Does anyone know how to measure the output of pickups that are installed in a guitar? I am having pickups made and I want their output to match another guitar I have but I don't know how those are rated.
I have a multimeter but I don't know how to use it.
Measuring pickup output
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The DIY forum is for personal projects (things that are not for sale, not in production), info sharing, peer to peer assistance. No backdoor spamming (DIY posts that are actually advertisements for your business). No clones of in-production pedals. If you have concerns or questions, feel free to PM admin. Thanks so much!
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oldangelmidnight
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mysteriousj
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Re: Measuring pickup output
Hmm Hmm. I'm not sure if you could do it with a multimeter - but I could be wrong. Ideally you'd want an (Digital) oscilloscope. It's also quite hard to measure output because the max output only lasts a few cycles ie less than 1/tenth a second. Also the whole.. how hard you strum it will have a massive impact too. If you want to try it with a multimeter. Turn it to Volts, AC. Black to GND, Red to Gat.
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McSpunckle
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Re: Measuring pickup output
Usually, pickup output is rated based on resistance. So you just measure the ohms across the pickup. This isn't really accurate, but it's how it's done...
More winds = more resistance and more winds = more output, so yeah. But there's also the matter of the thickness of the wire, the power of the magnets, and I'm pretty sure the shape of the coil comes into play. But a 7K humbucker is pretty well always fairly low output, and a 11K is generally pretty hot.
The proper way... would be kinda difficult. It would be like mysteriousj said. Measure the voltage as you strum. If you have a fairly nice meter, you can set it to "max" and strum as hard as you can. It'll just show you the peak voltage. But then there are variations in your strumming, the height of the strings, the position of the pickup (the neck position will be hotter than bridge with the same pickup), etc. You'd need some sort of fancy automated setup to do get a good measurement.
But really, if you match the DC resistance and magnet type, you'll probably be pretty close.
More winds = more resistance and more winds = more output, so yeah. But there's also the matter of the thickness of the wire, the power of the magnets, and I'm pretty sure the shape of the coil comes into play. But a 7K humbucker is pretty well always fairly low output, and a 11K is generally pretty hot.
The proper way... would be kinda difficult. It would be like mysteriousj said. Measure the voltage as you strum. If you have a fairly nice meter, you can set it to "max" and strum as hard as you can. It'll just show you the peak voltage. But then there are variations in your strumming, the height of the strings, the position of the pickup (the neck position will be hotter than bridge with the same pickup), etc. You'd need some sort of fancy automated setup to do get a good measurement.
But really, if you match the DC resistance and magnet type, you'll probably be pretty close.
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oldangelmidnight
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Re: Measuring pickup output
I think I got something. I set it up like this:
Strumming didn't make any difference at that setting. It did when testing AC, though.
Strumming didn't make any difference at that setting. It did when testing AC, though.
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McSpunckle
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Re: Measuring pickup output
Oh, sorry. I kinda... explained badly. Resistance won't change as you strum. That pickup is wound to "8.7K." That's how most pickups are sold. Higher resistance roughly means more output. It's probably slightly higher, assuming the volume pot is hooked up.
Measuring AC, the numbers probably move pretty quick, so you sorta have to try and estimate where it averages and/or peaks.
Measuring AC, the numbers probably move pretty quick, so you sorta have to try and estimate where it averages and/or peaks.