Fender "Super 55" Split coil

[Mark Hammer]

There was another company that used to make them that isn't around anymore, but I forget their name.

Evans. The Evans Eliminator was used by the late Jeff Healy in his Strat, and also by Stevie Ray Vaughan in one of his Erlewine Strats. Colin James (happily still here) also has them in some of his Strats.

I paid a visit to the Evans shop, bought some polepieces, and had a nice long chat with Rod Evans, some 20 odd years ago. ( Evans Pickup Models )

Their construction was thoughtful, and consisted of a pair of asymmetrical (angled at one end) coils that sat inside the cover in complementary ying-yang fashion.

[David Schwab]

Evans. The Evans Eliminator was used by the late Jeff Healy in his Strat, and also by Stevie Ray Vaughan in one of his Erlewine Strats. Colin James (happily still here) also has them in some of his Strats.

That's the one.

[Stealth]

That Musicians' Friend image shows an interesting approach to eliminating that string-bending issue. Wasn't there also a set of pickups (Bartolini? Zex?) that used half-trapezoidal steel plates on top for the same reason?

[David Schwab]

Wasn't there also a set of pickups (Bartolini? Zex?) that used half-trapezoidal steel plates on top for the same reason?

Yes, both of them use a similar idea. But they have individual coils for each string.

[Mike Sulzer]

The intent appears to be to magnetize a string bent between the G and D poles with both polarities at different locations on the string and to guide the field lines from each region on the vibrating string to the corresponding pole piece. This would reduce the degree of cancellation.

Musician's Friend has an interesting photo that suggests some clever manipulation of the magnetic circuit using steel for controlled overlap of the opposing fields.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]16886[/ATTACH]