questions about gear

[freya]

i have a few questions about pickups and amps and some other things.

1. what kind of pickup is that silver pickup near the neck of a telecaster and why does it look like that?
2. are EMGs actually grey boxes or are those just covers?
3. why is a solid state amp called a solid state amp?
4. does the record label "Solid State Records" have a lot to do with those amps? sorry if that sounds stupid, i just really want to know.
5. how do bolt-on and glued necks differ?
6. why don't single-coils sound good with heavy distortion, and why don't they last long in ringing out?
7. why are small amps only good at being extremely loud? and why are they so loud?
8. does electric guitar body shape effect sound?
9. is there a list of common wood materials used for guitar bodies and why they are used (what sounds they best make)?
10. how did the electric guitar just 'appear' all of the sudden? i don't want a history lesson, i am just curious how it came about without people thinking it was the devil to play electric. and was the first the Fender?
11. how do pedals work? is it easy to make a good pedal?
12. for acoustics...does body shape & neck position effect sound?
13. i once saw a guitarist with a strat with humbuckers...how do you modify a strat like that?
14. why is the third strat pickup angled?
15. why is there rhythm & treble on an electric? what is the overall purpose of that system?

thanks, guys.

[shiggityshwa]

1. It's called a lipstick pickup

2. I think it's just the cover, but I don't know for sure.

4. It might have something to do with it

5. Bolt on are usually easier to repair/replace, while set necks usually have better sustain due to better wood on wood contact (that sounds kinda gay)

13. You have to get a pickguard that has room for a humbucker, and you just solder it in like you would any pickup

15. Rhythm is the neck pickup, which is more bassy, and the treble pickup is the bridge pickup which has more treble

Sorry I could only answer a few but I have to go

[Turbo7MN]

Whew, okay:

1. It's just the way the pickup was designed. There's nothing terribly special about it, besides only fitting telecasters.
2. Don't know the specifics on EMGs, but I assume they are just covers
3. Wikipedia explains it better than I can: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_state_%28electronics%29
4. I hope not.
5. Bolt-on necks are nice because they are easily replaceable, being held on only by bolts. Set necks are held on by glue, and typically have better sustain. It's a trade-off either way, but I much prefer set necks.
6. Single coils inherently have a much "thinner" sound, if you want to get specific it's because the humbuckers have more inductance, which gives the characteristic "fatter" sound. This seems to sound better with distortion comared to single coils. They don't "last long in ringing out" (sustain) because the guitars they are usually in aren't built for sustain (like a strat) and because they generally have a lower output.
7. Not so much small amps, just small crappy amps . They're loud because amp makers know that people will buy a cheap amp that's really loud just because it's loud. You can get pretty small amps that won't blow your ears out (and also sound good) .
8. I can't say for sure, but I think it has a slight effect, but I want to say it generally has more to due with the overall mass of the wood rather than the shape it's in. I could be wrong though.
9. Searching would probably come up with something. Ask valvetronix, I could give you a basic list but he knows more about wood than I do.
10. Once again, wikipedia has some good info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_guitar#History
11. Click the links on the page if you're interetsed in one particular effect, otherwiese it has general info too: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_unit
12. I couldn't tell you...
13. Depends on how it's routed. If it has a "swimming pool" route, you can stick humbuckers in there if you get another pickguard, otherwise no deal. I think Fender sells them with two humbuckers too.
14. Basically: To make the thin strings sound brighter and the thick strings sound heavier. The closer a pole piece (metal thing) is the the bridge, the brighter it will sound. The angled pickup makes use of this.
15. The rhythm pickup is the neck pickup, which generally gives a "smoother" and "warmer" sound. It gets a little muddy with distortion though. The treble pickup is the bridge pickup, and is generally wound "hotter" (higher output). It's brighter sounding and usually sounds more "defined" with distortion. The purpose is just to give tonal versatility, you can get more sounds out of the guitar if you have different pickups .

Hope that helped.

[Turbo7MN]

Lipstick tube pickups are actually used in Danelectro guitars, not Telecasters.

