Hexapup samples, wiring and technical specs

Here are some wiring suggestions and sound samples for our 'Hexapup' hexaphonic pickups

Installation - Mounting the pickup
The hexapup is a standard humbucker size and will fit into most humbucker routed guitars without modification. Please note that the hexapup gives best results in the bridge position, and because it uses strong magnets it not really suitable for use as a neck pickup.

1. Mono pickup
When wired as a conventional mono pickup, the hexapup has a bright single coil tone. The coil arrangement means that it has very good hum rejection (humbucking) properties.

2. Stereo guitar.
The simplest way to connect the hexapup for stereo use is to mount two jack sockets into the guitar, and wire one side of the pickup to each jack. The signal can then be run to two amps or DI boxes for gigging or recording. There are two obvious ways to divide the strings, the pickup can be supplied in either split or spread mode, with spread being the default.

Split mode - low strings are sent to one amp, high strings to the other

Split mode sends the low strings E, A and D to one channel, and the high strings G, B & e to the other, like Neil Young's stereo guitar.  Spread sends alternating strings to each channel, that is E, D and B to one output, and A, G & high-E to the other, which gives a nice spread of frequencies across the stereo image.

Here are some sound samples of the pickup in split mode. As always the stereo image comes across better on headphones than laptop speakers!

Split mode Hexapup - picking

Spread mode - alternating strings are routed to each channel

Here is one of the riffs above in stereo 'spread' mode.

Spread mode hexapup - picking


In each case the playing is a single guitar,  and the recording was made using the DI input of API A2D preamp into protools, processed using Amplitube amp modelling plug-in.

3. Mono / Stereo Jack 

An alternative way of wiring the output is to use a stereo jack and a stereo breakout box. If the stereo jack is wired so that the positive wires from both sides are wired to the tip, one negative wire to the ring and the other to the sleeve, then the pickup will also work in mono if a normal mono guitar cable is used.

4. Stereo guitar with Split / Spread switch.
On request, the hexapup may be supplied pre-wired with a switch to choose either split or spread mode. Here is an easy way of switching between the modes.

5. Full hexaphonic mode.
The hexaphonic pickup can of course be supplied with six pairs of output wires, which gives a vast range of wiring possibilities. Probably the simplest way is to use a 6 or 7 pin XLR socket for the guitar output, and run this to a breakout box wired to give six separate jacks.

Heavily modified Jagmaster with hexaphonic and stereo outputs.

When wired this way all six channels share a common negative path, which precludes phase or series / parallel switching of individual strings. However, having six channels without these options is usually enough to worry about!  For our demo guitar we used this 8-core screened cable from Canford Audio.

Six channel breakout box for a hexaphonic guitar.

Here is a sample recording made in hexaphonic mode, with the EA strings panned left, the top B and E to the right, and the D and G strings lower in level and somewhere in the middle. Different amp models (Amplitube) have been used for left and right.

Low and high - hexapup


There are some further sound samples of the hexapup in full hexaphonic mode here.
       

Xaudia Hexapup - Typical specifications

Dimensions
Fits in a standard humbucker route.
70 mm x 39 mm x 20.5 mm deep (25 mm including screw lugs)

Stereo model (3 coils in series)
DC resistance = 5.1 K ohms
Inductance @ 1kHz = 0.9 Henry
Wiring = Red & black, green & white.
Case ground = green/yellow
Red & green = positive, black & white = negative

Hexaphonic model (single coil)
DC resistance = 1.8 K ohms per coil
Inductance @ 1kHz = 0.31 Henry per coil

Rear of hexapup with six pairs of output wires

Wiring. Output wires are silver plated, teflon coated.

Colour = positive, black = negative

E = Red & Black

A = Pink & Black

D = Yellow & Black

G = Green & Black

B = Blue & Black

e = White & Black

Case ground = green/yellow