Cycfi Pickups: Nu Series, New Tone, New Sound

First things first: just how do you pronounce ”Cycfi?”

“Sys-fi?”

“Psych-fi?”

“Sick-fi?”

We asked Cycfi how to pronounce their name and this is what they had to say,

"Cycfi is pronounced like saic-fai, similar to how you pronounce Scifi."

                                                                    (Nu Capsule from Cycfi Research on Vimeo)

“Cycle of Fifths. A structure used by music theorists to depict the harmonic relationships among the twelve notes in the chromatic scale as a tool for composition.”

Now after reading that, it’s easy to wonder if the pickups offer something with the discerning musician’s tastes in mind. Something that may be different compared to other pickups altogether. Something new for your sound...

...Cycfi Nu pickups do just that.

Cycfi Nu pickups consist of multiple parts that make up an active, low impedance pickup system:

The first is the ‘Nu Capsule,’ which is a shielded pickup with an integrated preamplifier. This is the heart and soul of the system and brings high dynamic range to your sound. Not only that, but an unadulterated, responsive tone is achieved from it’s design due to a permalloy ring under the hood. This ring increases each string’s presence without losing the character of each note you play across the strings. These capsules are intended to be mounted to a PCB or female header. Each capsule is about the size of a fingernail. 

The second part is the ‘Nu Multi,’ which are Nu Capsules, but combined in groups on a ready-made PCB. These offer easy adjustments on your customized guitar and come in two forms: ‘Basic & Standard.’ Nu Multi Basic includes all of the power, signal, and ground connectors that you can use with whatever audio input devices you could connect to. The Nu Multi Standard, however, includes an ‘internal breakout.’

The ‘Internal breakout’ connects to the Nu Multi board and provides the ability to connect to 15 channels of audio inputs and up to 7 channels of controllable voltages. This means that the Nu Multi, and your guitar’s pickups could go to the inputs while the control voltages allow for volume, tone, or patches/effects. The internal breakout also offers a low noise voltage regulator for your Nu Multi pickups, active pickups, and auxiliary circuits. This is just encouraging creativity and versatility in your hands!

Now you may be wondering, “That explains the parts, but what does it do? What is the sound?”

We have a few custom builds in the works and we'll be sure to post more about those when they're ready. 

For now, we can describe it this way: a complete Cycfi Nu pickup system offers comprehensive control over your sound, your tone, and your imagination with your instrument. These are pickups designed for multichannel processing for each string (distortion, delay, EQ, etc.). This offers an uncountable amount of digital audio workstation (DAW) options and easy MIDI controls that are possible for your acoustic guitars, your electric basses, and electric guitars.

The Cycfi Nu pickups offer a uniform, clean, and constant response. Unlike the high impedance pickups we’re all familiar with, the Nu pickups bring a clear and pure tone. This allows you to mold the sound and tone of each string to what YOU are after in EQ instead of trying to balance between the pickup and the control of your audio interface constantly. And if you want a customized sound, you might demand the custom guitar to match.

For the most discerning player, we meet the demands by combining the guitar you have been dreaming of with the options and dynamics of modern electronics, like the Cycfi pickup system. We can help you experience the control and versatility on the instrument that best suits your playing style. To take the next step toward getting your ultimate guitar, head over to the Halo Guitar Customization Tool to design your own custom guitar! Cycfi Nu pickups are not yet a standard option, but can be installed in your custom build by mentioning them in your order's Special Instructions. 

What do you think about Cycfi Nu pickups? 

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*All images of Cycfi Research components in this blog post were used with permission from Cycfi (thanks, Joel!).