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Yoshi’s Tech Corner : Active electric guitar pickups an introduction
Posted By Hiroshi on April 8, 2012
So, maybe you have been hearing people talk about “active pickups” and are wondering what they are talking about?
Well, worry no more, today we are going on a journey to active pickup land, and hopefully I can help you with your pickup quandary.
To start, you need to know what a regular non active or passive pickups is. A passive pickup is a pickup that through a magnetic coil or some other means creates an electric signal from the vibrations of the strings and transmits it to an amplifier so the volume can be increased and/or recorded. This pickup works on its own without any further assistance.
The “active” part of an active pickup has a thing called a pre-amplifier which is located either on the pickup or in the control cavity of the guitar. What it does is alter the signal, eq and output before the signal goes to the amplifier. What this means for you is that (depending on the model) aside from your normal volume and tone control, you could possibly have low, mid, and high control as well.
There are draw backs though with active pickups. They require a power source. Also, if the system runs on a 9 volt, the way the system saves power is that when the instrument is unplugged, the circuit is disconnected. So if you leave the cable in the instrument while not playing it, the battery will drain faster than normal.
Another pro/con, depending on who you talk to, active pickups change the sound of the instrument. This also goes for any pickup change, but it is worth stating. The hard part is that the sound change is extremely subjective so the best thing to do if you can is to try it out for your self and form your own opinion. Secondly active pickups cut out a lot of background noise associated with passive pickups so if you are in a magnetically “noisy” area they might help.
Hopefully this article has educated and informed you about active pickups, and helped guide you in the direction you desire. If you still want to try out a guitar with active pickups we usually have one at our stores so give us a call or come on down and check us out.
Drum Chops Builder Exercise!!!
Posted By Bryan on March 25, 2012
Give this exercise a try if you want to build your drum chops. It helps you with timing, speed, transitions, and stamina. You can do this exercise anywhere. You don’t even need sticks(for you conga players out there.) Have fun with this!
Hey what are frets made of exactly?
Posted By Hiroshi on March 11, 2012
Hello good people,
I think every one at some point has thought.
“what are frets made of?”
and to answer your question, frets have been made of almost everything. From string, wood, various metals, even quartz…yes quartz the mineral. Today though we are going to focus on the most common fret material used, nickel silver frets.
Nickel silver also known as German silver has been used as far back as the 1700′s for silverware, jewlery, brass instruments, and counterfeit coins. The “silver” in the name is descriptive of the color not the actual makeup of the alloy. The alloy is a mix of copper, nickel, and zinc. It has been popular because of it durability and workability, which is probably the same reason why it became popular for use on guitars.
Things that different manufacturers change are the content of nickel in the alloy which changes the hardness and the size of the frets. Sizes can range from super small vintage size to gigantic ( at one point I saw some frets that were almost 1/4th of an inch tall!!). These changes can alter tone and playability.
Anatomy of a fret
Well I hope you learned something new from this article and I am looking to make more like them so keep an eye open for them. Until then though, if you have any questions, please give us a call at 808-591-0999. Don’t FRET, more articles like this to come.
Easy Music has a new Guitar Tech
Posted By Hiroshi on February 6, 2012
Hi everyone Just wanted to let you know that I am going to be Easy Music Centers new guitar tech.
Some of you might of have known me as the electric guitar guy at the king street location.
I was chosen to become the new guitar tech after the position became open. Previously before I became the tech I always enjoyed working on my own guitars and experimenting with repairs and modifications.
The school I went to was the Mountain view Luthier school and Guitar works which is located north of Bellingham Washington by the Canadian border . There they went over things like basic setup, fret dressing, fret replacement, nut and saddle fabrication, and introduced me to more advanced concepts of repair like fixing broken necks and cracked sound boards on acoustics.
The Instructors workbench
The student work area
Doing some fret dressing
One of the steps to removing a guitar neck
So now I am here to help you with your guitar problems.
I can do
-setups
-restrings
-tuner installation
- Electric guitar pickup replacement
-electronics work
-some fret work
-Strap button installs
If you have any questions feel free to give us a call at 808-591-0999
Dimarzio Pickups – ESP ST203-FR Part 2 Electric Boogaloo
Posted By Billy on January 11, 2012
A while back I did a post confessing my love for a particular guitar I had acquired from our store , the ESP ST203-FR. I showed how I did a couple of tweaks and upgrades to make it rock out even better than it did off the rack ( Dimarzio pickups, U.S. Floyd Rose, Giant brass block ) . I guess you can consider this the sequel to the demo I did a while back. I wanted to let you hear the guitar in a more ideal situation…..LIVE!!!! Here is a quick video of me and my band Rock Opera Theater throwing down with my favorite axe.
Sound Quality – It is all relative…
Posted By Peter on October 13, 2011
So I finally got completely kicked out of my parent’s house. You know those boxes they were gracious enough to store for you since high school or those college days? My mother dumped them all in my office a few weeks ago as she unambiguously cut the umbilical cord. I’d been storing my old college dorm room stereo system at my folks house for over 12 years. I used to think this Sony receiver and the Bose speakers were the ultimate setup. I thought the quality of sound was unmistakeably awesome. I was super excited the other day to bust out one of my turntables and listen to some vinyl on my old stereo system. I was saddened by what I heard. Well, first I was excited that it still worked, but then, when I heard the sound quality, my heart sank. Gone was the exciting sound I used to hear. All I hear now is some raspy highs combined with too much low end. 12 years ago it sounded different to me. After hearing great PA speakers in the store and being spoiled by my Adam studio monitor setup, this home system is missing a lot now.Sound is relative. What you have is great until you hear something better. It’s hard being hooked on gear…I think I need a pair of QSC K10 for my living room…
