Submarine makes good stuff, I've used their Pro on a parlor for a few year now. This is something completely different and pretty awesome to hear you demo.
There are LAN cable boxes (CAT5?) for analog audio that’s used for audio and stage. I can’t remember if it’s four or six balanced channels you get, but if it’s six I wonder if that would would make sense here. They’re actually incredibly well shielded balanced cable at a price that audio cable companies can’t compete with, Just because of the enormous scale they’re produced at. Btw, the sounds you’re getting here are so unbelievably natural and beautiful!
Cool stuff, I had a submarine for years and recently upgraded to a pro. The six looks cool but I don't use a daw so it's not super useful to me. Good to see more people playing around with them though.
This is really cool! Makes me wonder about using this type of analog break out for individual mono audio to midi conversion. Obviously the Roland system already has that, but having the ability to just have a module with straight audio to midi conversion that could be polyphony without all the proprietary connections of Roland would be awesome.
Wow! A pickup demo that can grasp my tiny attention span! I want to connect that to six amps ranging big to small and bassy to trebley. That would surely give you massive range of tone without the amps fighting for headroom, but I wonder could you capture the sound with a single microphone?
To be fair, you can do the same thing with the Boss GP10 and GK3 via USB to Logic but with the benefits of the synthesis, modelling and pitch/fx manipulation.
I wish I knew what the crosstalk was like because I wonder if it's clean enough to be able to utilize six iterations of Jam Origin's MIDI Guitar plugin. My understanding is that you get incredible tracking that way. It can be done with the venerable Boss GP-10 over USB, but that's a more expensive route. Thanks for the demo!
would be cool to have a cheap version of this for just one string. So i could have the low E in one seperate channel and put a octave pedal on it for a bass tone
Which channel pack are you using? (They list 1, 2, and 4 channel packs on their website) and are you exploring utilizing your existing, standard output as well (giving you the potential for 7 OUTS)? Thanks for posting this!
@@chordsoforion Thanks - I realized after I got to their website after watching your video that you were using the SubSix and not the Pro... the SubSix is clearly the way to go to take advantage of what the guitar can do! I was messing around with a hexaphonic break-outback around 2003 but it was no where near ready for prime-time.
Used simply as a means for creating some spatial separation in the mix, hex pickups can be placed anywhere. Used for synthesis, however, they absolutely need to be either in the bridge (e.g., as piezo saddles) or snuggled up against the bridge. A little bit of crosstalk and bleedthrough among strings is fine if one is only listening to the strings. But if you're using string amplitude to make processing decisions in real time, bleedthrough is the kiss of death and creates false triggering. I have a fascinating piece of gear from Guild, called the Tri-Oct. Made around 1971, it is the first polyphonic octave divider, and a sort of missing link" between 60s fuzz and guitar synth. The main unit has 6 individual discrete octave-divider circuits (ultimately mixed down to mono), with trimmers for setting string-wise sensitivity, and a fuzz, using the clean mono signal as its source. A footswitch unit lets one cancel/engage the octave down, fuzz, and clean signal. I mention it here because it came with a proprietary hex pickup. Problem was it was about the size of a P90, albeit lower profile. But being that size, you were limited in where it could be secured to the guitar. Sticking it in between the neck and bridge pickups would let it function....as a mono device for single note work. But strumming a chord? Fuggedaboudit. Situating it where string wiggle is so wide resulted in considerable bleedthrough from adjacent strings. Not as complex as generating a CV and gate for a poly guitar synth, but most analog octave dividers require a predictable signal source to make the flip-flop circuit behave. So, the size of the hex pickup constrained its position, which in turn undermined its usability. I thought "Even taking into consideration the turmoil at Guild at that time, why would anyone think such a product could work?". Thinking about it more, though, I realized that, much like I was at that time, many players were using medium-to-heavy gauge strings (a .012-.054 set from the local department store would have been common), and many also liked flatwounds to prevent the gliss from sliding up or down the fretboard. Both of those would have drastically reduced sideways wiggle and resulting bleedthrough, and also reduced the harmonic content - something that all analog octave-dividers still prefer for reliable octaving. Within that context, the Tri-Oct likely performed well enough to be thought of as a viable product. Bottom line: Hex pickups depend on their context for optimum utility.
This is so awesome. Imagine having 6 completely different voices and an ebow to hop around with.
Octave down on the E an A strings only would result in a hybrid guitar/bass. THAT's cool.
The panning was more interesting to me than everything else - and your sound was crystalline.
"Determination turns aspirations into achievements." Your unwavering focus motivates me to keep going!
Wonderful! Bill, you are as always way ahead of the rest of us. Such inventive minds at work out there in 2025!
Pretty interesting. I think I once saw how Vernon Reid from Living Colour uses a similar solution.
Submarine makes good stuff, I've used their Pro on a parlor for a few year now. This is something completely different and pretty awesome to hear you demo.
There are LAN cable boxes (CAT5?) for analog audio that’s used for audio and stage. I can’t remember if it’s four or six balanced channels you get, but if it’s six I wonder if that would would make sense here. They’re actually incredibly well shielded balanced cable at a price that audio cable companies can’t compete with, Just because of the enormous scale they’re produced at.
Btw, the sounds you’re getting here are so unbelievably natural and beautiful!
