Charlie Christian pickup
Encyclopedia
The "Charlie Christian" pickup was an early electric guitar
pickup. It was first used on the Gibson ES-150
, which entered the market in 1936. The ES-150 was the first electric "Spanish-style" guitar; previous electric guitars had been designed to be played lap, or "Hawaiian" style
. Jazz musician Charlie Christian
's pioneering use of the ES-150 demonstrated to the world that the electric guitar was a viable instrument. The association between Christian and the ES-150 was so strong that it became known as the "Charlie Christian Guitar" (even though no formal association between Christian and Gibson
ever existed), and the pickup that gave the instrument its voice was referred to as the "Charlie Christian pickup."
Although the principle of the magnetic induction coil had been applied to musical instruments for years, the Charlie Christian pickup represented a departure from previous ideas. Earlier pickups featured either a horseshoe magnet
that arched over the strings (as found on the Rickenbacker
A-22 "Frying Pan"
), or a static coil through which a magnet passed, the magnet being vibrated by the guitar's bridge (a design used by former Gibson employee Lloyd Loar
on his Vivitone guitar). The Charlie Christian pickup has an appearance immediately familiar to modern guitarists, although it is constructed quite differently from pickups today.
The Charlie Christian pickup consists of a coil of copper wire wound around a black plastic bobbin. The coil has a rectangular hole in its center, and the coil and bobbin fit around a chrome-plated steel blade polepiece. Attached at right angles to the bottom of the polepiece are a pair of five-inch-long (13 cm) steel bar magnets, which remain out of sight inside the instrument. These magnets are secured to the top of the ES-150 by the three bolts visible on the guitar's top. The entire assembly is about six inches (15 cm) long, and weighs nearly two pounds (900 g).
There were three different varieties of Charlie Christian pickup produced by Gibson, and all three are distinguished by the polepiece:
After guitar production resumed following World War II
, the introduction of ceramic
and alnico
magnets made it possible to build a smaller, lighter guitar pickup, but continued demand among jazz guitarists for the then-legendary Charlie Christian pickup led to it being fitted on custom order guitars throughout the 1940s, '50s and '60s. The first production model to feature the pickup since 1942 was the 1978 Gibson ES-175CC, 489 units of which were shipped with "recreated" Charlie Christian pickups. The Gibson Custom and Historic Department began offering Super 400 model guitars with the Charlie Christian pickup in 2000.
In 2007 the Gibson
Custom Shop released an "Inspired By" guitar based on John Lennon
's modified Les Paul Junior that featured a Charlie Christian pickup in the neck position.
A number of independent guitar pickup manufacturers offer recreations of the Charlie Christian pickup.
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
pickup. It was first used on the Gibson ES-150
Gibson ES-150
The Gibson Guitar Corporation's ES-150 guitar is generally recognized as the world's first commercially successful Spanish-style electric guitar. The ES stands for Electric Spanish, and it was designated 150 because it cost $150, along with an EH-150 amplifier and a cable.After its introduction in...
, which entered the market in 1936. The ES-150 was the first electric "Spanish-style" guitar; previous electric guitars had been designed to be played lap, or "Hawaiian" style
Lap steel guitar
The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
. Jazz musician Charlie Christian
Charlie Christian
Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian was an American swing and jazz guitarist.Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra...
's pioneering use of the ES-150 demonstrated to the world that the electric guitar was a viable instrument. The association between Christian and the ES-150 was so strong that it became known as the "Charlie Christian Guitar" (even though no formal association between Christian and Gibson
Gibson
Gibson may refer to:* Gibson Amphitheatre* Gibson Appliance* Gibson Girl* Gibson Guitar Corporation* Gibson * Gibson Generating Station-Places:In the United States:* Gibson, Arkansas* Gibson, Georgia* Gibson, Iowa* Gibson, Louisiana...
ever existed), and the pickup that gave the instrument its voice was referred to as the "Charlie Christian pickup."
Although the principle of the magnetic induction coil had been applied to musical instruments for years, the Charlie Christian pickup represented a departure from previous ideas. Earlier pickups featured either a horseshoe magnet
Magnet
A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, and attracts or repels other magnets.A permanent magnet is an object...
that arched over the strings (as found on the Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...
A-22 "Frying Pan"
Frying pan (guitar)
The "frying pan" was the first electric lap steel guitar ever produced. George Beauchamp created the instrument in 1931, and it was subsequently manufactured by Rickenbacker Electro...
), or a static coil through which a magnet passed, the magnet being vibrated by the guitar's bridge (a design used by former Gibson employee Lloyd Loar
Lloyd Loar
Lloyd Allayre Loar was a Gibson sound engineer and master luthier in the early part of the 20th century. He is most famous for his F5 model mandolin, L5 guitar, H5 mandola, K5 mandocello, and A5 mandolin....
on his Vivitone guitar). The Charlie Christian pickup has an appearance immediately familiar to modern guitarists, although it is constructed quite differently from pickups today.
Physical properties
There were three different varieties of Charlie Christian pickup produced by Gibson, and all three are distinguished by the polepiece:
- The first of these was produced from 1936 until mid-1938 and had a plain blade polepiece. The coil was wound to about 2.4 kΩ resistance using AWG 38 enameled wire.
- The second type was introduced on ES-150s built from mid-1938 onward, and featured a polepiece that had a notch cut out below the second (B) string. This modification was made to lower the volume of the B string, which sounded significantly louder than the other strings. At this time the coil was wound with a finer wire (AWG 42) resulting in more turns and an approximately 5.2 kΩ resistance, which gave the pickup a higher output.
- The third pickup was available on the Gibson ES-250Gibson ES-250The Gibson ES-250 was the second edition of the Gibson ES-150 amplified guitar, though released in several different versions. It had 17" body width and a 21" body length. It had a curly maple back and a spruce top with a maple neck and rosewood fingerboard...
, which was available beginning in 1939. The blade on this pickup had five notches, each located between the strings. This pickup also had a more compact internal design. It featured a cobalt steel slug that was small enough to sit directly under the pickup.
Sound
The sound this pickup produced is clear—thanks to the narrow string-sensing blade—and powerful because of the relatively high resistance of the coil. Uneven magnetic flux within the steel magnets could cause some distortion in the signal. Electromagnetic hum was a big problem with these pickups because of their large surface area and utter lack of shielding.After guitar production resumed following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the introduction of ceramic
Ferrite (magnet)
Ferrites are chemical compounds consisting of ceramic materials with iron oxide as their principal component. Many of them are magnetic materials and they are used to make permanent magnets, ferrite cores for transformers, and in various other applications.Many ferrites are spinels with the...
and alnico
Alnico
Alnico is an acronym referring to iron alloys which in addition to iron are composed primarily of aluminium , nickel and cobalt , hence al-ni-co, with the addition of copper, and sometimes titanium. Alnico alloys are ferromagnetic, with a high coercivity and are used to make permanent magnets...
magnets made it possible to build a smaller, lighter guitar pickup, but continued demand among jazz guitarists for the then-legendary Charlie Christian pickup led to it being fitted on custom order guitars throughout the 1940s, '50s and '60s. The first production model to feature the pickup since 1942 was the 1978 Gibson ES-175CC, 489 units of which were shipped with "recreated" Charlie Christian pickups. The Gibson Custom and Historic Department began offering Super 400 model guitars with the Charlie Christian pickup in 2000.
In 2007 the Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
Custom Shop released an "Inspired By" guitar based on John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's modified Les Paul Junior that featured a Charlie Christian pickup in the neck position.
A number of independent guitar pickup manufacturers offer recreations of the Charlie Christian pickup.