The Bizarre Physics of Electric Guitars 

Weird that they decided to lie when "can make weird/unique guitar sounds" is WAY more interesting than "you can pick while awkwardly holding your hand 4 inches from the strings".

"The physics is simple, the human relations are complicated" sounds like a CGP Grey line.

This was a fun one. Also think about it: you're not gonna lose your picks anymore because you can just stick them to the guitar.

I'd argue that while it's not strictly a scam in that it does what it claims to, the advertising is still misleading in how it functions, which still makes it a scam. Like that Fushigi ball. It could technically do everything that was shown, but the advertising misled in how the trick was actually pulled off. It's just contact juggling.

It's shiny. It's heavy. It's $50. Exactly what a non-musician would think is a perfect gift for the guitar player they know. I feel like there's an 86% chance I receive one of these before the year is over.

My first thought was that it becomes quite important to avoid hitting the strings when using this thin neodymium magnet as they are quite brittle and can easily break if mishandled. I think that just gluing a couple of magnets on a regular pick is a safer idea if you want this effect and want to avoid having a sharp piece of metal close to your fingers...

What I haven't seen anyone mention yet, is the possibility of altering the magnetic characteristics of the pickup itself, by waving a strong magnet in close proximity to the pole pieces. This may be a small risk, but I've heard a very experienced musician claim he'd experienced storing a guitar too close to speaker magnets in amp cabs had weakened his pickup magnets. Exposure to a strong magnetic field is essentially how the strength of custom pickup magnets are tuned during manufacture for different tone characteristics,

You can hear the pick attack in the promotional videos. Someone probably recorded a guitar being played with a pick and mimicked the movements for the video. It wasn't just the left hand causing the strings to vibrate.

The lack of physics knowledge in the music community hurts me as an amateur scientist, who is a musician. For as well as we understand electromagnetic and audio effects, there's a lot of mysticism that gets added to the the discussion. "It's warm", "glassy", "overdriven", "mellow". As if those words mean anything. I've seen one Fourier transform of a guitar, and only one manufacturer provides accurate information on the pickups. All that to say, I would love a minutephysics deep dive into more electric guitar.

As a guitar player myself, I'm glad to see stuff like this on a physics channel :) That being said, if you want to replicate the same sound without that pick, tremolo is what you're looking for. Of course that would require a pedal (be it standalone or a multi effects unit), or an amp with built in tremolo. Both of which are pricier than the pick.

Good to see you back. Would love to see more content.

So the basic premise for these is that you're supposed to be hammering/pulling off (or perhaps even tapping) instead of playing the regular way and then use the magnetic pick to modulate... I think I'll stick to my pedalboard for modulation effects.

Neodymium magnets are quite brittle - they’re prone to breaking if they just snap together too quickly, so I’m kind of surprised that you can make a pick out of it. I presume it must have a sheath of steel to protect the magnet.

Wow, I can't believe I learned more about this product from a physics channel than any of the guitar channels.

Henry: you should try a guitar with a Sustainiac driver. That would make a neat physics video. Strings not only act like a metal diaphragm in a mic but also like a speaker/actuator/motor, through a driver circuit that actually causes the strings to vibrate sympathetically, giving you endless sustain.

It would make more sense to not combine the magnet into the pick. I would try mounting the magnet onto a ring, or a thimble you can stick on the tip of your ring finger. That way, you can use any pick you want, not worry about losing or breaking it, not worry about the magnetic interactions between pick and playing, and have some independence between the picking motion and the magnetic modulation.

Here's a fun thing you can try: You see the two screws beside your bridge pickup? If you turn those, you can move the pickup upwards closer to the strings. If the pickup is close enough to the strings, it will create a vibrato-effect when playing which is stronger depending on the selected pickup. Another interesting tidbit: David Gilmour allegedly used a strong magnet (a "cow magnet") on "Pink Floyd Live At Pompeii" to create the violin like sounds, not a slide. I will try it myself with a magnet (yes I'm aware of the danger to the pickup magnets!), since I get "friction noise" when trying a normal slide. And using an ebow on the high e-string is quite tricky.

