DESCRIPTION

The Spectral Center: a pickup that exists in the Tao of tone. The sidewinding Zen Blade mimics the voice of a sonic Buddha, centering the player on a plane of echoed clarity, while delegating a fluid rip, pop, thump, and groove of articulation. This pickup is balanced, meditative, and at one with the face of the musical universe. From dramatic lines to simple chords, the spectrum of sonic access this pickup has is somehow enlightening, guiding the slap and strum of the player toward the paradigmatic absence and duality pulverizing stillness of samadhi.

Zen Blade’s continuous sensing blade offers a multitude of loyal characteristics: its uncompromising tone refuses the threat of depletion all across the fret board, while its steady impedance gives way to a personality so even and temperate you might just find yourself saying goodbye to your old trusty compressor. One of its finest qualities is that the difference between its parallel and series personalities is subtle, creating a dimension of versatility where the player may comfortably fit their tone in the mix between many different genres — Jazz, Country, and Rock being its best contenders. Wired in parallel, the pickup delivers a broad range of character, with its even, clear, and articulate nature manifesting in its purest form. In series, the aperture narrows, causing the tone to become a bit thicker, a little bit bolder, while still retaining the even and clear quality inherent to the pickup. The lack of fluctuation between the two wiring styles is due to its single sensing blade acting as its only source of impedance, which removes many of the variables that count for the great difference in tone that often occurs when switching a standard dual coil from parallel to series. If ridiculously balanced, warm and reasonable tone is the name of your game, Zen is just the thing for you!

The history behind the Zen Blade is simple: Nordstrand needed a hum canceling single blade pickup, so they made one. After months of technical finagling, recalibration, and seemingly endless refinement of how to compose the model, Nordstrand finally found what thay were looking for. So they gave it to their tech wizard, Mo. Upon his approval, Nordstrand decided to show it to the world. If Mo approves, then it's good.