Here's what I don't understand.

We all know that different guitar construction methods make for different tones. Put a set of Gibson pickups on a Strat, and it doesn't sound like a Gibson. And so on.

Why's this an issue for any sentient being on the planet at this point?
 
Here's what I don't understand.
We all know that different guitar construction methods make for different tones. Put a set of Gibson pickups on a Strat, and it doesn't sound like a Gibson. And so on.
Why's this an issue for any sentient being on the planet at this point?

Don't ask a rational question on an emotional subject...
 
We all know that different guitar construction methods make for different tones. Put a set of Gibson pickups on a Strat, and it doesn't sound like a Gibson. And so on.
See, I didn't think that was the question being asked. I completely agree that all aspects of the guitar together define the guitars sound: the wood, how it is shaped, how it is finished, what pickups you put on and where...

What I thought the question was was: "will the choice of the wood change the behavior of the pickup?" To me this is a different question than "Will the combination of wood and a pickup change the sound of the guitar?" The latter has been beaten to death, with the conclusion of most be a resounding "Of course."

But, at this point I'll go for the pie. I like blueberry best, but it is hard to find a good one.
 
What I thought the question was was: "will the choice of the wood change the behavior of the pickup?" To me this is a different question than "Will the combination of wood and a pickup change the sound of the guitar?

I think that's very fine hair-splitting, but I see what you're asking, and I agree on the pie.
 
I think that's very fine hair-splitting, but I see what you're asking, and I agree on the pie.
What can I say. I'm an engineer and in many of the things I do those differences are critically important. Though it often means you have to answer two questions: the one that was actually asked, and the one they might have meant to ask.
 
Pete, the problem is that the actual question is almost impossible to quantify. Pickups are not employed not physically connected to the guitar. The only practical way to evaluate them IS holistically.

Let's look at what the OP posits:

Not according to George Beauchamp, the inventor of the electromagnetic guitar pickup in 1934.
When you think about it, EM pickups work through the process of induction.
It is impossible for any type of wood to initiate induction. Same is true for pressure waves or sound waves.
Now whether the types of wood used in an electric guitar influence the "holistic" sound of the instrument is an entirely different question.

It is true that the wood used to construct a guitar does not, by itself, induce signals in a pickup. Neither does the nut, the plastic control knobs or even metallic parts like tuners and electronics (being so far removed from the magnetic field) when the strings are at rest.

Yet all of these things impact the vibrations of the strings and their harmonics and the amplitudes and durations of those frequencies.

That renders the question moot since it has no real-world application.
 
It is true that the wood used to construct a guitar does not, by itself, induce signals in a pickup.

I'd disagree. If the windings around the pickup coil vibrate, to a lesser or greater degree, you can get microphonic signals.

What makes pickup coils vibrate? Well, strong signal from a guitar amp can do that and create feedback. Or you can get it from the wood that pickup is attached to vibrating.

Tap on your guitar with the amp on. On many guitars, you'll pick up the sound.
 
Even with my ears I can hear the difference between a strat and a Gibson but that's the pup not the wood. I wonder if the average forum member could tell the difference between a semi hollow body and a solid body in a blind test. For me the pup and the amp and the fingers completely dominate electric guitar tone. Acoustics are another matter.
 
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