What are the various magnetic field patterns on popular pickups?
Four effect: A standard Gibson style humbucker where the adjustable polepieces extend out the bottom of the adjustable side of the pickup. You have a slight loss of magnetic field out the bottom of the pickup. The stud side has direct flow of the magnetic field to the strings and is the brighter side of the pickup. One effect: This is the standard magnetic pattern for a single coil pickup with no ferrous bottom plate to direct the magnetic field. The majority of Fender style pickups have this effect where the magnetic field extends from the top and bottom. You lose efficiency from this pickup design but they have a unique tone and output. H effect: This is the magnetic field pattern of a humbucker that has a double row of adjustable pole pieces such as the Gretsch Filtertron and other modern humbucking pickup designs. In this design, there is also a loss of magnetic field out the base of the pickup but these are great pickups designed by Ray Butts and have a unique sound and tone. U ef
