Muzique Pickup Simulator

[redbagy]

Hi, I'm reading this http://www.muzique.com/lab/pickups.htm about pickup simulators by Muzique. My question is with reference to the last figure.
When I measured the DC Resistance of the coil across the 42TM019 I got around 600 Ohms. Thus to simulate pickups with a DC resistance of 10-20kOhms, shouldn't there also be an added series resistance between the 42TM019 and the next node of the tone/volume?

[GibsonGM]

I'm wondering what the reactance of the little transformer might be...I think that's playing a major role in this, since the real pickup has already provided the voltage signal...

[Mark Hammer]

Hi, I'm reading this http://www.muzique.com/lab/pickups.htm about pickup simulators by Muzique. My question is with reference to the last figure.
When I measured the DC Resistance of the coil across the 42TM019 I got around 600 Ohms. Thus to simulate pickups with a DC resistance of 10-20kOhms, shouldn't there also be an added series resistance between the 42TM019 and the next node of the tone/volume?

Inductors can behave like the opposite of a capacitor, when placed in series with the signal.  That is, it behaves like a lowpass filter, instead of a highpass.  This rolls off top end, but since it is an inductor, it does so without imposing much in the way of resistance.

The simulation is intended to replicate the frequency response and not the "load".

[PRR]

We want several Henries of inductance. The resistance hardly matters. The I/R ratio depends a lot on the winding style. The pickup is an open core and needs a lot of turns. The transformer core is closed and can make our I goal with less turns of fatter wire.

But yeah. You think it want added resistance, just try it. 100K will make a difference. 5k may be hard to hear.

[Fancy Lime]

Or try an actual real pickup wired like the inductor in the schematic? If you have any old pickups kicking around, that is.

[Paul Marossy]

We want several Henries of inductance.

Yeah the inductance of a pickup is IMO more important than DC resistance, which is what everyone focuses on. In my experimentation, the more Henries of inductance there is the "darker" the pickup sounds. There are a lot of other factors of course, like magnet type, gauss, number of windings, wire gage, resonant frequency, etc. The resonant frequency of the little 42TM019 is way higher than a guitar pickup, but as Mark Hammer mentioned, we are really after frequency response and not trying to perfectly simulate an actual guitar pickup.

In any case, I think the AMZ Pickup Simulator is useful. When you're just running a test tone from a function generator straight into a circuit, putting this simulator in between makes the frequency response a little more accurate. In the one I built I even added a switch to add in another 42TM019 to simulate a humbucker. In practice all that really does is reduce the amplitude of the signal. The most useful addition was adding the tone control to it - THAT is what really makes the most difference.

[amz-fx]

Some tips on using a pickup that I posted a few years back:

http://www.muzique.com/news/pickup-simulation/

A cheap cigar box pickup might give good results, and they are smaller than a full size guitar pup.

regards, Jack

[Fancy Lime]

We want several Henries of inductance.

Yeah the inductance of a pickup is IMO more important than DC resistance, which is what everyone focuses on. In my experimentation, the more Henries of inductance there is the "darker" the pickup sounds. There are a lot of other factors of course, like magnet type, gauss, number of windings, wire gage, resonant frequency, etc. The resonant frequency of the little 42TM019 is way higher than a guitar pickup, but as Mark Hammer mentioned, we are really after frequency response and not trying to perfectly simulate an actual guitar pickup.

In any case, I think the AMZ Pickup Simulator is useful. When you're just running a test tone from a function generator straight into a circuit, putting this simulator in between makes the frequency response a little more accurate. In the one I built I even added a switch to add in another 42TM019 to simulate a humbucker. In practice all that really does is reduce the amplitude of the signal. The most useful addition was adding the tone control to it - THAT is what really makes the most difference.

It also really depends on what us going after the simulator. It that has a high input impedance, then the simulator with just slightly attenuate and the tone control is nice. But if you put something with a low input impedance after it, like a Fuzz Face, then the inductance forms an effective low pass filter with the input impedance, as is the case when you plug a guitar right into the fuzz face. Lack of this filtering action is what makes fuzzes sound so different with a buffered effect in front.