The component on an electric guitar or bass that converts string vibration into a signal.
A pickup is the device mounted under the strings of an electric guitar or bass that senses the strings' vibration and converts it into an electrical signal, which is then sent to an amplifier. Its design shapes the instrument's core tone: single-coil pickups (as on a classic Stratocaster) sound bright, clear and articulate but can hum, while humbuckers (as on a Les Paul) are thicker, warmer and louder with less noise, favoured for rock and metal. Many guitars carry more than one pickup in different positions, and a selector switch lets the player blend or choose between them for a range of tones — which is why pickup type and position are central to choosing an electric guitar.
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