pickups

Pickups refer to several related concepts that share a common root in the verb "to pick up." The precise meaning depends on the domain, ranging from vehicles to musical devices, to logistics and social usage.

In transportation, a pickup, short for pickup truck, is a light-duty motor vehicle with an enclosed cab and an open cargo bed. They are designed for transporting goods and materials and are widely used for work, recreation, and small business. Variants include crew cab and extended cab models, offering different passenger capacity and payload or towing capabilities.

In music, a pickup, or guitar or bass pickup, is a transducer that converts string vibrations into an electrical signal. Most electric guitars use magnetic pickups, including single-coil and humbucker designs, which differ in tone and output. The position of the pickup along the string and its magnetic configuration influence characteristics such as brightness, sustain, and overall timbre.

In logistics and service industries, a pickup refers to the collection of goods at a customer’s location by a carrier or courier. This includes scheduling a pickup window, handling instructions, and associated fees. Pickups are a routine part of parcel, freight, and food-delivery operations.

In informal usage, pickup can also describe social actions, such as a pickup line—an expression intended to initiate romantic or sexual interest. It can also denote the act of collecting someone or something, as in “I’ll pick you up at seven.”