November 21, 2015
Meet The Nexus. This small, hacker friendly breakout box connects your multichannel guitar to the outside world using a specialized (LEMO compatible) multi-pin connector for up to
Nu Series v2
The Nu Series Modular Active Pickups are hacker friendly, general purpose pickups that can be used in a variety of applications.
Nexus v2
The Nexus is a small, flexible, and hacker friendly breakout box that connects your multichannel guitar to the outside world.
November 17, 2015
The FPC experiment is a success! This is the first time we tried to use such connectors and they are amazing! The zero insertion force connectors we chose
November 12, 2015
“An extended range guitar of course calls for extended range pickups.” Here’s Chris Varnon’s gorgeous guitar: an Agile Septor 827, 27″ scale equipped with two 8-string
XR Series Pickups Now Available On Continuous Basis
November 11, 2015
The Cycfi XR series pickups have been very well received and as a result our past manufacturing runs have sold out very quickly. It is our
Nu and XR Updates: The Elves are Busy
November 7, 2015
The Elves are Busy. Here are some pictures. It’s always like Christmas every time a package from Mouser arrives. Now we have lots of Bourns
Computational Hexaphonic Guitar
November 2, 2015
It’s nice to see our pickups in the academe. Chengxiang Ren and Jeffrey Huang, Cornell University, Electrical and Computer Engineering, used the Cycfi Neo (now Nu)
Nu Update: Mounting the Modules
October 24, 2015
Last time, I hinted at ways to mount the pickups. Surely, a guitar builder will find a zillion ways to mount these modules. I’ve had
October 22, 2015
The XRs, especially the XR8s and XR6s, are often out of stock. They sell out quickly! So sorry about that 🙁 My intention is to have a steady stream
October 19, 2015
Cycfi XR pickups are not made with alien technology or special exotic materials to allow them to perform far beyond a normal pickup (although they
October 7, 2015
How do you mount the Nu modular pickups? You’ve seen the basic Nu capsules before. Mounting these miniature pickups might be tricky. One way involves making a printed
September 22, 2015
The Nu modular pickup is ready. It’s been ready for quite some time now. The design and implementation is just about perfect, I would say. The
August 18, 2015
We are pleased to announce that our second production run of the Cycfi XR series is now available for purchase at cycfi-research.com. We have worked
August 14, 2015
I have high regard and affection for anything Japanese. I love the people. I love the food. I love the unique culture, Japanese music, arts and certainly their craftsmanship.
July 18, 2015
After a long hiatus, I think the Nu is just about ready. This is the next evolutionary stage of our flagship multichannel pickup. Originally named the Neo, the Nu
July 6, 2015
I am incrementally updating the XR Data Sheet. I’ll post updates here every once in a while. Here’s the schematic of the XR preamplifier. The circuit
June 19, 2015
The very first XR, serial number XR156-1 ready to go! This one goes to Charles Richardson. I feel some kind of attachment to these pickups, like
June 16, 2015
I have mixed feelings with the Soapbar ring idea. Many like it, but some don’t. Jon Chang suggested transparent rings for that modern look that fits the XR’s unique
June 14, 2015
With the current open-coil XR Quad coil 7 and 8 string design (image right), there’s empty space at the sides when placed in a guitar with
June 10, 2015
“And of course, I had my problems because so many people weren’t ready to accept it”. —Les Paul My hero! June 9 would have been his
An amazing reception for Cycfi XR pickups
June 10, 2015
Thank you all for your enthusiastic response to the release of our Cycfi XR series pickups! Due to the overwhelming demand we have sold out
June 9, 2015
We are pleased to announce the official debut release of our Cycfi XR series extended response pickups! The production models consist of 6, 7 and
June 3, 2015
Here’s a customization test case for a bass guitar. I needed to know if it is indeed feasible to provide custom pickups for users with very specific
June 2, 2015
It’s taking shape! That’s a lovely pair in a humbucker width configuration. You already know the XRs, they’ve been the focus of our recent developments,
