A typical magnetic pickup is a transducer (specifically a variable reluctance sensor) that consists of one or more permanent magnets (usually alnico or ferrite) wrapped with a coil of several thousand turns of fine enameled See more

Some pickup products are installed and used similarly to piezoelectric pickups, but use different underlying technology, for instance electret or condenser microphone technology. See more

Hexaphonic pickups (also called divided pickups and polyphonic pickups) have a separate output for each string (Hexaphonic assumes six strings, as on a guitar). This allows for separate processing and amplification for each string. It also allows … See more

Pickups can be either active or passive. Pickups, apart from optical types, are inherently passive transducers. "Passive" pickups are usually wire-wound around a magnet, and are the most common type used. They can generate electric potential without need for … See more

Sensors
The piezoelectric pickup contains a piezo crystal, which converts the vibrations directly to a … See more

There are basically four principles used to convert sound into an alternating current, each with their pros and cons:
1. See more

Optical pickups are a fairly recent development that work by sensing the interruption of a light beam by a vibrating string. The light source is usually an LED, and the detector is a photodiode or phototransistor. These pickups are completely resistant … See more