Very fitting time to watch this as I’m picking up guitar and finishing up basic magnetic flux physics

I'm glad you played a bit at the end! I'd really like to see a bit more though, if combining picking and "magnet-picking" can create any interesting effects. I can see some potential in having it right there when needed!

solid video - I love deep dives into little rabbit holes like that

"The Physics is simple, the human relationships are complicated." - Understatement of the century.

so cool that you made a video on this I absolutely love learning about physics relating to music

Hey man, really appreciate you taking a look at this and diving into what these picks really do. As a tool this seems like a fun way to introduce some manual modulation into my playing, which I prefer most of the time. Like tap tempo on delays or the treadle of a wah I really prefer having a physical interface for dialing in effects. I think I'll buy some magnets of different types/strengths and see what I can come up with. Great video overall

The idea here is really neat. It's mostly a gimmick, but put it in the right hands and somebody is gonna do something really mindblowing on it.

I have been deeply invested in this controversy and I never expected it to make its way to such a big channel. Thanks so much for this video!

When I was about 13 years old, around 1964 I was curious about magnets. For some crazy reason I placed a magnet near our color TV screen. It was a fascinating image distortion. I was appalled when the distortion didn't go away completely when I removed the magnet. I was able to clear it up by using my tape head demagnetizer. I did learn several years later why that occured.

Very informative, thanks for demonstrating

I miss your videos so much. Great to have a new one!

So different to your usual style. I think it's the first time I've seen you, and not only your cartoons. Thanks for the variety. That was great.

Great video! Thanks. 7:20 would actually be great for a signals and systems course, as a way to demonstrate the linearity of signals😮

Thank you for the unboxing video!

that explorer you played in the beginning was dope. I love those guitars

Nice lesson in experimental design, in the end. One minor critique is that by summing the "normal pick" signal and the "magnetic" noise you're implying linearity, which isn't the case: i.e. the pickup can't pick up a string while it's being interfered with, at least not in the same way. The video goes into this a bit near the end, but it's the pickup itself that isn't linear too.

Just get 2 magnets and stick them to each other sandwiching the flat sides of a pick. Add a little glue so the magnets don't shift around the pick and done a $6 magnetic pick. Also rare earth magnets often come in a 4pk, so you can make 2 picks for $6.

Has anyone ever combined the effects of a theremin and an electric guitar?

Thanks for adding the audio detail caption at the bottom! :) I thought that’s what you meant/what I was seeing but it’s not know know for sure! :)

super cool experimenting ! inspired to make my own diy magnetic pick :)

What a fascinating video! Subscribed

Really good to have that disclaimer about ruining your pickups with the magnet - I was waiting lol great explanation and tech breakdown

So good!!!! Literally flawless video

I think that if you'd low pass the signal coming from the guitar at - say - 10 Hz, you could pretty much isolate how close the magnet pick is to the guitar pickups, and use that to control some more complex effects. Maybe they do that already, it'd make a lot of sense.

That's really neat! I love audio stuff

I do think that you're being a bit too charitable with the ad. What you tested was one sound shown in it and not the other techniques that the sellers say it can do. For that reason, it is a scam because they're not showing the post-processing or the limitations that you found. They are lying.

Fun thing connected with this: I play guitar and I live next to a tram (electric light rail - common in Europe) track. Every time a tram goes by, I can very audibly hear it through my amp. My guess is that the tram's electric motors create an electromagnetic field strong enough (it needs to move several tons of steel, so I assume it has to be pretty strong) that it interacts with the pickups on my guitar, sort of like in the video. I can clearly hear when the driver steps on the "gas" hits the breaks etc. You can probably imagine that with some distortion on, this sound can get quite "epic".

Magnets also effect the ferromagnetic cores in inductors, saturating them somewhat. It's how I overclocked a VTECH Talking Whiz Kid Plus. I stuck a magnet on the oscillator coil in a specific place.