Per Nilsson demos the Cycfi XR 8-string pickups on .strandberg* Boden 8 headless guitar
May 29, 2015
Per Nilsson is an incredible guitar player. He surely knows how to use all 8 strings! Here’s how our Cycfi XR8 sounds on a Strandberg Boden 8-string. The
April 26, 2015
After a long and arduous detour with the development of the XR series pickups, we’re back on track! Here’s the evolved modular Neo with better crosstalk performance using permalloy shields
The Long and Winding Road… ahem Coils
April 18, 2015
I’ve been asked many times: What time frame are we looking at until the release? To be very honest, as of now, it’s quite a struggle to
April 10, 2015
We have a new name! We had a fun time thinking of a new name for the Neo Aura. Thank you all for your suggestions. Naming
April 9, 2015
From our Spicetone friends! 6APPEAL: Polyphonic Overdrive and Breakout Box for Hexaphonic Guitars. We share a common ideal: Hexaphonic processing is the future! “A whole new sonic
April 6, 2015
The Resonant Filter allows you to dial in the characteristics of virtually any pickup with two high quality dual-ganged Bourns potentiometers. The Resonant Filter offers
April 2, 2015
Before we finally get these pickups released into the wild, here’s something to whet your appetite. Notice the oblique orientation of this Quad 8 string. This one is
April 2, 2015
What’s in a name? A lot of course! I just received a cease and desist order from Fishman for the name “Neo Aura”. I realised
March 28, 2015
It’s been a while but we’re almost there! I always underestimate the time it takes to bring an idea from concept to prototype and then to actual production. I
February 28, 2015
Hello Y’all. Since our NAMM debut in January 2015, we’ve been very busy going into limited production for the first batch of Auras. For those of you who have been eagerly waiting, thank you very much for your patience. Many of you know that we’ve been working on the Neo Aura project for quite some time now. This project turned out to be be a lot more complicated than we initially expected because it’s not just a pickup but a whole modular infrastructure!
January 29, 2015
This month, we stopped production of the original Neos in anticipation of the new Neos. We have a new version coming out with much improved specs and features.
January 21, 2015
Hello Y’all. So, Cycfi Research will have a presence in NAMM 2015. William Banks will be our NAMMbassador :-). He will be bringing with him a prototype of the Cycfi
January 1, 2015
Update: here’s a link to the main Cycfi XR page: Cycfi XR Meet the Cycfi XR Extended Response Pickup. This is not your grandfather’s pickup! These are new generation, 21st
December 3, 2014
Innovation is so hard! People often ask me why I don’t just do it like everybody else; —you know, the “tried-and-true” path. The easy path. Well, I enjoy
November 11, 2014
“Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Ah my favourite Einstein quote. Apart from the Infinity project, here’s what we’ve been working on
October 22, 2014
Here at Cycfi Research, we test everything. It’s not just by pure luck that we have these great sounding pickups. We go through dozens of
September 8, 2014
What’s nice about active, low impedance pickup design is the compact size. The coils are a mere 5mm tall by 10mm wide. Stick two of
September 3, 2014
This set of 110 Neo1s is ready to go. It will be amazing too see what the end user will do with all these! No,
August 18, 2014
After a few iterations using my favourite graphics tools (Photoshop, Illustrator, iDraw, and Solidworks (for anything 3D)), I think this is the minimal interface I really like.
August 10, 2014
To make it easier for 7 and 8 string extended range guitar users to get started with the Neo Series Active Multichannel Pickups, you can find in this page some design
Infinity Driver v0.93 Prototype
August 7, 2014
From 3D model to actual prototype, here’s the Infinity Driver v0.93, front and back views. The coils are 16Ω gauge 35 magnet wire, with Neodymium N42 core. The
August 4, 2014
This is the third and final instalment of the Virtual Pickups series. I changed the title from Virtual Pickup Placement to better express the actual subject which will