Guitar pickups re-imagined

A new, truly innovative pickup

Welcome to Archie Lyle where we have developed a completely new class of guitar pickup that looks and sounds simply remarkable.

Clarity, Balance, Amazing Dynamics…

By embracing a fundamentally new approach, the Archie Lyle AL-1 pickup offers superb dynamics, colour and clarity with balance across all strings.

Using analogue technology new to the guitar pickup world, and a completely original design, we're enhancing what is possible in the search for your unique sound. Whether you enjoy jazz, blues, rock, slide or metal we think this pickup will enhance your ability to express yourself.

We are introducing an exciting alternative to traditional electromagnetic pickups. Does it sound better? Check out what players are saying below.

To keep up-to-date and be among the first to hear about our upcoming Kickstarter campaign and how to access Early Bird offers, register your interest by completing the brief form below.

How it works…

  • Utilizing a small electric field instead of a traditional magnetic field, the AL-1 takes advantage of the capacitive effect to detect the vibrating guitar strings. 

  • The charge blade holds the electric field which is a very sensitive means of picking up the guitar voice, providing increased dynamics, clarity, presence and balance across the strings. 

  • Rubbing the blade once or twice with a finger or your thumb and sliding back into position is all that is required. This 5 second process provides an electric field with enough charge for  45 minutes or more of playing. All entirely analogue!

What players are saying…

  • "Buttery smoothness. This gave me exactly what I'm looking for in a pickup. Dynamism, versatility and punchy tone that would get me heard in the mix. Very microphonic. I really appreciate being able to whisper or shout into a mic when I need to and this pickup lets me do that on a guitar. "

    Fraser M.

  • You can feel all of the ghost notes. All the little tiny movements. But the other thing about that is that the dynamic range is not affected at the same time. Which is something you don't normally have with a pickup. It has this weirdly, built-in, dark, retro sound. If you close your eyes you'd think it was like an old school George Benson kind of jazz guitar because it is super woody. But then you get that spanky thing as well. It just sings - it plays itself! Its golden.

    Cathal M.

  • "I loved it! The warmth was unmatched by any pickup that I have tried before without being overly hot. The dynamic range was also impeccable capturing the quietest of inflections in my playing to the loudest funk strumming I could achieve. The optional cover also keeps your hand in place for correct posture. Loved it entirely"

    Aaron W.

  • "This pickup sounds unique. It is a very crisp and precise sound. With the warmth of a humbucker but the bite of a single coil. There is a huge dynamic range. I felt that I could play a lot quieter than usual yet when I dig in, it can get nice and loud and reach a biting point. "

    Taliesin L.

  • "Great sound and interacted particularly well with high gain. Full in the lows while nice and bright in the top end. The hum-canceling was perfect. Overall particularly impressed. Love the sound with the pickup and the reverb. It had both the twang of a single coil and the fullness of a humbucker. Normally I find you only get one or the other."

    Luke W.

  • "Unlike a lot of active style pickups it is punchy and still keeps the subtle sound that passive pickups have."

    Drew B.

  • "I really enjoyed the tone of the pickup. Really full sound especially compared to the existing single coil on the guitar. I used my slide to test it out as I use that a lot in my playing and I was really taken by it. It complemented my playing style. Such an interesting invention and totally deserving of funding. "

    Ruariadh R.

  • "Loved the pickup. As I said it feels somewhere between a single coil and a humbucker. Depending on how you dial the tone you can have a jazzy sound to a very bluesy drive sound. And then the stark contrast between the semi-hollow body and the solid body - It is almost as if the pickup adapts to the guitar you use. It exaggerated the features of each instrument."

    Ed D.

  • "Incredibly responsive! It has a lovely singing tone and the versatility between playing softly and aggressively really shines through. The attack is instantaneous and seems much faster than a traditional magnetic pickup. "

    Jack W.

  • "Getting a nice tone on an electric is always something I've struggled with but I was very pleased with how this pickup sounded and the difference between the original pickup and the new pickup was crazy. The Archie Lyle pickup was so clean. "

    Lori B.

The Archie Lyle prototype pickup installed in a solid body electric guitar with the EMI shield attached
Archie Lyle prototype pickup installed in a semi-hollow body electric guitar with the easily detachable EMI shield removed
The Archie Lyle prototype pickup being played for the first time by an artist who normally plays acoustic guitar and loving the dynamics of the resulting sound.
The Archie Lyle prototype pickup installed on a semi-hollow body being played in a jazz and bluesy style through a valve amp
The Archie Lyle prototype pickup being encountered for the first time!
We had to drag this amazing player away from the guitar installed with the new Archie Lyle prototype pickup to allow others to have an opportunity to sample its amazing diversity and dynamics.
The Archie Lyle prototype pickup installed in a solid body electric guitar being played by a slide guitarist impressed by the wide range of frequencies generated.
Encountering the Archie Lyle pickup for the first time!
The Archie Lyle prototype pickup installed in a solid body electric guitar getting a full outing from a slide guitarist for the first time!

 FAQs

  • The Archie Lyle AL1 will fit into the space left by removing a standard humbucker pickup from the guitar. You can use the original pickup ring in which to mount the pickup.

  • Yes - we use a small pre-amplifier installed in the main body of the pickup that requires a standard 9V battery. As for most active pickups, the battery is installed in an existing cavity in the guitar.

  • The electric field is created by sliding the blade out of the pickup and rubbing your finger or thumb over the surface of the blade for a few seconds and re-inserting the blade. This creates sufficient capacity in the pickup for 45 minutes or more of playing. The re-charge process takes a few seconds.

  • The AL-1 is an active pickup. It is a replacement for a standard humbucker and will require an external 9V battery. As with any after-market pickup, installation is relatively simple.

    If you already have an active pickup in your guitar, installation should be a simple process of replacing existing lead connections.

    If you don’t have an existing active pickup a little extra work will be needed to install a 9V battery and connect the power leads as needed.

    Full installation instructions are provided with the pickup.

  • As with most active pickups, power to the pickups is controlled by using a stereo phono jack. Inserting and removing the guitar cable lead powers the pickups on and off.

  • Yes! - The pickups work fantastically well together as a pair - one in the bridge position and one in the neck position.

    Watch out for our upcoming Kickstarter project where comparative videos will give clear tonal differences between the Archie Lyle pickups and other standard single coil and humbucker pickups.

  • This depends on how much time you spend playing the guitar with the pickup switched on.

    A standard 9V PP3 battery should last many months. We would encourage the use of rechargeable batteries.

  • No - the cover is optional. In some environments, electromagnetic interference (EMI) generated by other electrical equipment nearby can occasionally cause a small level of background noise. The easily detachable cover is intended to reduce the the level of background noise and hum to very low levels and can be easily detached or attached.

  • We have a very robust, tried and tested prototype, loved and coveted by all players who have tried it. We are now in the process of raising funds to bring the prototype to full scale production. With a manufacturing team already in place, who are well regarded for Quality Control procedures and attention to detail, we are very well positioned to achieve full scale production.

    We are planning to launch a Kickstarter program in the very near future with the aim of using funds raised to manufacture the first batch of full production Archie Lyle AL-1 pickups. This will be a very exciting development for us!

    Please sign up to our newsletter to keep up-to-date on timings and developments.

    Thanks for taking an interest and we look forward to shipping the product to eager guitarists soon!