Is there an average pickup voltage or range?

[jmusser]

I am well aware that different guitars with different pickups, as well as amps, are going to change the tone on what various effects will sound like from case to case, but I have recently come across a Mexican Strat, that turned most of my fuzzes to boosts, and just otherwise turned my effects to crap. To me, it would mean that the pickups are not driving the effect enough to make it distort like it normally would, or in some cases, not at all. It would like the amp is mostly involved in the quality of what comes out, and not the distortion quality of the effect it's self. If this is correct, then how can major effects manufactures stay consistant from set up to set up, or do they? It looks like a commercial distortion will distort no matter what the pickup is giving it, where as a home grown effect has to have the planets aligned just so to get any type of consistant tone. With my Squire fat strat, biggest part of the effects sound almost identical or better than the sound samples, but then there's a couple of up octaves I've built, that I believe my pickups are just not high enough output to drive them into up octave. It also seems, that no amount of boosting in front of the effect is going to change that fact, which also puzzles me. It was a major disappointment for me to have bragged on what certain effects sounded like, and then when the guy played through them, they turned to absolute crap! Marty says he has come across this scenario many times, but it's my first time, and it felt ugly. Now, it makes me wonder if you should have disclaimers all over everything, and say, :it only works with this and that guitar, and only at noon on Wednesdays!"

[cd]

If this is correct, then how can major effects manufactures stay consistant from set up to set up, or do they?

They don't.  Or they can't.  Or they try.  Seriously it means designing for a particular time period or setup.  Think of it this way: someone who plays a BOSS BD-2 Blues Driver is probably using a vintage type amp and a single coil guitar.  OTOH, someone who uses a BOSS MT-2 Metal Zone probably has a smaller amp and a humbucker equipped guitar.  Equipment can be made to operate within a certain level range - if your equipment happens to fall outside of that range, well, companies make pickup boosters and other little things to pump up your signal as well :-)

I would play it by ear.  That's what the variable DRIVE/GAIN control on most pedals is for.  A Tubescreamer distorts differently at the same DRIVE setting with humbuckers and single coils, but up the DRIVE and the difference is not so apparent.

That being said, if you need a number to work things out, take this with a box of salt:  I have a guitar with EMG S single coil style pickups, and IIRC, they're spec'd for .65VRMS output.  They're slightly hotter than a regular passive single coil, but certainly not as hot as a typical humbucker (like a PAF). 

[RaceDriver205]

Yeah, I came across this problem a while ago.
I built a Boss DS-1 from tonepad, and it sounded absolutely horrible. It was weak, had no sustain, and was otherwise unpleasant to listen to.
Then I heard 'melanhead's demo of his DS-1, and I couldn't believe how incredibly much stronger his sounded.
Until then I was unaware that guitars actually outputed significantly different signal amplitudes. When I realised this, I built a booster - problem solved in an instant.

Speaking of which, I don't know why anyone would bother specifically buying a high-output pickup. Sounds like a waste of money to me. Wouldn't generating a higher voltage sap the strings more? Reduce sustain?

[trevize]

I have recently come across a Mexican Strat, that turned most of my fuzzes to boosts, and just otherwise turned my effects to crap.

That's really strange, i bought my fisrt guitar, a mexican strat in 1994 and it's pickup are a little bit overwinded with HUGE output.
I had a set of american fender in it for one month and then returned to the mexican pickups, and everytime i go to a shop looking for an amp
i have people asking to sell it, funny isn't t? 

[jmusser]

Well, like I told Marty, I have played accoustic instruments for a long time, and wanted to get into playing electric. I had decided to spend a little over $300.00 for a guitar. I went to the music store with a friend of mine who played electric, and we went through a big wall of guitars. Several were Mexican Strats, Ibanez, etc. There was this Squire stuck back behind these other two guitars, and it was a Fat Strat. I played on it for a little bit, and both of us started grinning. I asked the sales guy "OK, I give up, why is this one so cheap"? I said, "I really don't know about electrical instuments, but this thing has a sweet action, and at least to my ears, sounds better than anything I've played today". He said, that it's a fat strat, and nobody wants it if it doesn't have the 3 single coils. He said it been hanging on the wall for over two years, and I marked it down to get it out of here. Well, it went home with me, and I still haven't heard another Strat I'd trade for it. I'm sure there are lots better, but my ears aren't schooled enough yet.

[Somicide]

Can't stand strat single coil bridge PUs.  Yech.  Gimme 2 humbuckers anyday, and a niiiice mahogany body.  And a locking trem.

[Elektrojänis]

Just in case you did not see this yet: http://www.muzique.com/lab/pick.htm

There are only a few guitars tested in the article, but there is some usefull information in ti anyway.

[blanik]

i just looked at the previous link... it's amazing how that guitar signal looks like an ECG of a human heart!! all the way to the flatline...  i guess when i get old i'll have a compressor/sustainer implanted to keep going...! 

R.