Pickup Terminology

I have been reading about different pickup characteristics.

On one website a pickup is described as "compressing" when picking with a hard attack.

Another pickup is described as not compressing when picked with a hard attack.

Does anyone understand what this means in this context?


Also, in a third pickup "the strings can be pounded but the sound won’t crunch." By crunch do you think this is the same as the breaking up point when a note goes into distortion like overdrive? So they would be saying you can pick hard but the note will remain clean and not distort/overdrive?

the last one should mean that the pup will stay clean even when played hard. some pups will start breaking up a bit when played really hard. they compress, meaning you reached the end of the dynamic range.
not compressing should mean that the pup's dynamic range exceeds that of the string. of course, depending on the maker, who the hell knows what they mean. i see some very silly stuff from pup winders. like Amalfitano Pickups, he measures output in ohms. i would contact the winder, to see what they mean. of course imnsho, what they mean is that when a pup is low output, the amp at the same input sensitivity will stay clean, won't yet compress, and for hotter pups, when it says "breaks into crunch", just a comment that the pup has a higher output, the amp will go into break up when played hard. it is really misleading, as it has to do with the amp really, and the output of the pup. kinman (my guess is you are reading his bs) is the king of using catch phrases like "lighning fast response". i have never heard a slow pup. i have never experienced a lag from a pup. but it sounds cool, so he says it.

Sounds like pure BS to me. Crunch has SFA to do with the pickups, it's the amp that'll 'crunch'. I haven't the foggiest what the compression refers to, though Louis might be close with the dynamic range thing. But is that really compression?

Sounds like pure BS to me. Crunch has SFA to do with the pickups, it's the amp that'll 'crunch'. I haven't the foggiest what the compression refers to, though Louis might be close with the dynamic range thing. But is that really compression?

i really think they are trying to refer to what the amp does. just trying to snow people.

Yes it is from the Kinman website:

"The Trad Mk-III has aged sound which means more midrange content (less scooped), less brilliant (sweeter) highs and compresses when picked hard. The Impersonator 54 has non-aged sound and therefore has transparent (scooped) mids, brilliant highs and like a new pickup does not compress when picked hard."

I wish they were more accessible in the USA. He may speak in BS but the pickups might be acceptable. I'd like to try them.

i really think they are trying to refer to what the amp does. just trying to snow people.

I agree. But even still, it's impossible to make the assumption that the amp that every user of the product will compress.

I've just had a look at a manufacturer I like, and they have used the terms 'creamy compression' and 'mild compression' in relation to Strat replacement pickups. I think it must be a buzz word in the Strat world as I haven't ever come across it in the descriptions of any telecaster replacement pickups.

i really think they are trying to refer to what the amp does. just trying to snow people.

I agree. But even still, it's impossible to make the assumption that the amp that every user of the product will compress.

I've just had a look at a manufacturer I like, and they have used the terms 'creamy compression' and 'mild compression' in relation to Strat replacement pickups. I think it must be a buzz word in the Strat world as I haven't ever come across it in the descriptions of any telecaster replacement pickups.

Would you say they mean cream as in Cream the band and Clapton's "woman tone" or cream as in smooth milky and not-so-clear?

Sounds like pure BS to me. Crunch has SFA to do with the pickups, it's the amp that'll 'crunch'. I haven't the foggiest what the compression refers to, though Louis might be close with the dynamic range thing. But is that really compression?

What is "SFA"?

I think they mean creamy as a description of the sound. Smooth I guess.

SFA stands for 'sweet f*%k all'. It's an Australian colloquialism meaning 'absolutely nothing'

I had sent a Contact Message asking about these words and received a response today:

"We use the word *crunch* to describe "breaking up" at the point when the note begins to distort, as in overdrive. This breaking up is often referred to by guitar players as compression."


Has anyone here seen or heard "compression" used like this? Maybe this is something common in Australia? Kinman is more or less for sale to the world not just Australia. Maybe this is just a leftover from smaller beginnings?

So at this point I am still not sure which one means it breaks, compresses or does not compress. I guess "compress" means "crunch" according to Kinman. I have to join the website to have a two-way dialogue. For whatever reason they do not seem to be able to see my email address when you submit a Contact Message. ("Please be aware there is no means to continue this discussion. To do that please create a membership and use the Logged-in members Contact where ongoing discussion is possible on our internal message board.")


It looks to me like the words "compress" and "crunch" are used on the website as if they have dissimilar meanings.

All on the same page:

"AVn-59 slightly less powerful, slightly brighter with less mids than the SCn, crunches nicely with aggressive pick attack."
"SCn bridge pickup from the Blues set crunches nicely with aggressive pick attack."

"The Trad Mk-III has aged sound which means more midrange content (less scooped), less brilliant (sweeter) highs and compresses when picked hard."
"The Impersonator 54 has non-aged sound and therefore has transparent (scooped) mids, brilliant highs and like a new pickup does not compress when picked hard."

They should use the same word if it means the same thing. They should define what the word is supposed to mean in a Glossary as well.

I had sent a Contact Message asking about these words and received a response today:

"We use the word *crunch* to describe "breaking up" at the point when the note begins to distort, as in overdrive. This breaking up is often referred to by guitar players as compression."


Has anyone here seen or heard "compression" used like this? Maybe this is something common in Australia? Kinman is more or less for sale to the world not just Australia. Maybe this is just a leftover from smaller beginnings?

I wouldn't use the word 'compression' and 'distortion' and/or 'breaking up' interchangeably but distortion is] due to the waveform reaching its peak amplitude after which the top and bottom of the waveform flatten out, which is in effect compression. It is somewhat hard to put into words but this Wikipedia entry on distortion does a decent job; see especially the figures at the bottom. What I said above is what is called 'hard-clipping' in the article. This flattening out leads to other frequencies being mixed in which is what we perceive as distortion. But compressors as we musicians use them, like as an effects pedal, don't usually distort but rather act like dynamic volume controls. So I can totally understand your confusion.

Hope this helps,

- Jos

of course all of that is happening inside the amp. the pickup will not start distorting on its own. so he is simply describing output levels. as jos said, technically limiting is occurring with the onset of distortion as in clipping, but it is not compression as in compressors, those maintain the shape of the waveform more or less, just altering the magnitude of the attack of the envelope. rather, this is what people refer to when they talk about a tube amp's compression, which is really clipping. it bothers me to no end, that someone manufacturing a high end product knows so little about sound, and how it works.

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Guitar players are notorious for using vague jargon to describe everything. It seems to be the exception when people know exactly what they are talking about. I don't think the reference from Kinman is what most people are thinking of when they say compression. I suspect that most think of what the pedals do which loosely provide a sort of clean/sustain/ambience regardless of what they are technically doing to produce their effect.

Obviously I am one of those who does not know exactly what I am talking about.

I do see the correlation from what Jos has posted though.


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