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
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.
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
July 14, 2014
Last week, I stated that given a multichannel pickup with a wide and flat frequency response such as the Neo, it is possible to reproduce the
July 7, 2014
It’s Sunday. What better way to spend the day than to do some DSP hacking. Today, it will be about Virtual Pickup Placement. A well-known DSP guru remarked, “When
June 24, 2014
Here’s some exciting news! Tired of the same old 50s Mojo? We will soon be releasing two new full-range pickups designed for modeling: the NeoM SC
June 16, 2014
We want to push the limits of what we can do with the electric guitar. The Neo project (starting from the Six pack project) is a stepping
May 13, 2014
The Infinity Project Hey, we have a New Project! Here’s a very early prototype of the Cycfi Infinity Polyphonic Sustain System. The proof of concept video
May 5, 2014
How do you wire the Neos? The initial release of the Neo series polyphonic pickups was for DIYers, serious hackers and guitar builders. The Neo is not your
April 26, 2014
Meet Iron Man, one of our test guitars. You’ll immediately notice a Neo6 in the bridge position. But what is that thing in the neck position? Can
April 25, 2014
We shipped the first batch of Neos. Yay! To all early adopters, a warm THANK YOU. To those who were left out because the initial
It’s Official: Neo Series Now Available
April 20, 2014
Easter, April 20, 2014. Today marks the official public release of the Cycfi Neo Series Active Polyphonic Pickups. After a long wait, the Neos are now available! As previously
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
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