Supro pickup design

The Supro pickups used here were originally designed by Ralph Keller in the 50s. His Vista Tone design, as it is known, was patented in 1954 and cited by Seth Lover in his ‘PAF’ patent. The design has been used and heard by thousands of us.

“Its unique construction has a very direct impact on its tone, feel and interaction with the strings, namely what happens when you hit it hard,” explains Ken Calvet at Roadhouse Pickups, who created these designs for the new Supros. “Having the magnet off to the side, with its axis perpendicular to the coil, sets up a unique magnetic field. The strings move through the magnetic field off to the side of the magnet rather than directly over it, as in the Fender single coil or the P-90. The magnetic flux is directed through the coil via its baseplate and screw poles on one end of the magnet and a keeper plate on the other [far] end. The result is an overall magnetic field with a large sensing area. As it’s on its side, it’s not particularly strong, or in better words ‘stiff’. It is a very touch-sensitive pickup with a rather large range of capabilities.”

And what about the Gold Foil? “In my catalogue, this is called a ‘Kingston’,” continues Ken. “It utilises the same coil as the Vista Tone. The differences all lie within the magnetic field setup. All of the pickups utilised Alnico V magnets. The Kingston has a baseplate that aids in directing the field around the coil and the pickup is also ‘pole-less’. This creates a pickup that senses the strings no matter where they are and also means it can be used, and was used, for basses.”