Electric Guitar

[Bukitoo]

Hi !!!

I have a little question for u guys !
I know that, maybe, it doesn't matter at all, but why electric guitar manufacturers doesn't give their electric guitar specs ?

Do you know where to get, for example, pick up specs ?

Thanks !

[offroadbum]

ducan gives you an idea of the toneal range of theirs.
but i would say if they did alot of people and companys would be wind their own.
but some sites that give alot of pickup info.

[leadbelly]

Actually, that is a somewhat funny question on this discussion board especially. With all the other forums generating tremending bandwidth in discussing subtle things not easily measurable, how would you go about spec'ing a guitar? Good luck in coming up with a measure of the tonal quality of the wood...

[da_madaxeman]

Originally posted by leadbelly
Actually, that is a somewhat funny question on this discussion board especially. With all the other forums generating tremending bandwidth in discussing subtle things not easily measurable, how would you go about spec'ing a guitar? Good luck in coming up with a measure of the tonal quality of the wood...

LOL.. too right

I like my guitar - Monterey Stage Series.. hey shut up.. lol

im making a custom at the moment though

[sangram]

Unfortunately guitar tone has very little to do with any one factor, and as anyone will tell you, each guitar has a different tone. The wood, the strings, the pickups, the distance of the pickups, the location of the pickups, the wiring, the bridge, the texture and material of the nut, the kind of tremolo system used, etc. are some (not all) of the factors tht make up guitar tone.

There are indicators - Cherry wood has a 'Darker' sound, Maple is 'balanced', Spruce and Sitka have a 'bright' tonality, Fibreglass has loads of sustain, etc. But there is no way you're gonna know how a particular pickup will sound etc. based on specifications...

That's why there are no 'specs'. They will talk to you about material, finish, etc. But every guitarist will tell you that there is no way you can figure out from specs how a guitar will sound, or indeed what kind of a tone it has. There are empirical suggestions (For example one knows that the Gibson and Epi Les Pauls sound darker and heavier than the Fender Strats), but specs in terms of 'tech specs' are pretty useless (Stevie Ray Vaughan said - 'Every Strat has a different personality - the feel, the tone, the playability - they are all unique')

[sreten]

To add to the above, how do you spec :

Quality of build, fit and finish.

Accuracy of set up.

Playability.

How well it stays in tune.

Variability of each theorectically identical model.

sreten.

[Bukitoo]

I was interested only in electric specs (bariscally of the pickups). Of course that the other kind of characteristics are very different.

[leadbelly]

Originally posted by Bukitoo
I was interested only in electric specs (bariscally of the pickups). Of course that the other kind of characteristics are very different.

But even that is the same issue. On paper, every Duncan pickup is better than an original Gibson soapbar. A spec that is worse on paper for gain, response, etc. may actually be the characteristic sound that is sought after.

I remember reading a review many years ago where this pricey custom guitar, which advertised a vintage Gibson tone, was slammed by the reviewer for poor shielding, which the reviewer felt was a rip off for $x000. The manufacturer shot back that poor shielding was part and parcel of the 50's Gibson tone and they did it intentionally, and that you couldn't have one without the other.

[offroadbum]

is it a palticular sound that your looking for.
i`m not sure how these specs could help you.
are you wating to roll your own pickups?
what guitar are you going to use?
maybe if you lets us know what your trying to do maybe we can help.

[till]

I think he needs specs like output impendance and max. V out.

For these you should:
a) measure
b) write email to some people who sell or make pickups
c) estimate

for c) i would say a 10k input impedance of your amp every pickup will be able to feed, expect max. 2V or so.