This video was somehow in a bit more vloggy style, which made it more personal and felt low budget but at the same time I really liked that experimental approach. Thanks for the video :D

Quite different video. But I like!! :) Your inbetween texts look kinda like the Ableton Live ads. That's .. supposed to be a compliment!!

This makes me want to go back to trying to learn the guitar like I did in High School, very briefly

You can get a similar effect by just moving the low E string rapidly towards and away from the pickup's pole piece. Warning: There is a possibility that a magnetic guitar pick could affect the magnets in the pickup, if it's strong enough you could even discharge the magnetization (or could be used to reverse the polarity in a hurry)

It could be interesting to place it on the ring or little finger to move them independently (ish) from the pick. With a bit of exercise you could do some weird things

Thanks for clearing the confusion up for a product I had no idea even existed 15mins ago.

Great video

All i'm thinking is, you could strum the strings and then use the magnet as an effect. I really liked some of the sounds you could achieve. Though maybe the pick would get stuck to the strings? I dunno, it looks funny and it can sound interesting i'm gonna have to try it xD. Great video man thanks a lot!

You should be able to use the pick with the guitar even when there are no strings on it. With a lot of effect pedals you might get some interesting ambient sounds out of it...

Doesnt it have more to do with the strings disrupting the magnetic field of the pickup versus the pickup magnetising the string?

This is really nuanced in terms of a product review and I really respect that

I have been playing guitar for 20 years but it isn't until now I have started swapping out component parts and soldering etc. It's so fun 😁

Its more the magnetic fields of the pickup, as 'focused' by the pegs or studs in the top of the pickup (some of which are adjustable to fine tune individual string clarity and strength in the signal), and how it 'flows', for lack of a better term, around the metal string. As the string vibrates the magnetic field is also vibrated, like if you had an elastic band/bungie cord running through a jello mold, if you pluck the string the jello would also wiggle (the dynamic coupling coefficients are WAY off in that analogy, but basically that is whats happening). From there, moving magnetic field, copper coil, current representation of that moving field, tone and volume bleed offs, cable, pre-amp effects, preamp, post-preamp effects, amp, speaker, room, Wonderwall. This pick is effecting the magnetic field density and deadening how it couples to the string, thus what it transmits to the coil, which is also affected by the strong moving magnetic field of the pick (its an incredibly dynamic system of effects at play). In the bungie cord jello analogy, while the jello is wibbling, use another jello to gently clamp around the mold between the jello bungie interface and the table to deaden some of the transmitted energy.....uh, to the table, i guess..... Its sort of like that. Not really, but if it helps.... Sure. On top of inducing a low frequency current in the coil as it moves over them which could wash out the string signal (thus the coupled audio sounding similar, overlaying the LF wave on the guitar audio), it would also have an effect on the magnetic field densities therefore effecting how the pickup coil 'heard' the strings vibration in the pickups magnets field. They would still move around the string, but under the pick they would be denser and possibly in odd directions to normal. Also, my guy....FIX THE DAMN GROUND LOOP HUM!!!!! THATS WHAT HUMBUCKERS HELP!!! ITS IN THE NAME!!! Though, in fairness, I use a basic ADC over USB, and in certain configurations, using pedals that pull power from a wall wart plugged into 3 layers of strips* induces a gnarly hum especially if im not touching the strings**. But as long as I keep the guitar feeds away from running along mains cables its usually okay. But yeah, that hum means there is a grounding imbalance issue... *To anyone about to try and lecture the electronics guy on the dangers of cascading power extenders.....prove your material sciences, electricity, and physics knowledge, and that you're not just mindlessly parroting some facebook repost crap, then we can talk. Which we wont, because youll realize, what I have going on is well within the realm of safety. Also, shame on you for assuming my ignorance and need to be educated for my own good in order to stroke your ego for your benefit of feeling important, which is exactly what you did, its offensive, and boarder line bullying. Every time you see a trigger word its not an invitation to recite warnings meant to avoid extreme cases of DIY electrical distribution. Stop it. Get some help. **Ill bet none of you safety weenies knew you could get zapped by just touching the strings did you? No you didnt. So dont lecture people on things youre not knowledgeable in. Its not polite. If you cant figure out how to politely inquire in an indirect way about a thing, thats a you problem bruh, and not them needing a lecture problem. K? K.😁

Great video, congratulations.

