Light Music Technology on Sale: the Optical Pickup Patent

I was reading some time ago about some new-tech bass guitars that used light instead of electromagnetic fields to generate sound according to the vibration of the strings. Well, the principles of the optical pickup are not at all a new thing.

Ron Hoag was the first to think of using light instead of magnetism to generate sound as far as the sound of a guitar/bass was concerned. From 1968 to 1970 he kept on experimenting and trying to figure out as much as possible of the inner mechanics of his device which despite the heap of unknown things about it - sounded quite good.

Well, after all these years Ron Hoag is willing to license or even sell the intellectual property rights and has even posted on a website the schematics of the optical guitar. The principle is quite simple, each string passes between an ensemble formed of a LED and a photo diode; as the string vibrates, the light captured by the photo diode is oscillating and the resulting signal is converted into electric current up to 30 volts without additional amplifiers required, if such a signal is really needed.

The light technology is completely non-intrusive upon the vibration of the string as it is the case of traditional magnetic pickups which also have the tendency to slow down the string (due to the magnetic forces) and thus diminish the sustain. In fact, the optical pickup system can be used in conjunction with any kind of strings, be them nylon, bronze or steel!

The composition-decay of the strings will no longer affect sound so much as in the common instruments: as the strings grow old they no longer produce the sparkling sound they produced when new. Well, in the case of the optical pickup, the actual composition of the string is not a matter of importance: it vibrates - it will sound perfectly!

Feel free to contact Ron Hoag at P.O. Box 3053 Newburg, OR 97132.