How do you get a richer sound out of your guitar? Hire someone else to play it. If you insist on sticking to your rockstar pinings, you might be interested in the 3Dxy, a new pickup system that claims to facilitate a “natural stereo” sound by doubling the way it reads the vibration of each string.
Created by Spain’s Just L Pauls (yep, that’s his official billing), the device does traditional pickups better by reading string movement on two axis, instead of just one. While conventional pickups take sound vertically, Pauls’ does it horizontally too, giving your rig two different but complementary signals to process, creating a richer, fuller sound.
The 3Dxy takes the standard dimensions and shape of a regular pickup, so it can be installed on any ordinary guitar. To manage its dual-axis detection, the contraption assigns two mini-coil pickup poles to each string, set at 90-degree angles to each other. Mini-coils on the left-hand side produce a left channel signal, while those on the right create the right channel sound.
Admittedly, my musical knowledge is limited, so don’t expect me to delve into the intricacies of this thing. If you’re a crappy guitar player, you’ll still be crappy with this thing in tow. Except, now you’ll be crappy in a natural stereo way. Which is probably worse.
Price for the 3Dxy starts at 120 Euros (about $150) for a bass pickup and 180 Euros (about $230) for a guitar version, with each one hand-built upon ordering. Since the dude’s in Spain, you’ll need to fork out the extra for shipping too.