A humbucker pickup device for active and passive guitars including a matched pair of elongated coil assemblies with two sets of ferromagnetic pole pieces also includes two elongated, transversely polarized permanent magnets positioned between and parallel to the coils. The magnets are beside each other with opposite poles facing each other. The magnets with two respective pole pieces under each string establish two narrow magnetic fields to interact with the string at two points and a weaker intermediate magnetic field between the said pole pieces. The humbucker device includes an improved differential amplifier built from two or three operational amplifiers. Alternatively, the device may include a steel plate between the magnets for further weakening the intermediate magnetic field. Both embodiments, with and without the plate, are described.

A humbucking pickup for a musical instrument has a bobbin assembly with first and second bobbins. The musical instrument can be an electric guitar. A first coil is wound around the first bobbin, and a second coil is wound around the second bobbin. A permanent magnet or a plurality of permanent magnets extend through the first coil and second coil of the bobbin assembly. A housing is disposed over the bobbin assembly. Blades are disposed over side surfaces of the housing to redirect the magnetic flux toward the strings. A plurality of strings of the musical instrument is routed over a top surface of the housing parallel to opposing poles of the permanent magnet. Movement of the strings of the musical instrument disturbs a magnetic flux of the permanent magnet proximate to a first pole of the permanent magnet and a second pole of the permanent magnet.

A pickup for a guitar that has four (4) or more separate magnetic coils and selection means to select among the coil outputs. In some embodiments, the pickup is passive, not requiring an active pre-amplifier and voltage supply to shape the sound. In some embodiments, the selection means may be incremental or continuous, providing a wider degree to selectivity between and among the outputs of the separate coils.

An apparatus for enhancing the output of a stringed musical instrument having a plurality of offset substantially parallel strings, the apparatus comprising a pickup assembly having tapered poles so as to incrementally vary the relative volume of adjacent strings.

A pickup for a guitar that has four (4) or more separate magnetic coils and selection means to select among the coil outputs. In some embodiments, the pickup is passive, not requiring an active pre-amplifier and voltage supply to shape the sound. In some embodiments, the selection means may be incremental or continuous, providing a wider degree to selectivity between and among the outputs of the separate coils.

A method for delivering a pre-selected amplified output of a set of strings of a stringed instrument including providing a magnet member associated with each string of the stringed instrument wherein each magnet member is configured to be arranged in a coil of a pickup mountable to the stringed instrument for detection and amplification of the vibration of the respective string, and adjusting each of the magnet members such the strength of the magnetic flux output by that magnet member is in a pre-determined relationship with the strength of magnetic flux output by each of the other magnet members, wherein the magnetic flux output by each of the magnet members facilitates amplification of the vibration of its respective string, when so vibrating, such that the amplified outputs of each of the strings combine to produce a pre-selected total amplified output.

A magnetic pickup system comprising a magnetic pickup and a ferromagnetic tone shaper without electrical connections that is magnetically coupled and separately mounted from the pickup on a musical instrument with ferromagnetic strings.

An electromagnetic pickup for electric guitars has one or two dual-coil assemblies wherein an inner coil is wound around a bobbin and then an outer coil around the inner coil. In the dual-coil assembly the inner coil replaces the entire or part of wall space of pole piece holes in a plastic molded bobbin. The outer and inner coils in the dual-coil assembly are electrically connected in-phase to produce single coil pickup sound. The outer coil or the serially connected inner and outer coils are connected to a coil in the other pole piece/bobbin/coil assembly out-of-phase to generate humbucking pickup sound.

A sound pickup for a stringed instrument, the sound pickup including a housing arranged at a body of the stringed instrument below strings, wherein the housing includes at least one magnet enveloped by a coil so that a magnetic field is generatable by the at least one magnet, wherein the coil is electrically connected with at least one amplifier and with at least one speaker so that a movement of the strings in the magnetic field generates an electrical current in the coil, wherein the sound pickup includes an arrangement configured to adjust the magnetic field of the magnet which causes an adjustment of sound characteristics of the instrument.

Variable pickup technology can be implemented on guitars. A guitar having variable pickup technology includes a variable ground path at a center tap of a humbucker pickup. The guitarist can vary this ground path across a continuous range of resistances. As a result, a single humbucker pickup can enable an infinite blend of sounds between a single coil configuration and a humbucker configuration. A guitar can include multiple humbucker pickups having variable pickup technology.