mellowgerman
Senior Member
http://curtisnovak.com/pickups/EB-BSx2.shtml
Just saw this intriguing new pickup from Curtis the other day when I was ordering the matched set of Bisonics for my Starfire.
This one unfortunately is only available in the "Mudbucker" format/look. Traditional "Mudbuckers" do fit in Bisonic cavities, but I don't believe the screw holes line up. Still, the tonal possibilities of this one get me pretty excited. As stated on Mr. Novak's site, you could go series, parallel, or single coil, BUT you could also select between the two coils which would result in what looks to be at least an inch of pickup-pole placement variation. We've discussed flipping traditional Bisonics around 180degrees a few times for this same reason and I feel like it could be neat to have that option at the flick of a switch... though perhaps the difference wouldn't be as dramatic with the extra set of adjustable poles in the middle?
Lastly, I wonder just HOW close the single coil mode will sound to a traditional Bisonic. I'm sure it will be close, as I've never found any of Novak's descriptions to be misleading, but it seems to me that a pickup's physical form and dimensions have just as much an affect on tone as the type of magnets and gauge of wire used. What do you guys think?
Hopefully there will be some good sound recordings of one of these popping up sometime soon! There is only one demo that I've been able to find of the single-coil Bisonic-inspired Mudbucker Curtis makes, but the recording itself is not very good, being through an amp, in an open room, with a single room-mic (potentially just a standard on-board phone or camera mic). Of course it's better than nothing and it's nice to hear some of the owners opinions and points, but it doesn't tell me a whole lot about the pickup's actual tone.
Anywho, I'd be stoked to try one of these out and maybe that will be a future experiment of some sort (though not on my 1970 SFB, which I like with the look and sound of two standard Bisonics).
Just saw this intriguing new pickup from Curtis the other day when I was ordering the matched set of Bisonics for my Starfire.
This one unfortunately is only available in the "Mudbucker" format/look. Traditional "Mudbuckers" do fit in Bisonic cavities, but I don't believe the screw holes line up. Still, the tonal possibilities of this one get me pretty excited. As stated on Mr. Novak's site, you could go series, parallel, or single coil, BUT you could also select between the two coils which would result in what looks to be at least an inch of pickup-pole placement variation. We've discussed flipping traditional Bisonics around 180degrees a few times for this same reason and I feel like it could be neat to have that option at the flick of a switch... though perhaps the difference wouldn't be as dramatic with the extra set of adjustable poles in the middle?
Lastly, I wonder just HOW close the single coil mode will sound to a traditional Bisonic. I'm sure it will be close, as I've never found any of Novak's descriptions to be misleading, but it seems to me that a pickup's physical form and dimensions have just as much an affect on tone as the type of magnets and gauge of wire used. What do you guys think?
Hopefully there will be some good sound recordings of one of these popping up sometime soon! There is only one demo that I've been able to find of the single-coil Bisonic-inspired Mudbucker Curtis makes, but the recording itself is not very good, being through an amp, in an open room, with a single room-mic (potentially just a standard on-board phone or camera mic). Of course it's better than nothing and it's nice to hear some of the owners opinions and points, but it doesn't tell me a whole lot about the pickup's actual tone.
Anywho, I'd be stoked to try one of these out and maybe that will be a future experiment of some sort (though not on my 1970 SFB, which I like with the look and sound of two standard Bisonics).
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