Dylan McKerchie — wiring

Does Cable Length matter? In a word..... YES... In our discussions about Scatter winding found here, we learned that anytime you have long runs of electrical conductors laying next to each other, there is a potential for capacitive loss. As we know, capacitors in their basic form are filters. The more capacitance something has, the more high frequencies it filters or cuts from the signal. Guitar cables, especially of poor quality are very susceptible to this. Cables longer than about 15 feet start showing signs of signal loss to a trained ear. When we add a pedal board, we usually almost...

60Hz Hum Vs EMI/RF Hum in your guitar comes from a few different sources. We discussed how shielding can minimize RF/EMI noise HERE. Electromagnetic interference exists anywhere there is electricity. This is compounded by the fact that anything with a transformer in it, TVs, Fluorescent lights, Power supplies, all emit a lot of EMI because they contain coils. This means that you can have noise from devices that neither share a circuit with your guitar, or are connected in any way. This is because this interference travels through the air. No matter how effectively you have shielded your guitar, you...

What are eddy currents? Do they affect my tone? An eddy current is caused when there is a flat piece of metal perpendicular to the magnetic field. The metal doesn't need to be magnetic. These eddy currents are small spirals of current that are generated in the metal surface They work in opposition to the magnetic field that causes them. This causes an interference in the magnetic field. This causes a disruption in the movement of electrons in the winding wire. This in turn has the potential to cause changes in tone. What Does it Mean in my Guitar? If...

Why Wire Type Matters... The most common types of pickup coil wire today are, 42 Heavy FormVar, 42 Plain Enamel, 42 Poly, and 43 Plain enamel and Poly. There are a few others too, but these are in your many of the most popular pickups that you are familiar with. What is the difference and why does it matter? Gauge- The number refers to the thickness of the wire. The larger the number, the thinner the wire. Insulation Type- Each of these wire types is insulated. Heavy FormVar adds about .0004" to the diameter. Plain enamel adds about .0002". Poly...

Acoustic Guitar Vs Electric Guitar... Compression Vs Transverse Sound Waves Understanding how sound travels through an acoustic guitar Vs an electric guitar will help a lot in our understanding of setup, materials, and even how we play the guitar. Sound... Air is a Liquid? In order for sound to happen, we need an object to move at an audible frequency, and we need a medium for the sound to travel through. The vibrating object "pushes" on the medium, compresses the medium and one molecule pushes the next... the next... and so forth. We don't normally think of air as a...