Sidewinder Series
Sidewinders are a unique category of pickups. The coils are rotated 90 degrees when compared to traditional pickups, and this arrangement allows for a thin magnetic aperture to be placed between the 2 coils. This arrangement yields incredible details in the resulting sound, while also being noise free thanks to the coils that are wired to buck hum. However, this isn't the only way to skin a cat and we've taken the design style a step further in many of our models.
Our Models
There are 3 main designs that we use, single coil with 2 blades, 2 coils with 1 blade, and 2 coils with 3 blades.
- 2 Coils 1 Blade (2C1B). This is the more traditional design for a sidewinder. A single blade is sandwiched between 2 coils. The design yields a clear, detailed tone, just like a single coil, except that it's also humbucking.
- 2 Coils 3 Blades (2C3B). This is a design that is not often seen. Its similar to the 2C1B design except that it adds blades to the outsides of the coils as well, so that the string is magnetized in 3 areas covering a large portion of the string. The design yields a very even response that is clear, detailed, and very unique!
- 1 Coil 2 Blades (1C2B). These feature 1 side-wound coil with a blade on either side. This arrangement gives you a thick, humbucker like sound out of a single coil. The advantage is that we can space the blades further apart than we can with a regular single coil, so you can get a fatter sound out of a narrow pickup. This is a great way to get a fat, humbucker sound out of a narrow soapbar shaped pickup.
The Core
The most important part of the pickup when determining its voice is the core. As magnetic flux from the vibrating string flows thru the pickup, the core material imparts a tonal signature into the coil by way of eddy currents. Each core material reacts to the magnetic flux differently, and therefore impart a "voice" into the coil that is unique to that material. All of our sidewinders feature clear, powerful, neodymium at their core. Neodymium imparts very little "voice" into the coil, keeping your tone as pure as possible. This means that changing the magnetic aperture of the pickup (how far apart the blades are spaced) makes probably the most significant impact to your tone with these pickups.
Magnetic Aperture
The next thing that defines your tone is the magnetic aperture. When we talk about the magnetic aperture, we're referring to how wide of a magnetic field is being put onto the bass string. In a single coil, a narrow aperture results in a more detailed and focused sound, while a wide aperture has a bigger, rounder sound. This is due to the way all of the vibrations that occur on the string when you play it, are either "picked up" or cancelled out. High frequencies, due to their shorter wavelength, tend to get cancelled out as the aperture is increased, resulting in less definition. This isn't necessarily a good or a bad thing, just a personal preference. A wide aperture has a looser sound, while a narrow aperture has a tighter sound.
Humbuckers add another layer of complexity to this with the addition of a second coil. The distance between the magnetic areas of each coil also changes the sound. In general, narrow spacings are more mid focused, and as you increase the spacing, the emphasis goes lower until it goes flat, to a point where it starts over again. This again is due to frequency cancellation. So, on a humbucker you can adjust each coils aperture, as well as the distance between the coils. This is a big reason why a music man humbucker will sound different than a soapbar humbucker, even when they are placed in the same spot on the bass and made of the same materials!
Our single coil 2 blade (1C2B) sidewinders have unique advantage with all of this. We can widen the aperture all the way to the edges of the pickup, which fattens up the sound just like a humbucker does. In fact, we can get a very similar sound to a typical music man pickup (which is close to 2" wide) out of a narrow soapbar size! Just like other single coils, when used by itself it won't hum cancel, but used as a pair they will.
The Coils
The wire used in the coils also plays a big part in the frequency response of the pickup. The more turns of wire you have, the more output you get, while at the same time increasing the resistance. As you increase the resistance, high frequencies roll off and the pickup becomes warmer sounding. Some people describe this as having more mid-range, while others say it becomes thicker sounding with more punch. The thicker the gauge of wire that you use, the less resistance you have per turn. This can be a lot to balance out! Typically, we like to use as many turns of as thick of a gauge of wire as we can. Doing so lets us get as much output as possible, while still maintaining as much clarity as we can. The wire gauge varies per pickup, but is usually 41, 42, or 43.
The Cover
Our covers are cnc machined from walnut, which is then ebonized to give it that almost black color. Ebonizing is a finish that reacts with the natural tannins in the wood. Walnut is high in tannins, so the finish comes out nearly black. However, the tannins aren't spread out uniformly in the wood, so color will be darker where they are more present, and lighter where they are less. This yields an amazingly unique finish that still allows aspects of the grain to come thru. Some light coats of lacquer top things off, protecting the wood and giving it a little bit of shine! Finally, the whole assembly is filled with epoxy to permanently protect all of the fine wires on the inside, and to ensure that your pickup lasts for as long as you do!