A common pickup for an electric guitar consists of a coil of wire around a permanent magnet. The permanent magnet induces magnetism in the nearby guitar string. When the string is plucked, it oscillates above the coil, thereby changing the magnetic field that passes through the coil. The rhythmic oscillations of the string produce the same rhythmic changes in the magnetic field in the coil, which in turn induce the same rhythmic voltages in the coil, which when amplified and sent to a speaker produce music! Why will this type of pickup not work with nylon strings?

1 answer

Only a conductor can have a current run through it to induce a current in the coil.