Evertone - Interesting pickup design, but...

[Noodling Guitars]

... it seems a bit snake-oily.

A company called Evertone is releasing a new line of pickups that supposedly is a "world's first" for the design. In short, the design philosophy is to take into account how a guitar signal would be viewed from the perspective of a recording engineer, where the end result will be subject to an envelope curve in a mix. Evertone claims that their pickups are designed around specific envelope curves (i.e. basically to take away unwanted highs I suppose) and also apply a peak hold so that you get a bit more pronounced tone at the point of pick attack and more transients will come through.... or so they claim.

They're not saying whether there is anything different in terms of construction, and no mentioning of parts. My guess is there's probably a filter circuit added after the coils that they hide inside the housing (one thign I did notice is that all the pickups seem to be gooped). Maybe it works? Who knows... but thought it's kinda interesting and wanted to share this - I doubt most of us would ever get to experience these anyway. My only question would be why not just let the sound engineer do his/her thing. Maybe in 10 years it'll end up being one of those "shave the edge of your cd's" type things lol


Sources (in Japanese only)

EVERTONE PICKUP | EVERTONE PROJECT

www.evertone.jp

全く新しいコンセプトのピックアップ EVERTONE PICKUP 訪問取材【エレキギター博士】

EVERTONE PICKUPが、「エンベロープカーブのデザイン」という全く新しいコンセプトで話題を集めています。本来ならレコーディングでしか得られなかった音質での生演奏が可能になったというのです。

guitar-hakase.com

 

[Norton]

those ever-tone guys like to get DEEEEEEP into the weeds

crazy caps etc. I'd love to get my hands and ears on their caps, pedals and pickups.

But I'm not going to worry about it much. My preference would be to smooth out transients.

 

[soulman969]

Personally I find it difficult to believe there's all that much new technology that can be applied to a guitar pickup. So I'm not altogether certain what they're shooting for here that hasn't been done before.

 

[Cozmik Cowboy]

(i.e. basically to take away unwanted highs I suppose)

Unwanted highs? As in "a less than full-spectrum pick-up"? Isn't that what tone pots are for?

Only unwanted high I ever came across was when a guy at a gig offered me a line, and it turned out to be dust, not blow; now that was an interesting night at the old sound board...........

 

[Noodling Guitars]

Personally I find it difficult to believe there's all that much new technology that can be applied to a guitar pickup. So I'm not altogether certain what they're shooting for here that hasn't been done before.

Yeah it's particularly suspect when they goop everything and don't even mention wires and magnets in the whole interview. If the prices weren't that crazy (they're 8-10x the price of say Duncans!!!! It's f'n insane), I'd almost be inclined to buy one to cut up lol

 

[soulman969]

I question an objective of wanting to remove unwanted high end when that's what so many pickups lack. A clear chime like high end without ear splitting shrillness. The very best pickups can do that.

 

[Noodling Guitars]

I question an objective of wanting to remove unwanted high end when that's what so many pickups lack. A clear chime like high end without ear splitting shrillness. The very best pickups can do that.

They explain that by saying that it's to remove the parts that are harsh to the ear - they're saying "it's not so much the "highs" but rather that the sharpness of the onset of the pick attack that's the problem. By designing around the envelope curve, we can control those peaks so that even when you increase the highs, your ears won't hurt".

Why do I get the feeling that they've just invented an encabulator

 

[soulman969]

They explain that by saying that it's to remove the parts that are harsh to the ear - they're saying "it's not so much the "highs" but rather that the sharpness of the onset of the pick attack that's the problem. By designing around the envelope curve, we can control those peaks so that even when you increase the highs, your ears won't hurt".

Why do I get the feeling that they've just invented an encabulator

Seems to me Bill Lawrence already figured that part out and his single coil pickups sell for even less than SD gets let alone 8x-10x that. That can also be controlled in other ways external to the pickup itself. Is it really anymore than a solution for a problem that doesn't really exist?

 

[Noodling Guitars]

Seems to me Bill Lawrence already figured that part out and his single coil pickups sell for even less than SD gets let alone 8x-10x that. That can also be controlled in other ways external to the pickup itself. Is it really anymore than a solution for a problem that doesn't really exist?

Nooo clue. The limited review videos I've seen aren't really helpful either - they just sounded like..... slightly different pickups tbh. And it's sooo slight that I'd probably be pretty pissed for dropping hundreds and having to spend the time to solder them in... (not that I would anyway)... Even what they claim to do - which is kind of like compressing the attack - doens't really seem to be the case.

