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Pickups Guide
Active vs. Passive - EMG-Designed Pickups - Fishman Transducer Pickups - Humbuckers
Active vs. Passive Pickups
Simply
put, active pickups have a circuit that requires battery power, whereas
passive pickups don’t require any additional power to operate.
However, this simple difference can mean a lot to your guitar’s tone
and overall output.
Passive pickups
send a low output, raw signal to the amp that can only be affected by
the volume and tone controls on the instrument itself. Passive pickups
tend to lose the extremes of high and low frequencies, but still give a
very even and punchy tone. This is because passive pickups tend to
push out more midrange frequencies. While passive pickups might give
players less dynamic control, their smooth sound is still very unique
and desirable.
Active pickups
have pre-amps that are built into the pickup housing, so they can drive
the signal to the amp themselves. This pre-amp must be powered by a
source other than the amp; so active pickups require a separate battery
to operate. This allows the pickup to send a higher output signal,
producing a more complete, full-range sound than most passive pickup
systems and giving players more control of instrument dynamics,
projection and tone.
EMG-Designed Pickups
Johnson
electric guitars and basses are equipped with pickups designed by EMG.
EMG pickups are an industry standard known for their noise-canceling
qualities and vibrant tone. EMG-designed pickups on Johnson electric
guitars and basses are created using a precise method of coil
construction for greater sonic tonality. Instruments with these pickups
feature a "Johnson EMG" tag printed on the pickup.
Fishman Transducer Pickups
Fishman
Transducer pickups are some of the best sounding onboard pickups for
acoustic guitars. Johnson acoustic guitars are adored with Fishman
Transducer pickups and the Fishman Classic 4 preamp. The preamp has a
4-band EQ with treble, mid, bass, brilliance and volume. The Classic 4
is an undersaddle, battery-powered transducer pickup and preamp. These
pickups deliver the classic Fishman sound, making Johnson guitars great
plugged or unplugged.
Humbuckers
Humbuckers
are pickups that are designed with opposing polarities. This gives
them a noise (hum) canceling effect, thus called “hum-bucking” or
humbuckers. Humbuckers are generally known for having a thicker sound
than a single coil pickup. They are equally good for both clean,
low-volume playing and ear-splitting distortion.
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