How Do Electric Guitar Pickups Work?

Electric guitar pickups are at the very heart of an electric guitar. They are the first, and most visible - one of the major parts that distinguishes an electric guitar from an acoustic one.  Indeed, without electric guitar pickups, there would be no signal to send to the amp and make the sound we associate with an electric guitar. 

But the process behind how it does its job remains a mystery to most.  Let’s try to demystify this important part to understand just what is going on.

Electric guitar pickups are well named - they pick up. But to understand how will take some more explanation.  We will just touch on the broad details of the principles, but it would make an interesting study, if you really wanted to get down to the nitty gritty differences between all the various types of electric guitar pickups.

It all starts with magnetism, or more particularly electro-magnetism.  The difference is simple, electro-magnetism deals with a magnetic field generated by creating a coil and running electricity through it, rather than one that occurs naturally.  This is the core of electric guitar pickups, because if it weren’t for the metallic core wrapped with wire generating a field the pickup wouldn’t, well.. pick up. 

The coil generates a particular magnetic field, which reaches out around the strings.  Then as the strings vibrate with the strum it disturbs the field that creates the signal, which moves into the amp to become the sound the instrument produces.  Electric guitar pickups make this entire process possible.

Before the development of electric guitar pickups, guitars had to rely on the acoustic resonance of the body chamber to amplify the vibrations of the strings.  This made the building of a guitar a very technical process that relied on skilled artisans using time-tested materials and designs.  This severely limited the potential for changing and customizing the designs for particular players. 

Now with electric guitar pickups, the possibilities are nearly limitless.  All that is needed are the pickups, a neck of some sort, the strings and an amp to patch the music into.  This is not to say that creating an electric guitar is uncomplicated, but guitar builders today have more scope to customize the final sound depending on the preferences of the musician.

The electric guitar pickups have made the electric guitar possible, enabling an entirely new music style - all due to those little coils.