Seymour Duncans SSH set on a Pacifica vs $$$$ (starting from 8m04s - I've included the time in the link)
I know everyone mentions YT compression - but seriously there's almost no difference...



Fender CS pickups on a warmoth build vs. $$$$ (starting from 4m25s)
The differences here are so minor but could also be the way he played it.



But anyway, I'm more interested to find out their approach rather than the actual pickup itself (cause tbh, as long as the pickups are changed out, there will be a difference - and whether it's good or bad is purely subjective). Maybe it's something completely new (like Fluences are a completely new approach, and is rather brilliant - but those you can search the designs and tech up on the USPTO). These you can't... and I'm a bit skeptical as to whether it's just a complete marketing scam.

 

[Cozmik Cowboy]

Couldn't you just make a low-impedance, low-output single coil to get the full spectrum, add a RWRP coil with no magnet to kill the hum, and put it with a preamp coupled with a variable low-pass filter to tune the resonant peak?

Oh, wait - Alembic already did that, since '68............

 

[Space1999]

Couldn't you just make a low-impedance, low-output single coil to get the full spectrum, add a RWRP coil with no magnet to kill the hum, and put it with a preamp coupled with a variable low-pass filter to tune the resonant peak?

Oh, wait - Alembic already did that, since '68............

As far as a guitar sound from an engineer’s POV, to me it’s all about the useable frequency spectrum in the mix.

Guitars are all about mids. Allow too much high end and it crowds out cymbals and vocals.
Too much low end and it drowns out the bass definition.

That being said the tone of a guitar starts with the wood used on the guitar and neck and how well they resonate. Different woods produce different fundamental tone.

I have been able to verify that by changing out pu’s in guitars and getting the same tone out of the guitar. The better pu’s emphasis that tone with less hash and hyped top end.

I have been fortunate to have a luthier who hand winds pu’s for me. I have changed out pu’s on 5 of my 7 Epi’s with a plan to change them all out.

The biggest change I have ever experienced with pu’s is the way they are wound. Production line pu’s are wound round and round.

Hand wound pu’s can be wound in a scatter wound fashion. And that is now my favorite type pu. They are more even throughout the freq spectrum.
And have a great mid range.

As I have been replacing these pu’s I have chosen different Alnico magnets and different value tone caps. Those two factors also play a big part in the sound of the pu and the tones you can get from it.

I like lower value caps than the standard .047uF caps. .001uF, .022uF and the .033uF all do different things to the mids and give you a lot more useable frequency selections than just wide open to mud.

Patt

 

[Cozmik Cowboy]

As far as a guitar sound from an engineer’s POV, to me it’s all about the useable frequency spectrum in the mix.

As far as a guitar sound from an engineer’s POV (I did a bit of recording, but was mostly a live engineer), to me it’s all about taking the sound each musician wants and making the mix fit it as well as possible (not always easy, but neither is it anywhere near impossible).

That being said the tone of a guitar starts with the wood used on the guitar and neck and how well they resonate. Different woods produce different fundamental tone.

An acoustic is all about the wood; the further you get from that, the less the wood matters. And, just for the record, I'll throw a little cold water on people's delusions and say that fretboard wood changes the tone not one iota.

I have been able to verify that by changing out pu’s in guitars and getting the same tone out of the guitar.

Stuff and nonsense.
Even on a full jazz box, an electric is more about the p/ups. When you get to solids, the wood's contribution is fairly minor. Yes, different species will absorb different overtones at different rates, but the only way a different (and not just "better", different - wire size, wraps, magnets, etc.) p/up will not change the sound of a solid is if you only play through high-gain amps and/or dirt boxes - and then, you're not really hearing the guitar's character anyway.

I like lower value caps than the standard .047uF caps. .001uF, .022uF and the .033uF all do different things to the mids and give you a lot more useable frequency selections than just wide open to mud.

Now cap value will change things. Cap construction, no; as I have said before, a .047µF cap will sound like a .047µF cap if it's made of ceramic, mylar, paper-in-oil, or penguin-dust-in-unicorn-sweat. But value? Yeah.
When I had to rewire my Sheraton I used .033µF caps, and am quite happy with it.

 

[AJ6stringsting]

Seems to me Bill Lawrence already figured that part out and his single coil pickups sell for even less than SD gets let alone 8x-10x that. That can also be controlled in other ways external to the pickup itself. Is it really anymore than a solution for a problem that doesn't really exist?

