April 3, 2014
The first batch of Neos… A few more tests and we’re ready to go! It is a very limited production run, as planned. But it
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.
March 23, 2014
Support hardware for the Neo polyphonic pickups requires a suitable cabling system for connecting the multi-channel outputs to an audio interface. In addition to carrying audio signals, it
March 21, 2014
A friend of mine suggested having transparent pickup covers for the Neo6 pickups. I think it’s a good idea. If there’s interest, we might be able
March 1, 2014
This simple, yet innovative gadget turns your guitar into something like a clavichord. Amazing idea. Sounds good too. Not bad for $30 gadget. Check it out
Neo Series Active Polyphonic Pickups
February 10, 2014
Small, Modular Active Polyphonic Pickups. Update: October 18, 2015. The original Neo pickups are now called the Nu. They will be available soon. Check the Blog for updates.
Viola Organista — Leonardo da Vinci’s invention comes to life!
November 21, 2013
This is Leonardo da Vinci’s invention: a harpsichord, an organ and a viola da gamba. Hear this 500 year old instrument come to life for the very first
November 10, 2013
Question: Which solid body guitar has better sustain, the Fender Stratocaster or the Gibson Les Paul? If you were like me, you’d probably pick the
November 1, 2013
We got the initial batch of our custom-designed coils from Chipsen! 1300 turns (0.040mm, AWG 46) 10mH 450Ω D.C. Impedance (Max), 20Hz-20kHz flat frequency response 9mm diameter, 5mm height.
October 16, 2013
Onward Hello! We’ve been busy. It’s been a while, but we are inching slowly, but surely, towards production. Let me present the Six Pack production
July 29, 2013
My observation is that in general, guitar players are conservative when it comes to guitar sound. I think that is the reason why digital emulations
June 28, 2013
Some of you probably know that I am a C++ programmer. I am a consultant at Ciere Consulting. I am a strong advocate of Open
Cycfi Six Pack Hexaphonic Pickup v1.1
June 17, 2013
Here’s the V1.1 prototype based on the V1.0 design and specification. The version is bumped to 1.1 since there are slight modifications from the original 1.0
Cycfi Six Pack Hexaphonic Pickup v1.0
June 5, 2013
After countless hours experimenting and iterating over the basic design, I think I’ve reached a point where I have something that am actually finally satisfied
May 29, 2013
Our Op Amp Shootout has been updated to reflect recent research and development. The previous favorites are now replaced by better choices and there are
Let it breathe (part 3): Frequency Response
May 10, 2013
This is part 3 of the “Let it breathe” series. For proper context, you might want to check out Part1 and Part2. This third and
May 1, 2013
Humbuckers Invented independently by Joseph Raymond Butts and Seth Lover, the humbucker pickup “bucks” hum. It is ingeniously designed to passively cancel noise by having two
Let it breathe (part 2): More Frequency Analysis
April 27, 2013
Last time we did some (very rough) preliminary tests comparing an early version of the hex pickup with a Fender Stratocaster and a Gibson Les
Observations on the sorry state of commercial DMM offerings
April 22, 2013
Digital multimeter (or DMM for short) is one of the most ubiquitous tools around, found in every electronics professional’s or hobbyist’s tool kit. Yet, one
Let it breathe: Frequency Analysis
April 14, 2013
The following FFT graphs show the harmonic spectrum of a couple of wave samples taken from: A Fender Stratocaster with the middle pickup A Gibson
April 9, 2013
New stuff from Digikey. We ordered a bunch of precision SMD resistors (1% and 0.1% laser-trimmed), a bunch of low-power, low-noise Op Amps, gathered from
April 2, 2013
Question: What’s a good Op Amp for audio? The answer: depends. There are many factors to consider and there’s no single best answer. There was
Some musings on multi-channel ADC choices
March 22, 2013
It is rather clear that future belongs to digital sound. However, producing sound by exclusively digital means is a rather boring occupation; wood and brass
March 21, 2013
Balanced Active Pickups By and large, the current state of the electric guitar pickup design has not really changed much since the 50s. We still
March 19, 2013
A friend asked if there can be a place on the cycfi site where people can submit articles containing idle thoughts and observations. I added
March 17, 2013
I am a strong advocate of Open Source. I have authored three Open Source C++ libraries, Boost.Spirit, Boost.Fusion and Boost.Phoenix. These libraries are all peer-reviewed,
March 13, 2013
Alpha is a challenging project. But it was well worth it. The innovative use of non-traditional materials such as Carbon Fiber and Bamboo opened up
Tonewood! So the web is linking to my article. Cool!
