10 Things You Didn't Know About Dialtone Pickups

We caught up with the guys behind the innovative pickup company   13-Jul-15

We caught up with Tory and John, the guys behind Dialtone Pickups - a new product which gives you added control over the output and tone of your pickup.

Here's 10 things you didn't know about the company...

1) John thought of the idea for Dialtone Pickups while wishing for more from his PRS Mira. He eventually pulled the pickups and ran the output through a breadboard circuit, and with the turn of a couple of knobs was able to get some great tones.

2) Tory builds each Dialtone Pickup from scratch, including soldering circuit boards and winding coils. She sometimes writes secret notes on the coils used in each pickup before they're potted and then encapsulated, never to be seen again.

3) Tory and John hope to eventually offer an add-on solution for other manufacturer's pickups, in which case almost any standard pickup could potentially be made adjustable. Dialtone Pickups has pending patents to cover the utility and design of the Dialtone Pickups' technology.

4) John holds a PhD in Applied Plasma Physics from the Nuclear Engineering Department at MIT. Much of the technology used in Dialtone's pickups was derived from skills John developed while studying nuclear pulse-shaping circuits in graduate school.

5) John worked at Burger King one summer in high school. He quickly realized he didn't want to smell like cheeseburgers for the rest of his career, so he decided to fully commit himself to school at that point. Prior to that, he intentionally under-performed academically so that he wouldn't stand out.

6) Tory was nearly kicked out of high school for poor attendance and academic performance, and at 15 she tested out by passing the California High School Proficiency Examination. She started college the next term and graduated with honors just a few months after turning 19.

7) Tory loves crafts, so the earthy, hand-assembled packaging Dialtone Pickups uses is her way of incorporating her hobby into the product. She has very happily spent hours wandering the aisles of Michael's and Joanne Fabrics, looking for ideas for product packaging and presentation.

8) Tory and John are married and met on OkCupid.

9) Outside of Dialtone Pickups, John has a full-time job and commutes from California to Washington DC. He flies round-trip across the country every 1-2 weeks, and even knows several of the airline employees at the SFO, DCA, and IAD airports by name.

10) Dialtone Pickups is currently prototyping a single coil version of their pickup, and is also planning to develop bass, 7-string, 8-string, and additional designs for acoustic guitars and other instruments in the future.

Amped Editor
@sonicamped