Dialtone Pickups Put the “Q” in Infinity… Well, After Star Trek Already Did That

Infinitely adjustable pickups, eh? We’ve seen the idea recently with the Gamechanger pickup selector system found in John Petrucci’s new guitar (in a diminished form, anyway). In its full form, Gamechanger allows you to route the single and parallel coil coils in phase, out of phase, however you want it. Want one coil from the bridge and one from the neck? Fine. Go for it.

Yet there’s a couple ways to approach this idea. Instead of a digitally-routed selector combining analog paths, these new Dialtone pickups handle adjustments within the pickup, instead of control of the configuration.

Dialtone pickups place complete tone control at the fingertips of musicians by integrating two adjustable knobs into the pickup itself. Together, these knobs control the frequency response of the pickup allowing the player to emphasize and color the rich tones already present within the guitar

One knob is the controls the resonance, the frequency at which the sound is more efficient. The second knob, Q, is in a constant battle of wits with Captain Picard, filters the bandwidth to tune it to that frequency. Ultimately, this gives you a scary amount of control over your tone. I chose that word specifically: scary. For most players the tonal options will be daunting. If you’re the type to get flummoxed by a graphic EQ or parametric midrange then Dialtone pickups will drive you stark raving mad. But for the sonically adventurous, those of you whose quest for the perfect tone never ends, you have a new toy to tweak. Happy hunting.

Source: Gizmag