Willcox Guitars was born out of Christopher Willcox’s passion and dedication to the creation of a better electric guitar. In the early 1970’s, Willcox was engaged as an apprentice luthier in his home state of New Jersey, and then hired on as a custom builder. After moving to California in 1976, and opening his first guitar shop in 1980, he began designing and creating custom guitars. While buildin
g these guitars, Willcox experimented with different woods, materials, and methods, to achieve the ultimate tone and sustain. However, one lingering problem always remained: the magnetic pickups used in traditional electric guitars have inherent noise, interfere with string vibration, and generate their own tone, never allowing the instrument to reach the perfection of its sound. Willcox believed that players should not just accept pickups with these inherent limitations, and his desire to solve this problem led him to begin designing a solution in his shop in Santa Barbara, California. In 1988, the first prototype of his invention – the optical pickup system – was developed. This new pickup used infrared light rather than the traditional magnets and coils to sense string vibration, allowing the strings to vibrate naturally while producing clear, articulate, studio-quality sound with a sought after blend of rich tone, extended harmonic content, powerful sound, and long, natural sustain. Today, this same principle powers Willcox Guitars modern pickup systems. With his advanced technology in continuing development and production, Willcox reincorporated his company under the name LightWave Systems in 1998. A few years later, he expanded and began once again producing complete instruments, allowing him to achieve the ideal combinations of design and materials to complement his futuristic pickup system. He has now gone back to putting his name on his instruments. Today, Willcox Guitars continues and expands on the legacy of the LightWave Systems name, producing quality instruments for the modern musician. With six national and international patents backing their unique technology, Willcox Guitars, powered by LightWave Optical Pickups, are striving to become a new standard in the world of electric guitars, basses, and other fine string instruments. The LightWave pickup system is available exclusively on Willcox guitars, creating a harmonic combination of outstanding quality and cutting-edge technology. THE DIFFERENCE IS CLEAR
Conventional, magnetic pickups interfere with string vibration, thus LightWave Systems optical transducer technology was developed to offer musicians an absolutely transparent pickup systems that allows the purest, totally natural, all-analog sound from string instruments. LightWave Systems optical transducers literally sees string oscillation as strings are played without affecting their motion in the slightest. By capturing string oscillations (a physical representation of a sound-wave) using the pure power and speed of light, LightWave Systems delivers an incredibly responsive, accurate, full-range signal that remains completely analog throughout, naturally. LightWave Systems are revolutionary in guitar design, incorporating the pickup system directly with the bridge. The system utilizes infrared emitters and an array of photodetectors for each string, set within our custom-made bridges. The emitter casts a shadow of the string onto the photodetectors, and, as the string vibrates, the size and shape of the shadow changes accordingly and modulates a current which passes through the photodetectors. This current is the analog electrical signal which represents an accurate depiction of the vibrating string. HOW IT WORKS
The LightWave Systems technology utilizes optical electronics to follow each string as it vibrates, enhancing the guitar's true voice by eliminating the magnetic influence or "pull" on the metal strings. As a non-contact sensor, LightWave Systems optics do not interact with the movement of the string; instead, they provide a flat, even response throughout the tonal spectrum of the vibrating string, producing a sonic foundation that accurately represents the instrument and the musician. This neutrality allows the string to vibrate naturally, resulting in the most powerful and responsive method of string transduction ever developed, and a sound advantage for today's music. The optical pickup is a proprietary type of transducer which utilizes an infrared emitter and an array of photodetectors for each string. THE VOICE OF THE STRING
What you will hear is extraordinary: the sound of the strings, the sound of the instrument, and most importantly, the sound of your playing. You will notice a whole new sensitivity in the interaction between your fingers, the strings, and the instrument that give you a new palette of subtle nuances and unique tonalities. Playing chords, heavy fingerstyle or slap styles, screaming leads, tight intervals, complex voicings or harmonics on your LightWave instrument will be a revelation. You hear an openness, transparency and dimensionality unlike anything you have previously experienced. NATURAL SUSTAIN
Since the Optical Pickup System does not interact with the strings and because it is capable of much greater sensitivity, the strings sustain naturally. In fact, the Optical Pickup will read string vibration for its full duration, fading in a pure, linear fashion into silence, without an abrupt ending or distorted artifacts. SILENCE
Unlike magnetic pickups which induce extraneous noise to the sound, the LightWave Optical Pickup System has virtually no inherent noise. As a result, you can play at any volume without annoying background hum or buzz. This is an breakthrough for recording: virtually noise-free, extraordinarily transparent sound. Even with your amp at high volume, you experience amazing dynamic range and sensitivity - loud notes will be loud and clear, while soft notes and subtle nuances are not masked by hum or buzz. TONE SHAPING
If you wish to use EQ or signal processing to shape your sound, you can use any amount desired to create subtle or dramatic tonal variations without tonal artifacts. Since the output of the LightWave pickup is pure and transparent, you augment the actual sound of the string, as opposed to the odd response curves and background noise found in conventional pickups. iceTone
Our exclusive circuit allows blending the LightWave Optical Pickup with tailored piezo transducers built into each string saddle. The result is a smooth, natural high frequency enhancement ranging from crisp high end to percussive presence.