[freya]

thanks, if i come up with more questions, i will post them here. although i'm still not completely sure about these.

[shiggityshwa]

turbo7mn said:

13. Depends on how it's routed. If it has a "swimming pool" route, you can stick humbuckers in there if you get another pickguard, otherwise no deal. I think Fender sells them with two humbuckers too.

Close but I have to change a little bit. It doesn't have to have a swimming pool route, the swimming pool route is when there is just a big square route under the pickguard with no specific cutout for a pickup. MIM strats are routed HHH, but not a true swimming pool. Squier's are routed HSH, and I think USA strats are either swimming pool or HHH

[sexymonkey]

shiggityshwa said:

turbo7mn said:

13. Depends on how it's routed. If it has a "swimming pool" route, you can stick humbuckers in there if you get another pickguard, otherwise no deal. I think Fender sells them with two humbuckers too.

Close but I have to change a little bit. It doesn't have to have a swimming pool route, the swimming pool route is when there is just a big square route under the pickguard with no specific cutout for a pickup. MIM strats are routed HHH, but not a true swimming pool. Squier's are routed HSH, and I think USA strats are either swimming pool or HHH

My MIM Fat strat is routed FREAKISHLY WEIRDLY. S/H/S!!?!?!?!?!

[shiggityshwa]

sexymonkey said:

shiggityshwa said:

Close but I have to change a little bit. It doesn't have to have a swimming pool route, the swimming pool route is when there is just a big square route under the pickguard with no specific cutout for a pickup. MIM strats are routed HHH, but not a true swimming pool. Squier's are routed HSH, and I think USA strats are either swimming pool or HHH

My MIM Fat strat is routed FREAKISHLY WEIRDLY. S/H/S!!?!?!?!?!

How is it a fat strat but not routed for a bridge humbucker? That sounds weird as hell. What year was it made in, and do you have any pics of it?

[freya]

can i see any pics of the routed areas under a pickguard? i don't understand how a single coil guitar can be routed for humbuckers. i realize it's been done, i just need to see it. i also don't understand how you can put a single coil into a humbucker routed section. sorry, i just need to know. did Fender know to make extra space for bigger pickups when they first made guitars?

let's just say i'm really uneducated on this stuff and i wanna learn because i'm tired of wondering all the time. thanks for the help and everything, guys.

[sexymonkey]

It looks really funky, defenitely need to show it to you guys. Maybe it is SHH or something, it's just that the middle pickup is considerably bigger than the other two.

[Turbo7MN]

admin said:

can i see any pics of the routed areas under a pickguard? i don't understand how a single coil guitar can be routed for humbuckers. i realize it's been done, i just need to see it. i also don't understand how you can put a single coil into a humbucker routed section. sorry, i just need to know. did Fender know to make extra space for bigger pickups when they first made guitars?

let's just say i'm really uneducated on this stuff and i wanna learn because i'm tired of wondering all the time. thanks for the help and everything, guys.

The thing about a strat is that everything is mounted in the pickguard, and not to the body. That means that as long as there's open space under the pickguard, you can put any kind of pickup in there. It doesn't matter if it's routed for a humbucker if the pickguard is cut for a single coil.

Hope that made sense.

[sexymonkey]

If that doesn't help, imagine this.

You have a shoe box.(Routed Humbucker body)
You can put big shoes in it.(Humbucker)
BUT... you can also fit smaller shoes in it.(Single Coils).

Don't worry about the little trivial details.(But... the small shoe will roll around and not fight right!!) These don't matter. The basics are what I said above.

[shiggityshwa]

Pictures of different strat routings:

[freya]

^-- i like universal. i hate it when a guitar is made with a single coil in the middle of 2 hums. looks ugly.

[sexymonkey]

I actually kinda like that setup. The bad thing about the universal is that it won't sound as good as one that doesn't have it, less wood to vibrate, not as good sustain. Strats have pretty low sustain to begin with, imagine one with a swimming pool route!(universal)