I have a question that's not related to this video but the portal videos you made what happens if you put a tiny portal through a big portal with the openings facing each other does it abruptly stop they cease to exist or they bounce apart please tell me I must know😮

That it so cool I might use it in my first incoming EP.

Cool poster! Didn’t know there was a Birkebeiner race in the states.

Since you can get the effect by adding the magnetic pick signal to the chord signal, it seems like you can just use a signal chain that doesn't need/use the pick at all?

I can imagine someone like Buckethead having fun with it, but for me it just looks like a ridiculously expensive plectrum. (There's something about the pick making contact with the strings which is where a lot of the fun lies).

This could be a cool product if it had the tips of a normal pick so you could strum to start the string vibration and then pull the pick away to take advantage of the unique sound of a magnet interfering with the pick ups.

It must work similar but I’d love to see if the pickups are humbuckers. Anyway great vid man

Off topic but: When I start the video there are some "light waves" leaving the video frame. They get shorter in wavelength until a minimum is reached, then they expand again and this repeats periodically. Did I just never register this or is this a new feature?

Finally, a new video. The previous one was 5 months ago.

This is deeply incredible Thank you

It really comes down to the proximity of the pic to the pickup to create the magnetic fields of excite the string

I love walnut sg’s, but I have this guitar in the cherry. Bought it at a pawn shop for $109 I just swapped out the tuners for some black Grovers, $79 and after doing some set up it’s a much better guitar and finally stays in tune. I’ll probably use it as a canvas for some creative painting and eventually I’ll get a nice walnut Epi or Gibson SG.

My late band [ @thefarewellmonument ] featured an incredibly talented guitarist who performed with an ebow in the song “Harm’s Way” better than anyone I have ever seen before or since. I’m of course biased on this, but his performance was expressive and beautiful, providing a haunting melody over washes of dark ambience.

Please do a video on hyperbolic geometry! I know it may be more mathematics than physics, but there are a couple of interesting video games that features this interesting geometry (Hyper Rogue and Hyperbolica; the latter also uses spherical geometry, which probably the first one can do too) and I still think it would be up your alley.

3:07 this is cool. sound like a wah wah pedal but more spacey

I love the aesthetic of your live action videos

Beautiful.

I didn't think guitar strings were ferromagnetic, but I am only used to acoustic guitars, on which the high notes are usually nylon and the lower notes brass. When you showed how electric guitars work I'm not actually surprised that they had to change the material to be magnetic.

Oh damn, i actually thought of the magnetic pick as a scam up until now. You did a way better job at explaining what it is and how to use it, than the inventors xD Now i just think it's a bit pricey, but would understand it if they shipped it with instructions about the playing techniques they invented

Actually the sound production in an electric guitar is a little bit subtler. The tiny magnets along with the huge coil forms a stable magnetic circuit. The metal strings just idling above the pickup don’t cause disturbances in the circuit. When you vibrate the string it creates tiny electromagnetic force (emf) and thus vary the static magnetic field accordingly. These variations are amplified. Nice demo❤❤❤❤

I bet their sales went up after the video :) there's no bad advertisement:)

Some of our guitarists pickups pick up our hearing aid loop which is always an entertaining thing to have to remember

somehow this gave me the idea that it has to do with something about the "linear region" of amplifier and processing unit. when there is a big pulse of signal (maybe a low frequency), and causing "saturation" (non linear region) in the amp, and in the end muffled the original sound

Ohhh, a Stonebridge! I’ve got a Furch as well (Stonebridge used to be their label for English speaking countries)-such beautiful sounding guitars…!

Awesome presentation.

