Zen and the Art of Pickup Innovation

There’s a zen to winding pickups that can lead to new ideas. Like the day I was winding a Strat-style pickup and put on about 2% more winds than normal. I kept winding. Finally got up to 7% more winds than spec, with a slightly different pattern on the winding. Some say patterns don’t make a difference. I think they do.

Every thousand winds or so I’d stop and do a couple of cross-winds and play with it, just to get a different sound. What was I looking for? A punchy, bright but not too tinny, really powerful sound. Something that might capture a Hendrix, a Gilmore, or a Clapton tone.

These were really close, but they needed something more. So I took a Dremel® to the north-facing (top) surface of the Alnico 5 magnets and grinded them down so they weren’t flat but a little rounded off, to soften the sound.

And the Fervor Special Edition Strat Pickups were born.

Fervor artist Andrew Autin finds the Special Editions extremely responsive, with incredible range. Listen to how many different tones he gets using all his settings.



But you don’t have to play at Andrew’s level to get something out of our Special Editions. My good friend Mike Alfaro, who I’d call a good recreational player, went from factory Fender pickups to Special Editions and was blown away. In his words, they’re in the sweet spot of hot.

I Got the Bloomfield Blues

Ever since a recent customer told me the custom humbuckers I made for him sound like Mike Bloomfield on his ’59 sunburst Les Paul, this great blues guitarist and his tone have stuck in my mind.



It’s a smooth, powerful tone. To my ears, Bloomfield is similar to Santana, but maybe a little more soulful. They both have a dynamic tone that goes on and on. If Bloomfield hadn’t been dogged by all those problems, I think he’d have become one of the best guitar players, period.

The Fervor humbuckers that come closest to Bloomfield’s sound are 8.4k in the neck and 9.0k to 9.2k in the bridge. I find the nickel covers really help, more than I’d originally thought. I tried chrome and black but nickel really just did it. Chrome looks terrific but doesn’t carry quite the tone. Nickel has a softer consistency that seems to resonate better. It brings out more intonation.

After more experimentation, I discovered a slight mod that really nails it. It’s a secret ingredient in a place you’d never guess. But it makes a definite tonal difference and completes that Bloomfield-like sound.

So—anyone else agree that Bloomfield could have been the greatest bluesman of all times? If not, who would it be?