Official Luthiers Forum!

How much impact does pickup cavity size (width length depth) have on sound?

My current build is a Jazzmaster body made of poplar (cus I got it free at work) with a Dimarzio Super Distortion Pick up ready to go into it....I only want a bridge pick up because thats all I play (95% of the time on any guitar) so there was no point in spending double the amount on pick ups. I wasn't sure how far from the bridge to put my pick up....probably standard distance (just under an inch)....I was just curious what I could expect if I made the opening a little bigger to allow me to move the pick up around a bit.

I'm thinking the only way to answer that is to take your guitar that has been routed to fit the pickup, make some good recordings and then change the cavity to whatever shape that suits you- assemble, record to compare.

I don't know anyone that has done that and I'm not certain if they had that it would mean you'd get the same results or impact.

How much impact does it have on you when the pickup is screw mounted to the body or mounted to the pickguard? Curious is all.

None

_________________
wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

With the pickup you're using, I doubt the body wood or the cavity routing will have any effect on the sound.

_________________
A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

LOL are you calling me loud and obnoxious? People around here aren't suppose to know me that well yet.

There's been quite a bit of debate here about how much the wood affects the tone of a solid or chambered electric.
About the only consensus was that it makes less difference with a high output pickup.

_________________
A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon