Free Online Utility: Guitar Pickup Evaluator Lite

 

Finally - a "horsepower rating" for guitar pickups!

If you’re a guitar enthusiast, you know the struggle of finding your perfect tone - the one that fits your playing style and your instrument.

For electric guitars with passive pickups, evaluating them usually boils down to one metric before you’ve even heard them: DCR (resistance in kΩ). Unfortunately, DCR alone tells you almost nothing about output or tone. The real picture depends on:

• Inductance (L) - in Henries
• Capacitance (C) - in nanofarads
• Magnet type - Alnico 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, or Ceramic
• Pickup geometry - bobbin width, length, height, number of coils

After months of studying sine wave curves and logarithmic formulas, I created a 6-sheet Excel workbook that fully analyzes pickups given their L, C, R, and magnet type. It’s robust, but a bit heavy for casual use.

That’s why I developed a “quick and dirty” metric - one number that gives you:

• Relative output (volume) - taking L, C, R, and magnet type into account
• Musicality assessment - based on resonant peak, Q factor, and other measurable factors

It’s simple enough for beginners, yet accurate enough for seasoned players to recognize it reflects what they actually hear.

So it really is like the ‘horsepower rating’ for pickups that the guitar world has never had!

🎸 Pickup Evaluator (Manual L & C)

Enter the Resistance, Inductance, and Capacitance if you know them.

Pickup Type      --Select Pickup Type--     Humbucker     Mini Humbucker     Filtertron     Strat Single     Jazzmaster     Tele Neck     Tele Bridge     P90     Dynasonic     Goldfoil     Lipstick    Resistance (kΩ)  Inductance L (H)  Capacitance C (nF)  Magnet Type      A2     A3     A4     A5     A8     C    

🎸 Pickup Evaluator (Estimate L & C)

Don't know your Inductance and Capacitance? Don't worry - we'll estimate it from your Pickup Type, Magnet, and Resistance! It won’t be quite as accurate but it’s still a decent ballpark figure and obviously much better (more informative and useful) than relying entirely on DCR.

Pickup Type      --Select Pickup Type--     Humbucker     Mini Humbucker     Filtertron     Strat Single     Jazzmaster     Tele Neck     Tele Bridge     P90     Dynasonic     Goldfoil     Lipstick    Resistance (kΩ)  Magnet Type      A2     A3     A4     A5     A8     C    

  Estimated Inductance L (H)  Estimated Capacitance C (nF) 

    

Yes - the estimates are only approximate. But remember: all scores here are approximations. And in a world where most players still chase DCR (which only tells you how much wire is on the coil), even an estimate based on resonance, inductance, capacitance, and magnet strength is a huge step forward. Think of this resource as a “supercharged DCR.” It still gives you a quick ballpark figure, but instead of just wire length, it bakes in resonance and magnet type - so the number lines up far more closely with what you’ll actually hear.