whack ass idea for pickup

[kg]

no magnet in the pickup, just a coil.

magnetism is in the strings themselves in the form of an induced field via current flowing through them.

i'm sure it's been attempted... but by whom?

[FunkyKikuchiyo]

I would suspect that any current large enough to develop a magnetic field to be picked up by a magnetless inductor would be large enough to at LEAST be unpleasant to the player, if not lethal. Unless you want to play with rubber gloves on...

That's just a guess, though.

[CRU JONES]

Let's say the string is a one ohm load. The current through the string would be: one amp per volt. I'd say that's safe... Unless you are scared of getting burned!
Cru

[CRU JONES]

Would not a humbucker "buck" the field?

[peskywinnets]

I think you nailed it in the subject - a whack ass idea.

First question - why? (what's the win?)

You're essentially substituing the permanent magnets in a pickup for electromagnetism (current through the string) ....& electromagnetism needs power!

The only way of getting the pickup's signal magnitude up, would be to increase the voltage into the string ...but with low string resistance, the current is gonna ramp up very quickly (not worried here about the safety aspects...1V isn't likely to harm...but it'll quickly whack your battery!) ...you can't even get any gearing (by having lots of windings)....nope you've essentially got one winding (the string!) - it's one for the "Whack ass ideas that will never get past the lol stage" drawer.

[kg]

I think you nailed it in the subject - a whack ass idea.

First question - why? (what's the win?)

i'm not sure yet, as i've never wound my own pickup, but i'm sure the pickup design itself is limited at some point by the necessity of the magnet.

what would a magnetless pickup look like?

[David King]

Well a magnet that magnetizes the string doesn't need to be inside the pickup coil, it could even be a high frequency electromagnet. Efficiency will drop.

[WolfeMacleod]

Done it in 1998. Sounds like shit.

[kg]

Done it in 1998. Sounds like shit.

there you go!

[soundmasterg]

Done it in 1998. Sounds like shit.

That was just your playing Wolfe!

Greg

[Mark Hammer]

Just curious. Is there a distinction between sounding like s**t, and sounding like ass? I mean, given that the two are so inextricably related, and given that the terms people use to describe pickup tone can be so arcane sometimes, I was just sort of wondering.

[Quarter]

Early Volu-Tone lap steel / amp combos had a setup in the 30's where you plugged the guitar into a special socket on the amp to "energize" the strings. As I recall it was something like 400v DC, very dangerous and discontinued after a couple years.
Here is a shot of the warning label in the amp.

[FunkyKikuchiyo]

Quarter - I forgot all about those! I knew a guy who had one. Never felt brave enough to try it, though.

Speaking of lap steels, a lot of older ones put the coil around the strings so the strings themselves ran through the core of the wire... it seems that would be the optimal way to do this if you wanted to eliminate magnets. Maybe not though.

[Danelectron]

Quarter, I've never seen anything like that. By energized I imagine they mean magnetized? What would be the results of magnetizing strings for use with standard pickups? The flux would be at 90 degrees to eachother so not much, no? Interesting picture.