February 26, 2013
Is “Tonewood” bullshit? This guy says it is… So… the web is linking to my article and causing controversy. Cool! One commenter noted: “I suspect
February 23, 2013
This thread on “Alternate Matarials” has been a wake up call. I need to be more active with this project. Two years ago, I was
March 25, 2011
From concept to reality… Presenting the Carbon Fiber-Bamboo Guitar prototype. I still have to write more documentation. I am terribly lagging behind. Anyway, for now,
February 5, 2011
Gorgeous Elegance! It’s been a while. My last post was in November 3. Actually there’s one more unpublished post in December about “Sustain” Myth and
November 3, 2010
I find the iridescence of Mother of Pearl simply irresistible. The original design as seen in the 3D CAD model had a stainless-steel Cycfi logo.
October 24, 2010
I am more of a melodic lead player and I play lead more than chords. I prefer slim necks with flatter and low action fretboards
Neck-Thru Construction (part 3)
October 22, 2010
Wrapping the Neck-Thru This installment concludes the Neck-thru construction series. As a final step, the neck is wrapped in 4 layers of carbon fiber to
Neck-Thru Construction (part 2)
October 20, 2010
Installing the Truss-Rod Now, we install our new Carbon-Glass Truss Rod. We begin by cutting the truss-rod slot using a router. At the headstock-end of
Neck-Thru Construction (part 1)
October 15, 2010
Influences I like the basic idea behind the original Steinberger design. The idea is to keep only what’s needed —the bare essentials that define an
October 4, 2010
A Little Relief Do we need an adjustable truss rod? Unlike wood, carbon fiber is not affected by temperature or humidity. Some guitar builders using
October 1, 2010
Double Rip Cut Selected Bamboo culms are sliced into straight strips 25 mm wide 1.2 meters long. You would want to choose large diameter culms
October 1, 2010
It all starts with a nice manufactured plank for the neck-thru middle section made of Bamboo interspersed with multiple layers of Carbon fiber laminated with
September 20, 2010
This is the conclusion to the Perfect Switching article. Again, let me warn you that this page assumes you know a little bit of electrical
September 15, 2010
This is an installment to last week’s Perfect Switching article. Again, let me warn you that this page assumes you know a little bit of
September 9, 2010
I am tired of the same old Fender Strat or Gibson wiring. Go to a music store and chances are, with a very few exceptions,
August 28, 2010
Here are a couple of 3D renderings of the CAD model. Solid modeling is fun as soon as you get the hang of it. It
August 28, 2010
Neck Thru-Neck construction (No body and neck joints) Material: Bamboo-epoxy laminate thru-neck core 3 Layer carbon fiber skin neck bottom 4 Layer carbon fiber head
August 26, 2010
Flashback Yeah, that’s me, more than 20 years ago. That’s the first guitar that I built when I was in high school almost 30 years
August 26, 2010
As always, it all starts with a good design. I can be a hacker. Sometimes I am. But for projects I love most, the perfectionist
July 29, 2010
I’ve been working on this project on and off. Now, a few months have passed. The last blog entry was written in November. It’s not
November 8, 2009
Lightweight but stronger than steel, carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) or carbon fiber in short, was once considered a very expensive space age material used
October 25, 2009
The Land Breeze and the Sea Breeze were married and had a child: a giant bamboo plant. The first man, Malakas (Strong), and the first
Tuning the Wood: On Tonewoods and Other Myths
October 19, 2009
I chuckle every time I hear a story about the famous Antonio Stradivari, the Italian luthier who built some of the world’s best violins, the
October 17, 2009
Accept it, civilization is damaging the planet. Some of the damage may be permanent. The future will not be good for generations to come if