Spiritbox guitarist Mike Stringer and Naked Knuckle Pickups have collaborated on the all-new Halcyon signature humbuckers, which have been designed particularly for low-tuned seven-string guitars.
The design was born out of “an intense R&D session” that included Stringer, BKP tone guru Tim Mills, and Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood – who not too long ago launched his personal set of signature pickups, the Polypafs.
The mission assertion was to “embrace not solely Mike’s large pushed tone but in addition his distinctive method to utilizing bridge and neck pickups collectively for his clear tones”, all whereas guaranteeing the set was well-suited to the seven-string participant’s most popular drop F# tuning.
That tuning sees the strings go as little as a regular eight-string guitar, that means there are some very low frequencies to cater to. Nonetheless, BKP says beta testing went so properly that, by the top of the trial, “all of Mike’s reside guitars featured the brand new Halcyon pickups”.
In brief, the Halcyons construct upon a twin blade pole design for “a good string-to-string steadiness”, whatever the string gauges and tuning preferences of every participant. Furthermore, they’re additionally well-suited for multi-scale gamers and might be tweaked to suit wonky-fretted guitars.
A trio of custom-size ceramic magnets sit within the bridge ’bucker, serving to management the underside finish. It really works alongside a sizzling wind for “an extremely dialed-in mid-range and high-end assault”.
The neck pickup, although, has cooled off the wind a bit of, with an isotropic Alnico V magnet sitting at its core. This helps enhance dynamic headroom and, mixed with the bridge pickup, delivers Stringer’s punchy but ambient clear tones.
A substantial amount of effort has additionally been invested within the split-coil sounds of every pickup, too, for when gamers need a slice of single-coil motion.
Spiritbox – Smooth Backbone (Reside Playthrough) – Mike Stringer | Signature Halcyon Naked Knuckle Pickups – YouTube
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“The Halcyons are every thing I’ve been on the lookout for in a set of pickups,” Stringer beams. “Working with Tim and Nolly, we’ve been in a position to provide you with one thing very particular; a particularly excessive output pickup that nearly reacts like an lively.
“I’ve been by many alternative passive, and lively, units over and past the final decade, and I can confidently say these are excellent for my wants. From crushingly heavy tones to glassy cleans, I get every thing out of them with out compromise.
“Enjoying primarily in low tunings, I’m all the time aiming to get essentially the most clear and constant tone, so I can sit within the combine the place I have to,” he continues. “The Halcyons do loads of the heavy lifting, making it so I can run low achieve on my amp, and get the common quantity of push and readability that decrease output pickups don’t normally present.”
“The bridge is an outrageous riff machine with unreal output, aggressive assault, and much of taut low finish that give single word riffing satisfying thickness, whereas not overwhelming the readability of the ultra-low chugs Mike is understood for,” BKP provides.
“The neck lives in one other sonic dimension with a woody and vibrant, however not spiky voice, refined to mix with the bridge for Mike’s signature, virtually slap bass-like, clear components.”
“Throughout the R&D session with Mike we knew these have been the pickups for him when he fell about laughing with glee as he tried them,” Nolly remembers. “Attempting them myself I might see why.
“The sheer energy of the sound they produce is so addictive, and listening to your enjoying come again at you with such angle and drive no matter how low you tune is an expertise you actually need to have to know!”
All Naked Knuckle Halycon pickups are hand-wound on the agency’s workshop in Cornwall, England. As ever with BKP, they arrive in a number of various colour and end choices.
They’re out there in six- and seven-string codecs, beginning at £195.60 per pickup (approx $247), or £376.80 for a set (approx $476).
Head to Naked Knuckle Pickups for extra.
The launch of the pickup set follows the arrival of Stringer’s new Aristides signature guitar, which brings a killer offset design to the modern-minded model’s catalog, following a rising pattern of contemporary metallic riffers loving offset silhouettes.