I mean ... besides saying it's an honor to have such a detailed explanation from you, Dr. Reich, the coolest thing, are all the spontaneous smiles you give when using it! (7:53) It's like a movie with a happy ending! Your work remains unsurpassed, whatever theme you tackle! Thanks for everything! 😀 The XPick Staff

I get a similar effect just doing what Hendrix made so popular and that is toggling the Treble switch.

I picked up on that others might not: the magnetic pick, even used how its shown, seems to require your amp to be at extreme volumes.

didn't know about this, it was interesting) I hear Matthew Bellamy in this))

I always thought the guitar passed an electric current through the vibrating wires to create a magnetic field that the pickup responded to. thanks for the clarification!

Does it work better with active pickups?

So do the frets affect anything the magnetic pick does when it's not in contact with the strings?

(Unrelated) Idk know if you will see this but hypothetically if we had a device that can alter stuff like the amount of force, energy, weight, heat, ect there's a lot of "what if's" Like if we took a mass of any gas and made it's air resistance infinite, would objects stay of top of the gas as if it were solid? What id we gave a liquid infinite surface tension, would the liquid climb walls and stick to things or would the liquid spread until in turns into a gas? Or how about negative infinity? If we gave an object negative infinity heat would it just be absolute zero or would the object have a similar effect to a cold sun and suck heat in but infinitely? What would be the properties of a fluid with infinite viscosity, would it act like a solid or do something else?

gimmicky but i kinda want one now. if youve still got the pick you may want to try to see what it does with a guitar that has active pickups (they take a battery and have a preamp built into the guitar and use less coil), and also how it effects piezo electric pickups if at all. edit: at $40+ ill just stick to adding some neodymium magnets to a regular pick with some tape. thanks for the video and new technique to add to my arsenal

I’m a professional guitarist with 30+years experience, and have baccalauréat in physics and chemistry, fwiw. The X-pick is a scam for several different reasons: 1- they claim it works differently than what you are describing here. That’s misleading. They should know better. Therefore that is quite scammy in my book. 2- you claim that you can reproduce everything their promotional materials claim. But many, many people including myself, try as we might, following all the instructions to a T, cannot get even close to what they demonstrate on 90% of their techniques. The only technique that is unique to this pick and that we can master is the only one you play in this video. (I think they call it “hyper volume.”) 3- you are clearly playing their “hyper Wah” technique, but no one I know has been able to achieve it. If you are using an actual wah pedal, then you should disclose that. 4- calling their techniques “hyper delay” when there’s no real delay effect happening and it doesn’t sound like it, or “hyper reverse” when there’s no reverse effect happening and it doesn’t sound like it, or the EBow-like infinite sustain they demonstrate that is physically impossible, etc, etc, is the very definition of a scam, don’t you think? 5- when only one out of ten of their purported effects actually works and is unique to this pick, then it’s a scam. (Several of their effects are achievable with a regular pick, or better yet, with a metal one, so they’re not unique to the X-pick.) 6- look at all their promotional materials (using obvious overdubbing to pretend the effect can be achieved with their pick, long-winded poor attempts at humor, without much substance) and the way they handle criticism (fraudulently claiming copyright infringement, blocking, disparaging) and you can only come to one conclusion: it’s a scam.

8:21 yes but the actual guitar sounds he’s making require a string to have an attack. It requires the string to be plucked to make that exact sound. They did lie and recorded a separate track to make the sound they showed in the video.

So, is it actually doing an amplitude modulation to the guitar signal?

You should do a physics review of a “Sustainiac” system.

Nice Strat. Good choice.

In the 1970s, I extracted a little speaker from my 7 transistor radio, and would swing it by the strings of my cheap electric guitar. We had 3 AM radio stations, and the car commercials always made the guitar sound like a 12 year old Jimmy Hendrix. My Dad hated it, so I knew it was a success. -- 9.6.2023 -- North Central Florida

The guitars you played all have passive pickups; what difference is there, if any, wrt active pickups?