I love the old Bill Lawrence L-250's and XL500's .
The L-250's are amazing pickups in the neck position of a S, S, H configured guitars, those pickups don't alter tone in that position, they just protect the guitars tone . Some of the L-250's come in various k ohms ranges, so each pickup is very different .

The XL500 , especially those wound under 12k ohms, make great neck pickups, especially they are like L-250 and sound great in a H, S, H configured guitar .

If you use an Acoustic Modeler, those pickups will give a very great Acoustic guitar sound .

But when, distorted or overdriven, it is , for me, the perfect neck pickup tone.

 

[Noodling Guitars]

I love the old Bill Lawrence L-250's and XL500's .
The L-250's are amazing pickups in the neck position of a S, S, H configured guitars, those pickups don't alter tone in that position, they just protect the guitars tone . Some of the L-250's come in various k ohms ranges, so each pickup is very different .

The XL500 , especially those wound under 12k ohms, make great neck pickups, especially they are like L-250 and sound great in a H, S, H configured guitar .

If you use an Acoustic Modeler, those pickups will give a very great Acoustic guitar sound .

But when, distorted or overdriven, it is , for me, the perfect neck pickup tone.

When I was in highschool, I always wanted a XL500 (because dimebag.. duh...). Couldn't afford it then and by the time I had cash, I went full Zakk Wylde. Years later, I had already grown out of that rails thing (though did own the SD Dimebag set). I wonder if the new ones are still the same? If they are, they seem to be a pretty good price - maybe I should get a set to try out.

 

[Raiyn]

An acoustic is all about the wood; the further you get from that, the less the wood matters. And, just for the record, I'll throw a little cold water on people's delusions and say that fretboard wood changes the tone not one iota.

Exactly. In an acoustic all you have is wood.

Stuff and nonsense.
Even on a full jazz box, an electric is more about the p/ups. When you get to solids, the wood's contribution is fairly minor. Yes, different species will absorb different overtones at different rates, but the only way a different (and not just "better", different - wire size, wraps, magnets, etc.) p/up will not change the sound of a solid is if you only play through high-gain amps and/or dirt boxes - and then, you're not really hearing the guitar's character anyway.

Again, true.

Now cap value will change things. Cap construction, no; as I have said before, a .047µF cap will sound like a .047µF cap if it's made of ceramic, mylar, paper-in-oil, or penguin-dust-in-unicorn-sweat. But value? Yeah.
When I had to rewire my Sheraton I used .033µF caps, and am quite happy with it.

Preach on!

 

[Space1999]

As far as a guitar sound from an engineer’s POV (I did a bit of recording, but was mostly a live engineer), to me it’s all about taking the sound each musician wants and making the mix fit it as well as possible (not always easy, but neither is it anywhere near impossible).



An acoustic is all about the wood; the further you get from that, the less the wood matters. And, just for the record, I'll throw a little cold water on people's delusions and say that fretboard wood changes the tone not one iota.



Stuff and nonsense.
Even on a full jazz box, an electric is more about the p/ups. When you get to solids, the wood's contribution is fairly minor. Yes, different species will absorb different overtones at different rates, but the only way a different (and not just "better", different - wire size, wraps, magnets, etc.) p/up will not change the sound of a solid is if you only play through high-gain amps and/or dirt boxes - and then, you're not really hearing the guitar's character anyway.



Now cap value will change things. Cap construction, no; as I have said before, a .047µF cap will sound like a .047µF cap if it's made of ceramic, mylar, paper-in-oil, or penguin-dust-in-unicorn-sweat. But value? Yeah.
When I had to rewire my Sheraton I used .033µF caps, and am quite happy with it.

Well you believe what you want to believe.
I’ll stick to what I know from experience to be true.

Pat

 

[Raiyn]

Well you believe what you want to believe.
I’ll stick to what I know from experience to be true.

Pat

You won't believe us, how about someone who makes guitars and co-founded Hamer Guitars 50 years ago?

Hot Take: Tonewoods Are Just for Style

When it comes to electric guitar materials, choose the wood that looks good.

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Jol Dantzig is a noted designer, builder, and player who co-founded Hamer Guitars, one of the first boutique guitar brands, in 1973. Today, as the director of Dantzig Guitar Design, he continues to help define the art of custom guitar. To learn more, visit guitardesigner.com.