I know this is a stupid question, but what does it mean (sound like) when they say a pickup tone is: quacky, or glassy, honky, or harmonics?

I know what fuller, fatter, warmer, articulate, hotter, thicker means.

Thanks.

Best way to find out is to check youtube, Search "stratocaster quack ". There 's a good youtube video of Robert Cray in which the quack is very audible.

All of those terms are quite literal descriptions of the sounds.

quacky - like a duck (not a sick duck though)
glassy - like the sound from tapping a glass, like high notes on a piano
honky - like a horn
harmonics - overtones

Don't forget sleepy and dopey.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Tone is subjective,each person hears what he hears,those terms have been thrown around so much they're accepted by lots of people,to me there's no "quack",in the in-between positions,it makes more sense to describe the sounds like you did at the end of your post...fatter,warmer,thicker,etc.
I have aways hard a hard time describing sound,but I know that my tone is clean,warming up into the early stages of breakup,with plenty of sustain.

I agree...
I've just taken for granted that the "in-between positions" are quaky... maybe because I don't hunt ducks.

The closest you'll get to pup sounds is either thru the manufacturers site (best) or Youtube ( not the best ).

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

Ever step on one?

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Ate one...

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

The best example of Quack (although it's more of a Cluck) is Sweet Home Alabama.
I usually think of Gilmour when I think Glassy sound, but there are probably better specific examples.

Yep,Ed King had that tone nailed!

I don't think there is anything more silly than the nonsense descriptions we put on guitar sounds that don't describe anything at all.

Glassy, warm, fat...

bum to em all

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No no and no

That's about the best way. Describing sounds is rather difficult... Grab a strat and take a listen...

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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Well, I guess i found at least ONE useful term to describe "quack"??

Quack means "nasal", like when you speak and press your nose shut with 2 fingers. That's what it sounds like in Strats with 3 single coils and you use the "in between" positions #2 and #4 on the 5 way selector switch. Most Strat players prefer that sound but not all of them.

(i.e. with Texas Specials the middle PU alone is my(!) favorite for dirty blues rock)

In fact, there's no way around to just go and play a strat in all 5 positions and LISTEN CAREFULLY to understand, what happens with the tone.
Since we humans have no terms/words for sound colorations, we must compare them to other things we know to describe the character of a tone.

Since most experienced players use the same few terms you'll learn pretty fast, which term means which tonal character/coloration.

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Kindest regards from Germany, Dee
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STRATS ROCK!!! but Teles and Firebirds, too!