brilliance

[camera_obscura]

sorry for a noob question but what exactly is brilliance? it's one of the things i can adjust on my guitar pickup along with treble, bass, mid.

[vbf]

Are you referring to "shimmer" that one can get from a tube amp?

[Taylorplayer]

bril·liance (brĭl'yəns) Pronunciation Key
n.
The state or quality of being brilliant, as:
-- Extreme brightness.
-- Exceptional clarity and agility of intellect or invention.
-- Splendor; magnificence.
-- Music Sharpness and clarity of tone. (highlights and italics added by me)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Originally Posted by camera_obscura

sorry for a noob question but what exactly is brilliance? it's one of the things i can adjust on my guitar pickup along with treble, bass, mid.

By the way -- Please let me give you a "life lesson" -- (the older I get, the more inclined to feel I have the right to do that) Don't ever apologize for asking a question you don't know the answer to. Your question presented a great opportunity for me to learn something as well. So in turn, I say "Thank yo

[camera_obscura]

ah, thank you. i'm wondering why someone would not want the hightest brilliance and get the highest sharpness and clarity? in what situation would someone want to turn down the brilliance on their guitar?

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by camera_obscura

ah, thank you. i'm wondering why someone would not want the hightest brilliance and get the highest sharpness and clarity? in what situation would someone want to turn down the brilliance on their guitar?

This being in the electric forum... I'll point out the jazz tone that many people like. I'll also point out that the output of some pickups make me want to cut back the treble pot to get the guitar sounding right.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by camera_obscura

ah, thank you. i'm wondering why someone would not want the hightest brilliance and get the highest sharpness and clarity? in what situation would someone want to turn down the brilliance on their guitar?

On an electric guitar amp, they try to provide you with enough control range that any guitar can be accomodated and can create a good sound. However, all guitars are not created with the same frequency response. For example, guitars equipped with single-coil pickups offer a whole octave more overtones than those with humbucking pickups. In order to accommodate the humbuckers, you need to add more brightness to the tone circuit and overall design than you would want to use on a single-coil equipped guitar.

If a person with a single-coil pickup equipped guitar opens up the treble and brightness controls on an amplifier and sets the gain right, he will produce a sound that will feel like someone has stuck ice picks in your ears - it is instant ear fatigue. So, in our example, our illustrious guitarist would want to back off the treble and/or brightness and/or brilliance a wee to keep from irradiating his unsuspecting audience and bandmates.

Hope this helps,

Bob

[camera_obscura]

i have no idea what single coil pickup is but i do see the point about different guitars needing different adjustments. can't say for myself since i've only played on a couple guitars my whole life!

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by camera_obscura

i have no idea what single coil pickup is but i do see the point about different guitars needing different adjustments. can't say for myself since i've only played on a couple guitars my whole life!

Not to pass the buck but this is decades old tech and a sizable business so some web searches will probably treat it better than I can explain. Major guitar pickup companies should have info and I recall a lot of good info at Seymour Duncan when I got my first electric.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/glossary/
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support...k_a_pickup.pdf

The tdpri.com site is a particularly nice community and I learn a lot there.

[Taylorplayer]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

On an electric guitar amp, they try to provide you with enough control range that any guitar can be accomodated and can create a good sound. However, all guitars are not created with the same frequency response. For example, guitars equipped with single-coil pickups offer a whole octave more overtones than those with humbucking pickups. In order to accommodate the humbuckers, you need to add more brightness to the tone circuit and overall design than you would want to use on a single-coil equipped guitar.

If a person with a single-coil pickup equipped guitar opens up the treble and brightness controls on an amplifier and sets the gain right, he will produce a sound that will feel like someone has stuck ice picks in your ears - it is instant ear fatigue. So, in our example, our illustrious guitarist would want to back off the treble and/or brightness and/or brilliance a wee to keep from irradiating his unsuspecting audience and bandmates.

Hope this helps,

Bob

As always... excellent info straight from the Master himself! Bob is da' man on this stuff, indeed.