Funktronic Pickups - The Sound of Shape and Color

Custom Bridge for Sirena Basses

September 6, 2021 By Jeremy Kirsch Leave a Comment

I’ve been working on a custom bridge for my Sirena bass guitars. A friend of mine machined this prototype for me.

I don’t want a piece of hardware that draws any attention to itself. I want a bridge that serves two purposes: 1) the hold and intonate the strings, and 2) uphold the overall design esthetic of the instrument. So, I just took a proven design and made it fit to the look of this instrument. I really got to thank Bruce Johnson for making this happen.

I pirated the barrels from an inexpensive Wilkinson bridge. I’m going to buy some better stainless screws when I go in to town.

In case anyone noticed, the answer is yes, it is supposed to look like a seashell. We live 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean, and even though I almost never go to the beach, I want to bring an oceanic vibe to my instruments.

These bridges will come stock on my upcoming Sirena Pistolera basses.

3 Pistolera Bodies

September 4, 2021 By Jeremy Kirsch 1 Comment

I’ve just been spending the last couple of weeks building up the tooling to cut these three Sirena Pistolera bass bodies. They’ve been chambered extensively to save weight and also affect the sound to some degree. I’m really excited about how nice they’ve been turning out to be.

The Pistolera bodies have been chambered extensively.

AlNiCo 8 Bass Sidewinder

August 22, 2021 By Jeremy Kirsch 1 Comment

I’ve been working on this AlNiCo 8 bass sidewinder. It sounds THICK.

After working with my original Bass Sidewinder, I decided that I needed a more aggressive pickup for the Sirena Modelo Uno bass. My goal was to design a pickup with big, warm bottom end, a bright top and a broad, present midrange. Additionally, this pickup would be used as a bridge pickup in conjunction with an onboard preamp.

This new sidewinder has pair of super-strong AlNiCo 8 magnets. AlNiCo 8 is an unusual pickup magnet choice. More commonly, pickup makers use magnets made from AlNiCo 5, 3 or 2. Generally, AlNiCo 8 pickups have a strong midrange. However, when used with the sideways magnetic structure, the added midrange compliments the sidewinder’s neutral-sounding mids.

I built a prototype from a set of coils I rescued from a pile of my rejects. Originally, the pickup had 3 .125″ thick steel blades. Apparently, the first design did not impress me. I replaced the center blade with a thinner .07″ steel blade and put .02″ 430 stainless plates on the sides. I loved the new configuration!

Building the AlNiCo 8 Sidewinder

PCB Structure

The Funktronic AlNiCo 8 Sidewinder is constructed from PCBs — Basic structure

The Funktronic AlNiCo 8 Sidewinder uses 5 printed circuit boards for its structure. The PCB’s enable me to register the parts more accurately before the pickup is cast in resin. This structure allows me to solder the parts parts together during assembly. As a benefit, soldered joints create a stronger physical structure.

Stainless Steel Side Poles

This pickup uses a pair of razor-thin 430 stainless steel as side poles. In addition to rendering a nice, clean low end, the poles serve as extra shielding for dead-silent operation. As an added bonus, the shiny finish gives the pickup and attractive look.

Cast Construction

I cast the finished pickup in black epoxy resin to protect the delicate coils. For further protection, the pickups include solderless header pins. This makes the pickup easy to install. As a result, we build the Funktronic AlNiCo 8 Sidewinder to last.

Sound Samples

Below are sound samples of the AlNiCo 8 Sidewinder. The pickup is installed in the Sirena Modelo Uno bass equipped with an on-board preamp designed by Charlie Escher. The strings are LaBella Flatwounds that are at least a year old. All clips are recorded with ProTools using an Aguilar TH500 as a DI.

Afghani Luthiers Face Death

July 4, 2021 By Jeremy Kirsch Leave a Comment

This article is more about luthiers than performers. In a hyberbolic sense, could image building an instrument as a subversive act, but I could never really imagine that building an instrument would be an act of sheer bravery.

War is evil. A musical instrument serves but one purpose; to create joy. To build instruments is to create the tools that make beauty. I hope that someday anyone in the world can find the freedom to build musical instruments and bring beauty to the Earth.

Old School Album Art from Hipgnosis

June 18, 2021 By Jeremy Kirsch Leave a Comment

Here’s a cool collection of artwork from Hipgnosis. Hipgnosis was an art group founded in the late 60’s, and they designed a lot of classic album covers from back in the day. I posted this article for personal reasons. Design has been major part of my existence for so long, and a lot of these works were a huge influence on me. Seeing this article made me realize how much I miss the tactile experience of record album covers.

New Neck Blanks from the New Work Space

June 18, 2021 By Jeremy Kirsch Leave a Comment

Here’s a small run of walnut neck blanks for my Sirena Pistolera basses. I just started subletting a shop space from my friend Bruce Johnson. I’m sharing the space with a few other transient luthiers. Bruce wants to move his heavy woodworking operations to this shop, and I’ll be doing all my big wood here as well. Prior to this, I’d always done my work at my home shop, and I was limited by space and amount of mess I could make. I’m really excited about this development because it brings me a little closer to building my basses efficiently enough to bring my ideas to more people.

Custom Bridge for Sirena Basses

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3 Pistolera Bodies

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