Optical Pickups

[ambulancevoice]

What ever happened to them?

[smnm]

you mean like the soundtrack reader on a film projector?

[Nikolay]

check this
http://www.lightwave-systems.com/index.html

[ambulancevoice]

you mean like the soundtrack reader on a film projector?

hahahah no
these
http://www.opticalguitars.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickup_%28music%29#Optical

they are guitar pick ups that dont pick up noise like magnetic pickups do, and have a vast and flat frequency response

[MartyMart]

THey sound great, but I hate all that "Jazz noodling" on bass !!

[smnm]

What ever happened to them?

well, the site kind of answers your question:

"THE PICKUP INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS ARE FOR SALE / POSSIBLE LICENSING. INTERESTED PARTIES MAY CONTACT ME."

[MKB]

Being employed in fiber optics and also being a guitarist, I have watched this with some interest.  As of now it seems to be a solution without a real problem.  Or at least a solution to a problem that is more easily and cheaply solved with other technologies (mainly piezo technology).  Just because you can do something technically sweet doesn't mean you should.     

The optical pickups probably won't ever overtake magnetic pickups, mainly because guitarists LIKE magnetic pickups and the sounds they make, and the noise is a small price to pay for that tone.  The noise can be dealt with in other ways (shielding, active preamps, humbucking coils, etc).  And the deficiency in midi converters for the most part is the converter itself, not the pickup; piezos do a fine job there.  So what benefit does this technology offer in real world terms, that isn't available elsewhere off-the-shelf?

[magikker]

well if you can hide it well enough I bet there would be some people to buy them as an extra option on a guitar.

[Jaicen_solo]

If they were cheap, i'd certainly investigate them. I'm all for lusting after a 1954 olympic white strat, but come on, guitars in general haven't changed in 60 years! That's why I love Roland stuff, they're always pushing forward with 'just enough' new technology. I think optical pickups could be the pickups of the future, especially where digital modelling and synthesis is concerned. That said, my GK2/GR20 combo is pretty damn good if you ask me.

[stephanovitch]

There are a french company who use same process for their pickups
http://www.optomik.fr/index.htm