Zephyr came from a challenge issued to Vice President of Engineering Kevin Beller to come up with a pickup that wasn’t constrained by the usual consideration of costs or materials – just dream it, design it and build it. The resulting Zephyr series uses Silver wire which is the only material that has a lower DC resistance per unit length than copper (5.36%). This results in a pickup with bursting dynamics, more range, lightning attack, powerful harmonics and strong note detail and separation. Not only is it the Silver wire that is special about these pickups but we also use Nickel and Stainless Steel Bi-Metallic Pole Pieces, Glass Fiberfill Nylon Bobbins, and Cryogenic Treatment. The reason and benefits of each of these materials is covered on our product pages but the result is lively clarity, especially in the upper mid to high frequencies. And thus, the Zephyr Silver Pickups were born.

The only downside is that Zephyr Pickups use silver wire, which is incredibly expensive. That means the cost of the pickup is not for everyone – in fact, the Zephyr Silver Pickups represent one instance in which the usual consideration for keeping things affordable for the average guitar player was put on the hold in the notion of just making something different.

Zephyr was created in three versions: the Zephyr Humbucker (bridge/neck matching set for humbucker loaded guitars) and calibrated sets for Tele and Strat guitars (see the Zephyr Strat pickups or Zephyr Tele pickups).

Humbucker & Single-Coil:

Tele:

If you had the money, what guitar would you put a Zephyr in?