What's a pickup in guitar language?

Question

I"ve been teaching myself guitar and there are pickups...what r they and how do u play em?

Answer 1

I wish my son was home. He'd know just exactly how to answer your question. He is a guitar-head that is studying at USC for the summer. Here is a great website that might be able to answer your question. http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/pickups.php My son has many guitars but his favorite is a Les Paul Gibson. He just got vintage humbucker pickups for it before he left for college.

Answer 2

Pickups are coils of wire that are used to "create" the sound when you play an electric guitar. They are the rectangular objects under the string on the base of the guitar. There are many types and all offer different sounds. They are magnetic and use the electrical current created when you vibrate the strings (pluck/strum) to "pickup" the sound. Try looking around on the website www.howthingswork.com to find out exactly how they work, it escapes me at the moment.

Answer 3

A pickup is a device on an electric guitar that "picks up" the vibrations of the string and sends it to the amplifier.

Most electric guitars have at least two of them, some have three, and a switch that allows you to select which one is active, for different tonal qualities.

Answer 4

A pickup device acts as a transducer that captures mechanical vibrations (usually from suitably equipped stringed instruments such as the electric guitar, electric bass guitar or electric violin) and converts them to an electronic signal which can be amplified and recorded.

It is already a part of your guitar (electric)

Answer 5

guitars can have 1 or more pickups- my strat has 3; you can chose which one or a combo of 2 that are currently active. They are electromagnets under the strings about where the soundhole would be.

Answer 6

i dont think you play pickups....

they are used for electric guitars to pickup the sound and send it to the amps... under the strings... where you would strum...