Pickup simulator

[slowpogo]

I know some circuits incorporate this, but I think a standalone daughterboard would be great. Perhaps it could be combined with the standard 3PDT true bypass board. OR a standalone for a 1590A enclosure. The version at the bottom of this link looks awesome, it can select between single coil/humbucker, and includes trims for simulated tone/volume circuit on guitar.

Guitar Pickups Simulation

Schematics & circuits for guitar effects with vacuum tubes and solid state electronics. FREE downloads of schematics such as TS-9, Fuzz Face and other classic rock devices.

www.muzique.com

 

[gonzo]

I've hooked up guitar pickups before fuzz faces and it does the same thing. You could box up an old pickup you don't use. Solves the wah before fuzz problem.

 

[Feral Feline]

Great idea Gonzo, and I've got the perfect one for it:

a lipstick tube pup with legs that I could bolt to the outside of a 1590A or 1590G and maybe then I can also do the Paul Gilbert drill-motor trick...

or the Matthias Eklund trick with the phone (I think he's stopped using a vibrator for some time...):

etc...

 

[slowpogo]

Quick question about the schematics in this link... the first one includes a 25k trimmer to mimic pickup resistance.

The second one adds trimmers to mimic pots, but eliminates the one for pickup resistance. Why? if you're trying to mimic the pickup/guitar network, wouldn't you still want pickup resistnace included?

Guitar Pickups Simulation

Schematics & circuits for guitar effects with vacuum tubes and solid state electronics. FREE downloads of schematics such as TS-9, Fuzz Face and other classic rock devices.

www.muzique.com

 

[Feral Feline]

Quick question about the schematics in this link... the first one includes a 25k trimmer to mimic pickup resistance.

The second one adds trimmers to mimic pots, but eliminates the one for pickup resistance. Why? if you're trying to mimic the pickup/guitar network, wouldn't you still want pickup resistnace included?

Guitar Pickups Simulation

Schematics & circuits for guitar effects with vacuum tubes and solid state electronics. FREE downloads of schematics such as TS-9, Fuzz Face and other classic rock devices.

www.muzique.com

As best I can fathom...


The first one has a 25k pot/trimmer as series variable resistance.

The second has A250k pots/trimmers set up as both variable resistance for TONE, and variable resistance in the form of a voltage divider for VOLUME.


Even if you ditch the TONE control and its related components, either way (2nd example compared to 1st) there is still resistance in the path from the inductor coil.

In fact, a LOT more resistance available on tap, instead of a paltry 25k, you're now getting up to 250k!


It's just a different way to skin the cat.

 

[Fama]

Can someone explain to me in beginner terms how I would go about creating a pickup simulator like this out of an old pickup? Just input, output, wire the pickup in between? Anything else? Does it matter which way around it is? Does the quality of the pickup matter?

Edit: Would a simple pot in series do the trick?

 

[t1redhands]

I've experimented with the AMZ pickup simulator and it does work as advertised. But after looking at a few older fuzz circuits with variable input impedance I got curious and found this article (http://me.aquataur.guru/musicstuff/pickup_sim.html). Haven't had time to breadboard it yet, but it makes sense on paper.

 

[Fama]

I've experimented with the AMZ pickup simulator and it does work as advertised. But after looking at a few older fuzz circuits with variable input impedance I got curious and found this article (http://me.aquataur.guru/musicstuff/pickup_sim.html). Haven't had time to breadboard it yet, but it makes sense on paper.

Thanks, interesting article. A lot of it went over my head, but the tl;dr seems to be "just use a 10k resistor in series at the input".

I think breadboarding that will not take too long.

Jokes aside, I was asking about it because in a certain configuration I was getting a ton of noise on a fuzz pedal I built, but it turns out impedance was not necessarily the cause of that. So maybe I'll test the 10k resistor at best, or just skip it completely since my issue was somewhere else.

 

[Cybercow]

Thanks, interesting article. A lot of it went over my head, but the tl;dr seems to be "just use a 10k resistor in series at the input".

A 10K resistor lone will NOT do it. The specific characteristics of a pickup coil/inductor adds "reluctance" and "impedance" into the character of what simple resistance alone cannot do.

 

[Cybercow]

I've built a number of FF pedals with the pick-up simulator. The potentiometer and transformer are a bit bulkier than the other components in that circuit and may present an interesting challenge to create a 'universal' daughterboard that can work in different enclosure space requirements. Robert is quite clever and may well come up with a good solution.


They work quite well as stand-alone pedals too.

 

[mdc]

Can someone explain to me in beginner terms how I would go about creating a pickup simulator like this out of an old pickup? Just input, output, wire the pickup in between? Anything else? Does it matter which way around it is? Does the quality of the pickup matter?

Edit: Would a simple pot in series do the trick?

It shouldn't really matter which way you go (hot—>cold or cold—>hot). You might have issues with hum, but perhaps try using an old humbucker and add some series/parallel switching options. You could even wire it to reverse hot and cold? Add a passive tone pot, volume knob, or any other switching you might find on a guitar.