Pickup simulators

[icecycle66]

Why aren't there pickup simulators?

Or are there and I just don't know about them.

Pickup simulator:
A pedal or other device that simulates the audible output of various pickups.

Let's say I'm too poor to buy some mack daddy bass. But I buy a decent Squire from Guitar Center. I really wanted that ESP with EMG pickups, but it was too expensive.

Oh look, and EMG pickup simulator, I can plug my bass into that and now sound like I'm playing through EMGs.

I find this just as reasonable as amp or cab simulators.
Or is this just the same thing as a tone pedal?

[selfdestroyer]

I have seen a few things floating around

http://www.muzique.com/lab/pickups.htm
http://www.diyrecordingequipment.com/store/kits/passive-pickup-emulator-bundle/

Also, one of the guys on Ilovefuzz posted this.. I am looking for the details.


Looks so sweet.

[jubal81]

I have seen a few things floating around

http://www.muzique.com/lab/pickups.htm
http://www.diyrecordingequipment.com/store/kits/passive-pickup-emulator-bundle/

Also, one of the guys on Ilovefuzz posted this.. I am looking for the details.


Looks so sweet.

That is one sharp, sharp build.

[kothoma]

EMGs are low impedance pickups. So their resonance frequency is very high. All in all they provide a broad frequency spectrum, especially more highs than traditional pickups. This lays the base for shaping it in many ways.

What works quite well with my strat and classic pickups:

Using a state variable filter as resonant lowpass allows to make it sound more Tele, more P90, more PAF, more anything. Right, you don't get the true thing, but near.
With a little compression added the darker/humbuckerish sounds also feel (dynamically) a bit like humbuckers. You won't get the humbucking, of course.
Also works quite well to make split humbuckers more convincing.

To make it work with (full) humbuckers you first need to flat their natural resonance peak (with a para eq) and then apply the new higher peak to get it more like single coils. You won't really get the high sparkle and the dynamics, of course.

Edit: here's someone demoing it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFDSe6p6qK8

[selfdestroyer]

something like this Kothoma?



Ill have to read up on this some. Sounds interesting.

[kothoma]

Bingo! I tried this perfboard but failed. That was my last attempt at perfboard...
But there is also a PCB layout and even Eagle files and that worked great:
http://forum.musikding.de/vb/showthread.php?27375-Alembic-SVF
(Eagle files also here: http://forum.musikding.de/cpg/albums/userpics/17486/alembic-state-variable-filter.zip)

Here's the schematic:


BTW Lemme published this SVF in his green book back in 1978.

[Gledison]

Maaaan! It seems always when somene has a great idea, its been already done somewhere else!
I also never heard about it!
The prob is if the pedal in the market will cost even more than the pickups it self!😜

[kothoma]

Well, Artec builds a Parametric EQ based on a SVF that sells for €33 and has 4+2 op amps.

[icecycle66]

Sweeeeeeet.

[garfo]

Bingo! I tried this perfboard but failed. That was my last attempt at perfboard...
But there is also a PCB layout and even Eagle files and that worked great:
http://forum.musikding.de/vb/showthread.php?27375-Alembic-SVF
(Eagle files also here: http://forum.musikding.de/cpg/albums/userpics/17486/alembic-state-variable-filter.zip)

Here's the schematic:


BTW Lemme published this SVF in his green book back in 1978.

Has anyone been successful building this circuit???I really want to try it...

[kothoma]

But there is also a PCB layout and even Eagle files and that worked great

Yes, fired up on first try. Used C taper for the freq pot but B should be fine too.

Edit: Just to make clear: the perfboard layout here certainly does works too, it's just my poor skills at working with perfboard that caused it to fail.

[garfo]

What does the dual pot actually do???Does it balance from one freq to the other?

[RobA]

The structure of the SVF needs those two resistors to move together. It can work to fix one and move the other, but this comes at a cost of frequency range and screwing up the shape of the filter.

I'm a bit confused as to why an SVF though. The main strength of the SVF is that it's got LP, BP, and HP taps in the one structure. If you aren't using those and only want the LP, there are probably better resonant lowpass filters that you could use.

Another alternative would be using a combo of a high shelf cut and a PEQ filter for the resonant peak. You could set those to move independently and get a wider range of pickup simulation and tighter control of the Q and resonant peak height. That'd be a few too many controls on the instrument, but if you are going to do it in a box, it seems like a good way to go.

[RobA]

One other thing that has been alluded to above is that this really won't work in a straight forward way for most pickups. Since the pickup already has an input resonant LP or two, it's cutout many of the frequencies you are going to want to get another pickup's sound. Or, since it's got a resonant peak of it's own, you'll have to counter that to get a flat response to then shape yourself. The whole idea would work much better with active pickups. For guitar, the SD Blackouts are pretty ideal this way. I've got them in my Les Paul and you can shape them all over the place.

[garfo]

One other thing that has been alluded to above is that this really won't work in a straight forward way for most pickups. Since the pickup already has an input resonant LP or two, it's cutout many of the frequencies you are going to want to get another pickup's sound. Or, since it's got a resonant peak of it's own, you'll have to counter that to get a flat response to then shape yourself. The whole idea would work much better with active pickups. For guitar, the SD Blackouts are pretty ideal this way. I've got them in my Les Paul and you can shape them all over the place.

I'm just a big Wal bass fan...I believe the Wal preamp works some how like this one...am I wrong?!