The Great Guitar Cable Myth?
On Tue, 6 Jun 2017 01:42:55 -0700 (PDT), Phil Allison
wrote:
Don Pearce wrote:
------------------
You must put the inductance in there, otherwise you get no resonant
peak.
** As I'm sure you already know, magnetic guitar pick ups have a large resonant peak without any additional cable capacitance.
Plus, cable capacitance is pretty much isolated from the PU if the volume pot is not turned most or all the way up.
One it is, the resonant frequency will drop by maybe an octave or two.
BTW:
It's simple to add a FET follower preamp to an electric guitar or bass and render cable noise and capacitance moot.
Guitar makers must think there is no good reason to do so.
.... Phil
Yes, the standard electrical model for a guitar pickup is a voltage
source in series with an inductor and a resistor, then a capacitor
(representing inter-winding capacitance) in parallel with the lot. The
pickup itself usually has a self resonance of about 6kHz for a single
coil, and 4kHz for a humbucker. Adding cable capacitance to that
shifts the resonance down. Backing off the volume control dulls the
effect on the resonance, but makes the sound overall muddier because
you get a simple high-cut filter. A small (100pF) capacitor across the
top half of the volume control counters this to an extent.
But self resonance plus a few yards of cable are part of the signature
sound of a guitar, and most makers take that into account when
designing. I've tried a FET amp in the guitar, and the sound is a bit
more shrill than I liked. Of course there are now also active pickups
that contain the amp. They are liked by shredders who kill any tone
with brickwall clipping.
d
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