Test Info
Each pickup and mic was recorded 3 ways using the same player with the same instrument playing the same excerpts:
Room An AKG C414 was placed in the room so that you can compare the acoustic performance to the amplified tone. Please note, there is also an acoustic control recording so that you can hear if the acoustic sound was affected by any of the pickups. In some cases, this was quite extreme.
Amp The signal was split into an amplifier, full range speaker (fishman SA 220) in an acoustically isolated room. hear how each pickup interacts with the amp. Again, no eq or effects were applied, and the amp was mice'd with another AKG C414 a few feet away to hear the sound in the room.
Direct Straight into a Grace Preamp... The cleanest most uncolored in the world. No effects or EQ was applied, so you can hear the real sound of the pickup and the pickup alone.
Each excerpt has four sections that are easily seen by using the breaks in the waveforms: 1. Legato 2. Double stops 3. Pizzicato 4. Chopping
What do we mean when we say The Pickup Test is the first ever scientifically accurate library of pickups for bowed string instruments? Check out our special "nerds only" video for more details.