Geni Swing Guitars

Active Guitar

An electric guitar can make anyone feel like a rock star. However, not all electric guitars can make you produce tunes that sound like the ones played by famous guitarists like Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, Slash, and Keith Richards. While you can actually consider buying the same guitar models that these artists use, you can also simply choose the right pickups to improve the quality of the guitar that you're using at the moment. Here is a pickups guide to help you achieve that.

Types of pickups

Pickups are devices for trapping the string vibrations in your guitar and turning them into electronic signals for amplification and recording. Commonly used for electric, bass, and acoustic-electric guitars, they are usually available as passive and active types.

Passive-type pickups include multi-transducer and magnetic pickups while active ones include the optical and piezoelectric pickups. This pickups guide gives you an overview of what they are:

Multi-transducer: has different outputs for individual strings so each of them is amplified. These pickups can also be built within the guitar or the synthesizer and their pitches are detected by converters.

Magnetic: made of permanent magnets within coils of thin copper wire. They are mounted on the body of the guitar or connected to the neck.

Optical: these operate with LED light sources that produce light beams interrupted by guitar strings. They utilize photodiode detectors and phototransistors, are immune to magnetic and electric interferences, and give flat yet vast responses to frequencies.

Piezoelectric: These serve as alternatives to the magnetic pickups with a unique sound and less susceptibility to hums and feedbacks. They are usually found below the bridge or included as part of the guitar's bridge.

Sound quality matters

Concluding this pickups guide are buying tips so you can choose the right pickups for your guitar. Basically, if you don't like loud clippings or you want to make them unnoticeable, use a semi-linear preamp together with a piezoelectric pickup. Piezoelectric pickups are also ideal to achieve a wide range of sounds compared to magnetic ones.

Important information

A complete pickups guide is available at PickyGuide, the authority in free consumer advice. Access top-ranked, best-reviewed, and most competitively priced pickups in PickyGuide's recommended products section.

Emg Emg-81-7 7-String Guitar Active Pickup Black $108 EMG EMG-81-7 7-String Guitar Active Pickup Black

Emg 81-7X 7-String Active Guitar Pickup Black $115 EMG 81-7X 7-String Active Guitar Pickup BLACK

Emg 808X 8-String Active Guitar Pickup Black $115 EMG 808X 8-String Active Guitar Pickup BLACK

Emg 707X 7-String Active Guitar Pickup Black $115 EMG 707X 7-String Active Guitar Pickup BLACK

Emg Emg-60 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Black $105 EMG EMG-60 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Black

Emg Emg-60 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Gold $125 EMG EMG-60 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Gold

Emg Emg-60 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Chrome $125 EMG EMG-60 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Chrome

Emg Emg-81 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Black $105 EMG EMG-81 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Black

Emg Emg-81 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup White $105 EMG EMG-81 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup White

Emg Emg-81 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Chrome $125 EMG EMG-81 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Chrome

Emg Emg-81 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Gold $125 EMG EMG-81 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Gold

Emg Emg-60-7 7-String Active Guitar Pickup Black $108 EMG EMG-60-7 7-String Active Guitar Pickup Black

Emg Emg-707 7-String Guitar Active Pickup Black $93.96 EMG EMG-707 7-String Guitar Active Pickup Black

Emg 60-7X 7-String Active Guitar Pickup Black $115 EMG 60-7X 7-String Active Guitar Pickup BLACK

Emg Emg-60 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup White $105 EMG EMG-60 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup White

Emg Emg-60 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Ivory $99 EMG EMG-60 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Ivory

Emg Emg-81 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Ivory $105 EMG EMG-81 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Ivory

Schecter Guitar Research Omen Fr Active Electric Guitar Satin Black $449 Schecter Guitar Research Omen FR Active Electric Guitar Satin Black

Schecter Guitar Research Omen-6 Active Electric Guitar Black $399 Schecter Guitar Research Omen-6 Active Electric Guitar Black

Schecter Guitar Research Omen-7 Active Electric Guitar Satin Black $449 Schecter Guitar Research Omen-7 Active Electric Guitar Satin Black

Schecter Guitar Research Omen-6 Active Electric Guitar Satin Black $399 Schecter Guitar Research Omen-6 Active Electric Guitar Satin Black

Schecter Guitar Research Omen-7 Active Electric Guitar Black $449 Schecter Guitar Research Omen-7 Active Electric Guitar Black

Schecter Guitar Research Omen Fr Active Electric Guitar Black $449 Schecter Guitar Research Omen FR Active Electric Guitar Black

Isp Technologies Vector 112 300W 1X12 Active Guitar Subwoofer $1164.97 ISP Technologies Vector 112 300W 1x12 Active Guitar Subwoofer

Emg Emg-89R Split Coil Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Black $120 EMG EMG-89R Split Coil Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Black

Emg 89X Dual-Mode Active Humbucker Guitar Pickup Ivory $130 EMG 89X Dual-Mode Active Humbucker Guitar Pickup IVORY

Emg Emg-81Tw Active Dual-Mode Humbucker Guitar Pickup Black $120 EMG EMG-81TW Active Dual-Mode Humbucker Guitar Pickup Black

Dtar Perfect Timbre Active Piezo Pickup System For Acoustic Guitar $139.3 Dtar Perfect Timbre Active Piezo Pickup System For Acoustic Guitar

Emg Emg-Sa Single Coil Active Guitar Pickup Set White $199 EMG EMG-SA Single Coil Active Guitar Pickup Set White

Emg Emg-Sa Single Coil Active Guitar Pickup Set Black $199 EMG EMG-SA Single Coil Active Guitar Pickup Set Black

Emg Savx Active Single-Coil Guitar Pickup Set Black $229 EMG SAVX Active Single-Coil Guitar Pickup Set BLACK

Emg Savx Active Single-Coil Guitar Pickup Set White $229 EMG SAVX Active Single-Coil Guitar Pickup Set WHITE

Emg Sax Active Single-Coil Guitar Pickup Set White $229 EMG SAX Active Single-Coil Guitar Pickup Set WHITE