DC Resistance (Ω)

PLEASE NOTE: All DC readings shown for pickups on our website are batch averages with readings taken over extended periods of time. If you take readings on your Lollar pickup(s), it is typical for them to vary from the posted readings, for reasons covered below. Lollar Pickups are built to specific turn counts, not DC averages.

• DC resistance (Ohms) is a handy but rough measure. The DC resistance of a pickup will change based on variables such as temperature. For example, if a pickup has been sitting by a sunny window and is warmer, the DC resistance will read higher. If you took that same pickup and stored it someplace with a cooler temperature, the DC resistance would read lower. (For more on this, read our blog post on how temperature affects DC resistance.)
• The DC resistance will also read lower once a pickup has been installed into your guitar.
• DC resistance is actually just a measurement of how many feet of wire there is on a particular coil, assuming you know what gauge the coil wire is.
• The size and shape of the coil can make a dramatic difference in ohms. For example, a Jazzmaster pickup has a low, wide coil whereas a Strat pickup has a taller, narrower coil. A Jazzmaster pickup with the equivalent amount of turns as a Strat pickup will have a much higher ohm reading due to the extra length of coil wire around the perimeter of the wider pickup.
• Variations in copper wire will affect a pickup's ohms reading. Although it's manufactured to rigorous specs, variation exists between spools of copper wire—including spools made by the same manufacturer and from the same lot number. A microscopic size variance—one that's still within the wire's gauge specifications—can affect DC resistance.
• Wire gauge effects DC resistance. Larger diameter wire reads lower and thinner wire reads higher so you can have a lower resistance coil with more output than a higher resistance coil.
• Equipment calibration can vary between ohm meters and can also change if your battery is low.
• A person's body chemistry can cause false resistance readings if they touch the meter leads while measuring coil resistance.

Magnets

• Magnet "strength": To list magnet type like AL-2, AL-3, or AL-5 can be a little misleading. This is because we use our own proprietary techniques to gauss and/or de-gauss our magnets.
• AL-2, AL-3, AL-5 are not a measure of magnet strength. The formulas of different proportions of trace metals that are mixed with ferrous material. These different mixtures give different magnetic and tonal qualities.
• Magnet type like AL-2, AL-3, AL-5 is also not a "stand-alone" thing. It has to be considered along with the type of wind and overall design of the pickup assembly. The results aren't necessarily "cut and dried." In other words, you still have to do R&D on the overall sound. It's the variables added together that shape the overall sound.

Inductance (H)

• When iron or an iron-based (ferrous) metal moves within a magnetic field, it has the capacity to induce a current in any conductive material also in that magnetic field (i.e. the copper wire coil). This is inductance—a measure of the physical property to induce a current. In general, the greater the inductance, the greater the output and greater the bass response.