About twice a year someone mentions the 8 coil Music Man pickup I make on a forum somewhere and before long I start getting Emails about my "Wal Pickup".
While this pickup does use one set humbucking coils per string much like the Wal design I don't think it's accurate to call it a copy of a Wal pickup. My pickup is essentially 8 of my Scarab single string pickups in one housing. It uses Neodymium magnets and offers an out put for each string.
Most folks aren't too interested in the things once I tell them they sell for $300 each plus shipping. The fact that they are getting 4 humbucking pickups for that price doesn't seem to register with most. They are very time consuming and tricky to make so they cost a lot.
Do they sound just like a Wal? I have no idea.
Maybe you remember the VOV humbuckers I made for guitar shredder J.A. Allen. They are some of the newest additions to the Searcy String Works line. Well, here we have a set of the new White VOV Revolution humbuckers. With 12 adjustable poles and powerful ceramic magnets they are a more modern design with great upper mids but not shrill sounding. The coils are what I would call hot without being too hot. 
The original VOV Revolution humbuckers were all black but the new sets have a stunning contrast of white bobbins. They look right at home in this Michael Schenker Flying V.
Well, I changed up the look of the Blog today. What do you think? I'm not real happy with it but the old one was hard to read, especially the comments. Maybe I'll be able to talk Alicia into helping me clean this one up a bit.
I think I'm reaching the end on the 12 string bass pickup. Last night I got to do some final sanding and it's looking pretty cool if I do say so my self.I'm glad Timothy called my out on the mistake because now I have something I'm very proud of. The 
walnut lines don't scream out at you but they do add a nice high end touch I think. For the screw head counter sink I decided to do a little notch like my 8 string guitar pickups have.
Well, that's it for now. More later!
Ok, like I told you a few days ago I got the 12 string bass pickup back in the shop for a few tweaks that Timothy wanted to make. He wasn't nuts about where the holes were and wanted a little more rounded look over all. So after kicking around a few ideas we came to this. I shaved off the ends on the top. plugged the holes and recapped it with some walnut and a new bit of ebony. How slick is that? Click on the picture to get a better look. I still have to do a little more gap filling and sanding. Then I'm going to re drill the holes and counter sink them just a bit. It's gonna be rad!
Oh! And be sure to check out the Bass Balls review I did for the Six String Bliss #122 this week.
By now you have likely seen some of the things I have written about that ambitious 12 string bass pickup for New York bassist Timothy Leung. It came back to the shop for a few modifications but that's not what I want to talk about today. Today I want to talk about Timothy's band Har Ik Zehr . Anthony Johnson did a fantastic interview with him for Bass Musician Magazine about the band and Timothy's playing style and more that you should read HERE . These guys have created one of the most original sounds I have ever listened too. It's a fantastic blend of Eastern vocal, chant and drumming work mixed with a healthy dose of Western Alt Rock guitar and bass work. I have become a huge fan. I want you check out this band and listen to at least 3 songs on the official Har Ik Zehr web site or maybe their MySpace page . You can pickup their CD on CD Baby . If you're in the New York area I want you to go see them play live. One other impressive thing about these guy is their willingness to share any of their own prosperity with others that might need it. Check out their very cool charity work with Kiva. This is a group that makes small loans to people in an effort to promote entrepreneurship and help end poverty. Check out their efforts here.
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