The original D6 is equipped with two electromagnetic pickups, much like those found in electric guitars—one below the strings (lower) and one above the strings (upper).
In contrast to the fixed pickups of the original instrument, the EVD6 pickups can be set to arbitrary positions and angles.
The numerical upper and lower value fields, at the top-left area of the pickup section, indicate the current position of each pickup—relative to the string. A value of 50 (percent) means that the end of the pickup is positioned above or below the center of the string, resulting in a full-bodied tone. When the pickup approaches either end of the string (values near 0 or 99), the tone becomes thinner.
Drag one end of a pickup to another position (drag the “dot”).
Use the pointer as a slider in any of the “upper” and “lower” value fields.
Drag the “dot” in the middle of the pickup to a new position along the strings.
Try moving pickup positions, while repeatedly striking a note, to hear the effect that the pickup position has on the overall tone. Interesting, phaser-like effects can be achieved by automating the pickup positions.
When you use a setting with both pickups quite close to the upper end of the strings and Brilliant + Treble filter switches active, the fundamental tone is quite weak in the output signal. Therefore, you will mostly hear the overtones of the chosen model. These can be “out of tune,” particularly for models such as Wood, which has a great deal of inharmonic content. Move the pickups toward the center of the pickup window, halfway along the strings, and deactivate all filter switches to circumvent this detuned effect.
It is possible to cross-over the pickups in the pickup window. This may lead to a “hole” (silent or very quiet notes) in your keyboard range. This is due to a phase cancellation between the pickups. If you encounter this phenomenon, adjust one or both of the pickups—until the quiet or silent notes are playable.
As with the original D6, the two pickups can be used in different modes. The AB and CD switches are used to change modes. The internal wiring of the two pickups changes in accordance with the different switch positions, as does the sound at the combined pickup output.
The current wiring configuration is known as a pickup mode in the EVD6 and is displayed in the Pickup Mode pop-up menu. You can choose the mode you want in the menu.
C/D switch | A/B switch | Pickup mode | What it does |
---|---|---|---|
Down (C) | Down (A) | Lower | Neck pickup—warm sound |
Down (C) | Up (B) | Upper | Bridge pickup—bright sound |
Up (D) | Up (B) | Lower+Upper | Both pickups—full sound |
Up (D) | Down (A) | Lower-Upper | Both pickups out of phase—thin sound |