This model will have most of the characteristics of the other Siracusas, but the electronics will be simpler. Single pickup and no piezo makes it closer to the most common configuration of a standard jazz guitar, and it also reduces the bill a little.
Its pickup can work in two ways, just like the other Siracusas with a ‘+’ in their names: either as a humbucker or as a “Enhanced Single Coil”. This mode, ESC for short, puts a lot more coil turns on top of the working coil when the other is shut off, avoiding the volume drop of the conventional coil cutting method. It also selects a different tone capacitor.
The pickup has the same specs as the pickups in my most recent Siracusas: high inductance and coils made without bobbins to save thickness. It is the same internally, but from the outside it is more like the pickups in my other more conventional guitars. Before the Siracusa 16G is ready for some photos, take a look at the making of the pickup and the pickguard.
This is the ebony case of the pickup, and a chassis ready to be placed inside it. The coils are protected by a thin paper (purple color). You may notice that one of the coils is considerably larger than the other; that’s for the ESC feature. The case has also two very small indentations inside, barely visible in the photo but still noticeable, so there is no problem fitting that larger coil.
These two photos show the pickguard construction. It is made of ebony, and has a small fiber glass insert with protruding screws that hold the PCB with the Humbucker/ESC switch. The pots are long life units, much much better than the flimsy pocket radio pots that are seen on almost all guitars with this pot arrangement.
These two photos show the finished pickguard. There is a recess for the bracket that will attach it to the side of the neck, but it hasn’t been glued yet.
