Sound Samples: |
Plus (HC-series) hexaphonic
pickup: |
HC-Series
(AKA "plus") hex guitar pickup:
This clip (linked above) is of an HC-series hex installed
in middle position of a Fender strat, recorded direct-- the
hex signals go from the guitar to the breakout box to six
channels of mic preamps to six channels of a sound card, and
recorded to six tracks. Each track is panned hard left or
right, so E, D and B are to one side, the rest to the other.
Recording direct gives you the cleanest possible signal, with
no mic bleed and no amp coloration... of course in the real
world, you WANT that amp coloration... it gives warmth and
life to the sound. So here's
a version with the left side to one amp and the right to another.
The right channel is a VHT Special 6, and the left is a Fender
Champ.
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BASS! |
HC-Series
(AKA "plus") quadraphonic bass pickups:
This clip (linked above) is of a pair of HC-series quad pickups
in an Epiphone rock (jazz) bass.
NOTE: The sample is of all four strings summed to mono. The
signals are combined to a single signal and sent to one amp.
In this clip you will not hear the strings panned differently.
I played four short sections, each about 40 seconds. The
first is a quad single coil in neck position. The second is
a quad humbucker in neck position. The third is a quad single
in bridge position, and the last one is a quad humbucker in
bridge position.
The bass was played through a Yorkville Bassmaster 200, and
recorded with an Electrovoice RE-20 mic. There is NO processing
on the file... NO noise reduction, NO EQ, nothing.
It has two plus quad humbuckers installed, with a quad/mono
switch for each pickup for each string, and a single coil/humbucker
switch for each pickup for each string, for a total of 16
switches. It is not for sale, but I would entertain a crazy
offer for a huge pile of money. :) This is my only bass, and
I like it!
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Standard and Plus Hex Single Coils, direct, re-amped, re-amped with
fuzz: |
These samples are of
a simple chord progression, played first on an Epiphone SG Special
with a standard hex single in bridge position, then on a NY Pro
Telecaster with a plus hex single coil in bridge position. Both
guitars are available for
sale have been sold. There is no processing done to any of the tracks, other
than normalizing levels and panning (the "full" versions
are panned in a fanned-out pattern, from low E on the left to high
e on the right.
First, here are all six strings together, recorded direct into
the computer (guitar to breakout box to mic preamps to sound card
to DAW):
direct_full.mp3
Recording guitars direct tends to be a bit lifeless sounding, so
to give the sound some character, we "re-amp" the signal
by sending it through a guitar amplifier. In this case, it's a Fender
Champ, recorded with an Altec "birdcage" ribbon microphone
a few feet from the amp:
champ_full.mp3
Hexaphonic fuzz (applying fuzz to each string separately) is a
way to avoid intermodulation distortion. This means you get the
fuzz distortion sound without muddiness. The individual notes are
distinct, so the chords are clear yet still fuzzed. This sample
is the signals re-amped through the Champ after going through a
homemade fuzz pedal, recorded with the Altec birdcage again:
fuzz_altec_full.mp3
Here is another hex fuzz version, this time recorded with a Shure
SM57 about an inch from the amp speaker. It's a bit more aggressive
sounding than the Altec:
fuzz_57_full.mp3
Here are all the individual string tracks. Put them in your DAW
and have fun!:
directE.mp3
directA.mp3
directD.mp3
directG.mp3
directB.mp3
direct_high_e.mp3
champE.mp3
champA.mp3
champD.mp3
champG.mp3
champB.mp3
champ_high_e.mp3
fuzz_altec_E.mp3
fuzz_altec_A.mp3
fuzz_altec_D.mp3
fuzz_altec_G.mp3
fuzz_altec_B.mp3
fuzz_altec_high_e.mp3
fuzz_57_E.mp3
fuzz_57_A.mp3
fuzz_57_D.mp3
fuzz_57_G.mp3
fuzz_57_B.mp3
fuzz_57_high_e.mp3
Please let me know of any broken links. Thanks!
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Standard Hexaphonic Single Coil |
Standard
Hex Single Coil Sample 1
This is a standard hex single installed in bridge position of an
Epi SG special. When I plug this guitar into my '57 Champ and crank
it to 12, it's silent until I play a note. There is absolutely no
noise reduction or processing done to this track other than normalization
to get the right playback level.
Recording direct leaves the tone a little thin and sterile-- there's
no amp warmth, and no room sound, so I'm going to re-amp the tracks
and post that version too, so you can hear how it sounds through
an amp.
*"recording direct" means plugging straight into the
mic preamp/computer, rather than playing through an amp and recording
with a microphone. I did this to avoid the bleed from one amp +
mic to the other, so you can hear the channel separation. |
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Standard
Hex Single Coil Sample 2
This one was by one of my customers. It's a(n early version) Standard
hex single in bridge position. |
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Octaphonic Humbucker:
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Octaphonic
Humbucker
Here is a video by a customer with an eight string Agile Septor
guitar. The coils (and sound) are the same as my hexaphonic humbuckers.
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The samples below are of a pickup type no longer
available, which was called "type 1". "Type 2"
is now called Standard, and "Type 2b" is now called Plus.
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Type 1/Turbo Box Sample 1
Type 1/Turbo Box Sample 2
These were done by a customer. You can hear how the turbo makes the type 1 sound bolder and more powerful. |
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