The Uni-Neck is based around a tubular titanium core that extends from headstock to bridge in one continuous structure. As you can imagine it is incredibly lightweight and resonant, and these factors contribute to Skele's superior acoustic tonalities. I am excited to further develop this technology in subsequent instruments.
One of the challenging constraints with the Uni-Neck concept, however, is it requires new forms of pickup technologies in order to maximize the potential of the design. Conventional pickups are too bulky and intrude into the neck structure. Additionally, the instrument creates rich harmonics — including deep bass fundamentals — outside the frequency range of traditional guitar amplification.
When devising the Uni-Neck concept, I realized this would be a significant issue and so began to research pickup technologies, of which there seems to be four:
EDITOR'S NOTE: If you have suggestions for alternate pickup technology, please contact me.
Search was narrowed to conventional magnetic pickups that could be modified. Not nearly as easy as it seems, because the pickup would also be located at the 19th fret harmonic, which is an exceptional location for capturing open string harmonics. So the overall height of the pickup must be less than the thickness of the fretboard.
My friend Rik Akashian suggested I investigate the writings of a mysterious "bbsailor" who was posting mind-bending pickup ideas on several forums including AMPAGE and Music Electronics Forum. I contacted bbsailor who not only responded immediately but lives about an hour or so away.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Fates intervene!
Joe Rogowski (bbsailor) was kind enough to meet with me to discuss options. He is a retired college professor exceptionally skilled in electronic design and absolutely passionate about guitar pickups. He is also a musician and so brings a player's ear to the design process (photo below with Skele progress). It is an honor to work with him and I look forward to our continued collaboration.
We agreed the simplest path was to adapt Jeff Lace's brilliant Alumitone which is an imaginative reconfiguration of the principles behind magnetic pickups. Alumitones also sound gorgeous and hint toward the wider frequency amplification needed by the Uni-Neck. Alumitones, however, are still far too bulky for this application.
Additionally I wished to use bronze — matching the bronze Waverly tuners — and playfully extending the 1776 pirate theme of Skele, including exposed wiring and an 18th century aesthetic.
I purchased several Alumitones from the friendly folks at Lace, incorporated what was needed, and hand-fabricated remaining bits from bronze and copper. The result is a pickup with unique tonal properties, sonically derivative but influenced by impedances of alternate materials. In the photos below sheet bronze morphs into both a pickup and a switch cover plate. Hand-engraving follows the theme established by the tuners.
LEARN MORE: Skele
One of the challenging constraints with the Uni-Neck concept, however, is it requires new forms of pickup technologies in order to maximize the potential of the design. Conventional pickups are too bulky and intrude into the neck structure. Additionally, the instrument creates rich harmonics — including deep bass fundamentals — outside the frequency range of traditional guitar amplification.
When devising the Uni-Neck concept, I realized this would be a significant issue and so began to research pickup technologies, of which there seems to be four:
• magnetic (conventional)Optical, microphonic and contact are all ripe for exploration, but for this particular prototype I was seeking a more familiar comparison sound. Apples-to-apples. Plug and play into my existing amplification chain.
• optical
• microphonic
• contact (piezo)
EDITOR'S NOTE: If you have suggestions for alternate pickup technology, please contact me.
Search was narrowed to conventional magnetic pickups that could be modified. Not nearly as easy as it seems, because the pickup would also be located at the 19th fret harmonic, which is an exceptional location for capturing open string harmonics. So the overall height of the pickup must be less than the thickness of the fretboard.
My friend Rik Akashian suggested I investigate the writings of a mysterious "bbsailor" who was posting mind-bending pickup ideas on several forums including AMPAGE and Music Electronics Forum. I contacted bbsailor who not only responded immediately but lives about an hour or so away.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Fates intervene!
Joe Rogowski (bbsailor) was kind enough to meet with me to discuss options. He is a retired college professor exceptionally skilled in electronic design and absolutely passionate about guitar pickups. He is also a musician and so brings a player's ear to the design process (photo below with Skele progress). It is an honor to work with him and I look forward to our continued collaboration.
We agreed the simplest path was to adapt Jeff Lace's brilliant Alumitone which is an imaginative reconfiguration of the principles behind magnetic pickups. Alumitones also sound gorgeous and hint toward the wider frequency amplification needed by the Uni-Neck. Alumitones, however, are still far too bulky for this application.
Additionally I wished to use bronze — matching the bronze Waverly tuners — and playfully extending the 1776 pirate theme of Skele, including exposed wiring and an 18th century aesthetic.
I purchased several Alumitones from the friendly folks at Lace, incorporated what was needed, and hand-fabricated remaining bits from bronze and copper. The result is a pickup with unique tonal properties, sonically derivative but influenced by impedances of alternate materials. In the photos below sheet bronze morphs into both a pickup and a switch cover plate. Hand-engraving follows the theme established by the tuners.
LEARN MORE: Skele
That is a very beautiful pickup. Congratulations to both of you on a successful collaboration.
Will you be doing more of bbsailor's designs in the future? I'd love to see them — especially the design with one current sensing transformer — nicely made and used on instruments.
BTW, more close-up pictures and a sound clip or two wouldn't hurt ;-)
The design I am referring to is this:
http://music-electronics-forum.com/t5447/
Posted by: Alex | 2009.06.23 at 06:08 AM
Alex — Thanks for your comments. Joe and I are working on a next generation pickup design. It will be based on concepts he has developed and will be incorporated into the Uni-Neck.
We will be collaborating in detail in the Design & Technology Exchange at eLUTHERIE.org.
LINK | http://www.elutherie.org/exchange/
I am also planning to film Skele in action in the next month or so. The video will showcase some of the features and sounds of the instrument.
Posted by: Rick Toone | 2009.06.23 at 11:30 AM
Wow, isn't that inspiring. a flat guitar pickup which works like a normal magnet, handmade from (almost) scraps. Unfortunately, my electronics skills are too limited to go in-depth in the question, but this blog is giving new surprises almost each day. Now i'm really curious about hearing how skele sounds.
Posted by: Alberto Muti | 2009.06.24 at 10:29 AM