ToneBlender Guitar

Somnium ToneBlender models feature our unique analog circuit that lets you control the pickups individually like a studio mixing board. Most guitars combine pickups with a selector switch, but the proportion is always 1:1, meaning that if one pickup goes down to 50% volume, so does the other. What if you wanted to play both the bridge and neck pickups but run the bridge pickup at full volume and the neck pickup at half volume? What if you wanted to run your middle pickup at 3/4 volume and just add a little of the bridge pickup at 1/4 volume? This is what our ToneBlender circuit does. Each pickup has its own volume control so just like track outputs on a mixing board, you can increase or decrease your pickup outputs to dial in exactly the tone you are looking for. It’s a very simple concept, but very powerful in the ability to fine-tune your guitar tone.

Each volume pot is a push-pull to select 500k or 250k for matching it to humbucker or single coil pickups. If you split a humbucker with the mini toggle switch then you can switch the pot to match. The mini toggle lets you split humbucker to the North coil, the South coil, and of course normal humbucker mode. If you snap in a Fishman Fluence pickup then this same toggle switch lets you select Voice 1, 2 or 3. You can even run an active Fishman in one position and a passive pickup in the other and blend them both together however you like! We have tested this circuit extensively to make sure everything plays nicely together no matter which style of pickups you are using at any given time.

The tone pot is also a push-pull with two different capacitors to select: .022uf or .047uf. These caps are filters and bleed off different amounts of your high tones so you can find which tone position works best with any given pickup or pickup combo. You can disable the tone control completely with its mini-toggle and all frequencies will be sent to your amp.

We can put the ToneBlender circuit in any of our classic body styles like the SS, TS and Mirage, so just let us know which shape you want and we’ll take it from there. Our standard maple-shaft neck is a blend of old and new with a traditional style headstock and 22 frets in 25.5″ scale, a modern C profile and 12 inch radius but of course we can make it to your own specifications. It is available with a Maple, Rosewood or Ebony fretboard, and we can also do 24.75″ scale or 28″ baritone scale if you prefer. Default is right-handed but if you want a lefty guitar, just let us know!

Our modular pickup system is the ultimate in versatility letting you change pickups instantly in any combinations you want. Switch your 2-pickup T-style to a 3-single-coil configuration or dual humbuckers, or just one humbucker, anything you want. Use any pickups you want, active or passive, mix and match to find new and exciting tone combinations. Three cartridges give you six tone combinations, so it’s like having six guitars in one! Order more cartridges and pickups and build your tone library like you never imagined you could.

Somnium Guitars standard features include:

22 medium-jumbo stainless steel frets, 25.5″ or 24.75″ scale, 12″ radius
Zero-fret system with TUSQ XL guide nut
Hipshot or Schaller locking tuners
Alder body
6-way selector switch
Hipshot or Schaller hard tail bridge
Qijack output jack
9V battery for active pickups
Dunlop USA Straploks
ABS hard case

We include three of our half cartridges, or one full cartridge and one half cartridge. Select “Three Half” or “Full Plus Half” under the default cartridges options. Either way we include two great Kent Armstrong single-coil pickups which can be P90, Humbucker, T-Style Neck, T-Style Bridge or single coil S-style. After you place your order we’ll contact you to verify which pickups you want and to review any final details on your build.

 Video Description of Pickup Cartridges

Please visit the cartridges and pickups pages to order additional cartridges and pickups. Also visit the Guitar Upgrades catalog for additional options. Additionally, if you order the pickups from us (or send us your own) we will install and test them for you at no extra charge.

Current build time is 60-90 days, and the first orders placed will be the first to ship.