Really cool video!, I would try for the panning having the low strings at the centre and alternating the rest do the strings to L and R
Cool stuff, I had a submarine for years and recently upgraded to a pro. The six looks cool but I don't use a daw so it's not super useful to me. Good to see more people playing around with them though.
Way cool Bill. Thanks for the video.
This is really cool! Makes me wonder about using this type of analog break out for individual mono audio to midi conversion. Obviously the Roland system already has that, but having the ability to just have a module with straight audio to midi conversion that could be polyphony without all the proprietary connections of Roland would be awesome.
He could have 6 instances of Midi Guitar 3 going
@ That’s a great idea too! Love it.
I love everything about this, except for the original pure, clean that comes out of the pickups. If it had a nice base tone, I'd be really interested!
Wow! A pickup demo that can grasp my tiny attention span! I want to connect that to six amps ranging big to small and bassy to trebley. That would surely give you massive range of tone without the amps fighting for headroom, but I wonder could you capture the sound with a single microphone?
Awesome! I’ve wanted to have this option for years!
To be fair, you can do the same thing with the Boss GP10 and GK3 via USB to Logic but with the benefits of the synthesis, modelling and pitch/fx manipulation.
I wish I knew what the crosstalk was like because I wonder if it's clean enough to be able to utilize six iterations of Jam Origin's MIDI Guitar plugin. My understanding is that you get incredible tracking that way. It can be done with the venerable Boss GP-10 over USB, but that's a more expensive route. Thanks for the demo!
There's a lot to figure out, that it can be saved as a preset is huge.
would be cool to have a cheap version of this for just one string. So i could have the low E in one seperate channel and put a octave pedal on it for a bass tone
well just checked their website and they do make that ! awesome ='D
Great stuff. You should try an sub octave on the low e only - big sound!
yeah - that would be great fore sure!
Very inspiring!
My first thought was adding a key change pedal to any string to simulate different tunings like DADGAD . unique
Definitely interesting. Too much work for not enough benefit if you ask me… I’m sure in the right hands though. Thanks for the video.
Love this!
Which channel pack are you using? (They list 1, 2, and 4 channel packs on their website) and are you exploring utilizing your existing, standard output as well (giving you the potential for 7 OUTS)? Thanks for posting this!
Unlike the Sub Pro, so there are no channel packs with the SubSix. The only option is the 6 output cable.
@@chordsoforion Thanks - I realized after I got to their website after watching your video that you were using the SubSix and not the Pro... the SubSix is clearly the way to go to take advantage of what the guitar can do! I was messing around with a hexaphonic break-outback around 2003 but it was no where near ready for prime-time.
I’ll wait for the septaphonic pickup to use on my seven string guitar, which I’ll buy
Same, I have the Submarine but I never use it, it doesn't really stick properly on the guitar and it's very unpractical if you play standing up.
Or delay each string differently in the way that you showed old tape reels at different speeds a few vids back
Very cool!
What a strange but interesting pickup!
Woooow. Impressive thing!
imagine combining TWO of em on a guitar and run midi synths with it. that makes a 6 string a 12string, right? time to the next 8 miles high^^
does anyone make this for 6 string bass?
A 6 tunnel 🐰 rabbit 🐰 hole! My God that looks like fun. 😊😎🤓
Crazy!
I've got the Submarine, I never use it.
Used simply as a means for creating some spatial separation in the mix, hex pickups can be placed anywhere. Used for synthesis, however, they absolutely need to be either in the bridge (e.g., as piezo saddles) or snuggled up against the bridge. A little bit of crosstalk and bleedthrough among strings is fine if one is only listening to the strings. But if you're using string amplitude to make processing decisions in real time, bleedthrough is the kiss of death and creates false triggering.
I have a fascinating piece of gear from Guild, called the Tri-Oct. Made around 1971, it is the first polyphonic octave divider, and a sort of missing link" between 60s fuzz and guitar synth. The main unit has 6 individual discrete octave-divider circuits (ultimately mixed down to mono), with trimmers for setting string-wise sensitivity, and a fuzz, using the clean mono signal as its source. A footswitch unit lets one cancel/engage the octave down, fuzz, and clean signal.
I mention it here because it came with a proprietary hex pickup. Problem was it was about the size of a P90, albeit lower profile. But being that size, you were limited in where it could be secured to the guitar. Sticking it in between the neck and bridge pickups would let it function....as a mono device for single note work. But strumming a chord? Fuggedaboudit. Situating it where string wiggle is so wide resulted in considerable bleedthrough from adjacent strings. Not as complex as generating a CV and gate for a poly guitar synth, but most analog octave dividers require a predictable signal source to make the flip-flop circuit behave.
So, the size of the hex pickup constrained its position, which in turn undermined its usability. I thought "Even taking into consideration the turmoil at Guild at that time, why would anyone think such a product could work?". Thinking about it more, though, I realized that, much like I was at that time, many players were using medium-to-heavy gauge strings (a .012-.054 set from the local department store would have been common), and many also liked flatwounds to prevent the gliss from sliding up or down the fretboard. Both of those would have drastically reduced sideways wiggle and resulting bleedthrough, and also reduced the harmonic content - something that all analog octave-dividers still prefer for reliable octaving. Within that context, the Tri-Oct likely performed well enough to be thought of as a viable product.
Bottom line: Hex pickups depend on their context for optimum utility.
SAME TONE
interesting!
1st