pickup output and frequency response

[senn_liu]

my guitar has a dimarzio paf pro in the neck and a dimarzio d-sonic in the bridge. the d-sonic is installed with pole pieces towards neck/bar towards bridge.

the 5-way pickup selector switch is configured as follows (specs obtained from dimarzio's website):

1) d-sonic in series: output 390mV, tone 6.5/6.5/5.5 (b/m/t)
2) inner coils of paf pro and d-sonic in parallel
3) paf pro and d-sonic in parallel (regular "middle position" for HH)
4) paf pro in parallel
5) paf pro in series (output: 300mV, tone: 5/5/6)


so, out of curiosity and in the spirit of scientific precision, i have this question: what are the respective output voltages and approximate frequency responses of positions 2, 3, and 4?


much thanks,
andrew

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

might like to send a mail to tech@dimarzio.com (gotten from their site)

since they are the manufacturer, i guess it will be more accurate and precise to get info from them with those questions.

 

[senn_liu]

yup, i sent pretty much the same questions to their tech department, but they didn't reply after a week, so i sent an email to their general info/customer service account instead and got a reply from their tech account, which suggests that the tech side kinda chose to ignore or shelve my email.

anyway, here is their brief answer:

"Sorry, but we cannot provide these numbers. Our specs are derived by testing all pickups individually in a single test guitar, enabling all pickups to be judged under identical conditions. The specs from various pickup combinations will vary with a number of factors which would blur the accuracy of the results, and we therefore prefer to provide single pickup measurements only."

so they basically didn't answer my question. i have no idea whether that is due to some sort of business secrecy, or something else.

the thing is, i don't expect them to take those 2 pickups, install them in my model of guitar, and take measurements. i thought it would be possible to simply use physics to calculate the output of the pickup combinations/variations, and to roughly make an educated guess about the tonal responses.

oh well, so looks like i won't make any progress with their help, so now it's up to you, my fellow softies!

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

heh, that prolly wont go anywhere else if the manufacturer themself, cant provide an answer to their own product.

frequency response prolly not be as easy to do rough gauge. Most likely will need oscilloscope and maybe some other thingy to connect and stuff to see the curve/graph what so ever. If might not be as easy as in calculation.

anyway, if die die wanna know, perhaps can google and see how it can be done for the measuring and getting the frequency response curve from oscilloscope

 

[ShredCow]

These are variable variables. You gotta DIY on your personal guitar to find out...

Rather interesting though!

When you do find out - let us know!

 

[edder]

dimarzio's BMT figures don't mean squat lah.... its just a Marketing tool to communicate to the customers that this is probably what you might expect when you buy this pickup. Probably, maybe, possibly, who knows, might be.

 

[senn_liu]

actually this isn't a die-die-must-know issue, but i'm just doing it out of inquisitiveness. as far as the frequency response thing goes, i know there's a lot of vagueness there unless an oscilloscope is used, and it's no big deal to me.

however, for the output voltage issue, i think applying physics principles will give an answer without the need to perform any "experiments". for example, if we know that the paf pro in series has 300mV output, then calculating its output in parallel should be fairly simple (i'm guessing). only problem is, i've forgotten/don't know much physics

just a thought: i find it strange that pickup manufacturers often use the b/m/t and resonant peak as rough gauges of how their pickups respond tonally. pickups are kinda like microphones, and any respectable microphone manufacturer will provide frequency response graphs for their products. oh well...

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

heh, geetar playing folks are easier to lead around and believing the number

Put a good price, put a good set of spec, our mind already half way to happiness..

anyway, like what shredmoo said, better to diy on your guitar and see can get the reading. I tried googling and there seem to be lots info on it, even for the frequency response and the peak to peak voltage plot etc. Maybe you can try the method and come back here to share with us on the result so that next time round, it might benefit others who have the same doubts and such

 

[ShredCow]

dimarzio's BMT figures don't mean squat lah.... its just a Marketing tool to communicate to the customers that this is probably what you might expect when you buy this pickup. Probably, maybe, possibly, who knows, might be.

Do you know this for a fact or is it part of what Bill Lawrence says so too?

I mean - as far as I know, Dimarzio doesn't say their figures/values on the website is for external comparison but for internal comparison. So when an mA value on Dimarzio pup A is great than Dimarzio pup B, then Dimarzio pup B would be the hotter pickup.

Isn't that a more correct way to describe their own pickups?

Even for resistance values, comparing among different pup makers with that doesn't make sense and wouldn't feed much information... but if its 2 identical pups but with differing resistance values - wouldn't one be able to make a confident guestimation about the differences between pickups?

 

[ShredCow]

actually this isn't a die-die-must-know issue, but i'm just doing it out of inquisitiveness.

Its okay. I wanted to change guitar necks just to hear the differences myself.

You're not alone.

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

yo bro, why you didnt start a thread on the neck changing thingy and see if anyone done it and noticed a difference?

 

[ShredCow]

because I decided... after getting a neck and forgetting to spec it right and so it didn't fit and then I sold it off... I just wanna play my guitar lah.

I mean... I've gone thru the guitar wiring stuff... guitar pickups... the pedals... and I decided not to bother with amps so much because I don't have the time to play then... and I still gungho itchy backside wanna try to change necks?!

Enough lah hor.

I'm not a professional, gotch no list of professional teachers to flaunt and I find that I actually have better things to do (like composing or practising) than swapping necks.

But. But! I wanna attach a DS to my pedalboard... only the DS so I can toe the touch screen.

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

insane! you mean got pro flaunting bout having pro teacher and like swapping neck?

nah, ds outta the flavour for the time, now attach psp. next round be black and white tv, tribute to old age with sound of future with circuit bending of now and nonsense of tomorrow!