How does a guitar pickup work?

Closeup of an electric guitar pickup on a Fender Stratocaster
(Image credit: Future)

Hi, I’m Scott Lawing, the inventor of the Zexcoil hum-canceling pickup. The editors at GW asked me to write an article for the website, and I’ve got a lot to say about how pickups work.

We’re doing some pretty innovative things with pickup design largely because our unique platform has forced us to think out of the box. But before I get into anything more specific to what we do, I wanted to set the record straight about something much more global: How do guitar pickups really work? I’m willing to bet it’s not how most of you think.

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