Pick up output

[enr1co]

Sorry- this may be elementary for some but how does one
test " output of a pickup"?
Ive an electric that I am selling an some one has asked
for this reading. All I know is that the guitar still get loud as you turn
the volume knob up on the guitar :p

Any special equipment required or should this only be done
by a professional shop?
What is the unit of measurement?
what is an acceptable minimum output, range?

Any feedback is much appreciated. THANKS!

[Dave K]

Use a multimeter and measure the output in AC mV as you strum an E chord as hard and fast as you can.I checked the H2+ in my koa DT(your old DT ;) )
and it peaked at 620mV AC,with an average of 483mV AC.
Now if I just tremelo pick the A string I see around 240mV AC.

My R7 LP has a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge and it hits a peak of over 800mV AC,with an average of 642mV AC.
The neck pickup is a Duncan Alnico II and it peaks at 328mV AC.

I'd say if you can whack an E chord and get over 500mV (1/2 a volt) AC it's high ouput.

The other way you can get a general idea is to plug into a mixer or something with a VU meter and compare a known output pickup with one you want to test.

[enr1co]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the primer and glad to hear you are enjoying the koa DT.
Ok, I found a multimeter but it may be wasted as I left the battery
in it and it leak all inside :(
I may just take it to a shop rather than picking up another multimeter
at Radio shack.
If I do happen to come accross another multimeter- where do you connect
the red and black tips to to test? :confused:

Uhhh, maybe I should just take it to a qualified shop :p

Thanks! Enrico

[Dave K]

Use a standard guitar cord and put one lead of the MM on the tip of the plug and the other on the sleeve.Polarity of the leads doesn't matter since it's an AC signal we're dealing with.

[killerburst]

Variables to consider in the above test:
Pick material and thickness
Angle of pick attack
Strength of pick attack (PSI?)
Velocity of pick attack
Shape of pick and width of pick at point of attack
Location of attack, relative to scale length
Scale length
String guage
String tension (Standard 'E' tuning can probably be safely assumed)
Pickup location, relative to scale length
Pickup height
Polepiece height (N/A on most Anderson pickups)
Resistance of signal path (volume & tone pots)
ETC.

A pickup is a transducer- it transforms one type of energy into another. Specifically, it transforms kinetic energy into electrical energy. The other transducer that we all use everyday is the speaker- it transforms electrical energy into kinetic energy. When measuring the output of a speaker, we have a universally accepted test method- A 1k sine wave with 1 watt of power measured by an SPL meter from 1 meter away gives us a sensitivity reading that can be compared across many different drivers and offer a meaningingful specification. Since the guitar pickup industry has no such universally accepted test method, people seem to gravitate towards the DC resistance measurement as most likely to have some meaning. Unfortunately, that measurement really doesn't even have value unless several other variables are consistent from pickup to pickup.

My guess would be that most likely the guy wants to know the DC resistance. An Ohmeter with one test lead connected to the pickup's "hot" wire and the other connected to the ground wire will give you the DC resistance. The pickup must be disconnected from the circuit for an accurate reading. Again, while DC resistance isn't a perfect measure of a pickup's output (especially with an Anderson pickup, when comparing to more "traditional" pickups), it will give him something to work with. If not, have him read this post.

BTW- Dimarzio has a jig that eliminates all of these variables so that you can compare a given Dimarzio pickup to any other Dimarzio with meaningful results. But outside of that controlled environment, giving someone a mV output reading based on strumming as hard and as fast as you can is meaningless.

[enr1co]

Hi KB,

Thanks for the info- this is very helpful!

enrico