Is a 'hollow pickup' design possible? weird idea but useful if it works?

Z

zionstrat

Well-known member
Hello all-
The working wold has kept me away for literally years, but the good news is you guys gave me lots of good ideas that went into the guitars that have kept me busy-

But I have had an idea for a long time and wonder if the following is electronically feasible?

Hollow coil2.jpg

The idea is a wide single coil that has empty space in the middle with winding, conductive material and magnetic material surrounding the empty space- If it is electronically feasible I expect it would be broad spectrum and low strength (maybe like a weak jazzmaster?)

And if #1 works the idea would be #2 with firebird coils
hollow coil plus traditional coil2.jpg

I'm assuming this wont work, but cant hurt to ask, right?

Thanks in advance for any and all ideas
 
Re: Is a 'hollow pickup' design possible? weird idea but useful if it works?

See parallels between your idea and those employed in Lace Sensor pickups.

The second illustration includes a total of three coils. In what combinations do you propose to interconnect the coils?
 
Re: Is a 'hollow pickup' design possible? weird idea but useful if it works?

The 2nd diagram is essentially a standard firebird under normal conditions without the outer 3rd coil- Just a standard first coil in series with 2nd coil with magnets in the middle of each coil=

The idea in the diagram would be to split the N coil from the firebird and put it in series with the big hollow S coil that wraps around- the 2nd firebird coil is off in this configuration-

Thinking
-Firebrids are bright spanky, low output

-I would imagine the hybrid would be darker because it senses more of the string and might be more wire length-

Also imagining the entire setup might occur in a standard (full size) humbucker space

I would be willing to try making one to see what it sounds like if it's even feasible,
-but also imagine that my electronics wouldn't work, ie would the circle of magnets work?
-also wonder if there would be 'interference; since there would be 3 different magnets in a small space
 
Re: Is a 'hollow pickup' design possible? weird idea but useful if it works?

Second example is a bit similar to the odd CoAxe pickups that Vox made a couple of years ago: a central coil flanked by a pair of blades, surrounded by an outer coil. The outer one is used only for noise cancelling, not for sound, but it works very well- the pickups are pretty much noiseless. These sound quite spanky with a fast attack and feel less compressed than humbuckers, but still have decent natural sustain. Not Fendery sparklebright/percussive in character, and more even-tempered than a P90. Kind of their own thing, but usable. It's cool to have a different choice for singlecoil tone. Two taps so there are three level options with the loudest being comparable to humbucker output, only crisper and noiseless. Different level settings allow some interesting combination tones in middle position even with a single volume control.

These pickups didn't take the world by storm, but neither were they a complete failure. I think they stand OK on their own merits. My initial impulse was to replace them with P90s, but I'm glad I resisted it long enough to appreciate them for what they are.

Here's an article about 'em:
http://www.planetz.com/tag/coaxe/
 
Re: Is a 'hollow pickup' design possible? weird idea but useful if it works?

The Lace Alumitone pickups might fit the bill of "conductive material surrounding empty core".
 
Re: Is a 'hollow pickup' design possible? weird idea but useful if it works?

Wow sounds like it's plausible and i just have to find time to build it. Good ideas from vox maybe less of a farius surround to impact the traditional coils less. Have to start thinking about magnets but seems like it could be a fun project. Thanks for the input
 
Re: Is a 'hollow pickup' design possible? weird idea but useful if it works?

I like this idea, and would be interested to see where you take it, and what it might sound like. It might be really low output, but that might work for some things.
 
Re: Is a 'hollow pickup' design possible? weird idea but useful if it works?

I wind pickups and I'm lost here. What is the purpose of making a hollow pickup?
 
Re: Is a 'hollow pickup' design possible? weird idea but useful if it works?

Hey z! Thanks for jumping in here if ive gone insane you can tell me where i went wrong
The bottom line is that with tons of mods and very specific pup selection ive built a few guitars that cover every sound i love (blues pop country rock) in 2345 positions but my 1 positions always miss something
1 joe bardons with spin a split do a good job of bright to semi grunge but they dont quack as much as i like

2. My jb gives me a perfect 2 quack but i dont need a full humb in 1 for anything i do

3. So current proj is a fbird fbird with neck mini and lots of blending and some pup mods

However the one sound i will have to give up with this config is the clean crunch semi grunge sound (elvis Costello peace love understanding is a good example)

So i got to thinking, what would a wide coil surrounding the space of the 2 bridge firebird coils soundlike? Probably weak and warm. But if i put it in series with the humbucking firebird coil maybe the mismatch would return some of the high end and the increased winding wouldmgive more power?

If plausable it seems surrounding magnets and a box of conductive material would be major variables. But now that ive seen the vox design im thinking that it might be considerably broader (bridge to neck) than a standard humbucker and i hate to rout more than that .

Interested in your thoughts and thanks to all for thinking out of the box and i might have to try that vox as well!
 
Re: Is a 'hollow pickup' design possible? weird idea but useful if it works?

Well ill try anything once lets see if i get some time and glad to see im not totally off base ;) peace m
 
Re: Is a 'hollow pickup' design possible? weird idea but useful if it works?

Keep us updated on this, as it seems like a really cool project.
 
Re: Is a 'hollow pickup' design possible? weird idea but useful if it works?

Wow electicsynergy nailed the call on this one
http://www.planetz.com/tag/coaxe/

After a lot of research i bought a vox scc33 almost exactly what i was trying to build...these coaxials are amazing

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgur...d=0ahUKEwjnwMbIppvLAhVFjz4KHVXhAE8QMwg8KBUwFQ


Snappy rick meets tele bridge warmer accosticish when combined and p90 meets a strat in the neck. Incredible high end and the tap prrovides a little bost and warmth first 2pup i have ever played that doest scream for a center pup!

I never use a tone pot unless im playing slide or ebow but formsome for some reason this tone circuit is useful it tames the teleish without mud

Had planed to insert my designed pup in thhe middle but noo way im messing with this sound its incredible.

THANKS AGAIN FOR A GREAT IDEA!

















T
 
Re: Is a 'hollow pickup' design possible? weird idea but useful if it works?

zionstrat said:
THANKS AGAIN FOR A GREAT IDEA!
Click to expand...

Glad you like 'em, Zion. I think this design never got the recognition it deserved, probably because it's so much its own thing, rather than being a variant of anything familiar. They have cool and unusual bridge hardware too. Vox did a good job designing these. This is what my SSC55 looks like:

VOXSSC55GL406189_4.jpg
 
Re: Is a 'hollow pickup' design possible? weird idea but useful if it works?

Wow, this is pretty amazing. What a cool guitar! Can we hear?
 
Re: Is a 'hollow pickup' design possible? weird idea but useful if it works?

zionstrat said:
Beauty! Electronically the same except you have a passive midrange circuit? Makes sense and I'll be watching for deals on 55s as well! Thanks again!
Click to expand...

No passive midrange- I think the only functional difference between mine and yours is that the 55 has individual 3-way coil switches for each pickup.
 
Re: Is a 'hollow pickup' design possible? weird idea but useful if it works?

Will be getting a laptop/DAW soon for home recording; should be able to do quick demos in a couple of weeks.
 
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