Phillip McKnight Partners with DiMarzio to Bring Northern Lights Humbuckers to a Wider Audience

Popular Blackstock Northern Lights design joins the DiMarzio lineup with increased production, expanded options, improved construction, and a 35% lower price.

After nearly twenty years of winding pickups in one form or another, guitarist, creator, and Know Your Gear founder Phillip McKnight is taking the next step with his popular Northern Lights humbuckers through a new partnership with DiMarzio.

McKnight launched his Blackstock pickup brand six years ago. Thanks to an incredibly loyal customer base, the Northern Lights humbuckers quickly became difficult to keep in stock.

“The Northern Lights stayed in a constant state of backorder,” McKnight said. “I recruited my wife to help me, and eventually we brought in another person, but we still couldn’t keep up with the orders.”

That challenge led McKnight to an idea that could benefit everyone: have DiMarzio manufacture the Northern Lights as an official DiMarzio pickup.

The new DiMarzio Northern Lights retains the magnet and core characteristics of McKnight’s original design while benefiting from DiMarzio’s manufacturing capabilities and quality standards. The partnership also allowed for improvements to the base plate and potting process.

Most importantly, increased production has allowed the retail price to be reduced by approximately 35% compared with the original Blackstock version.

“It’s a better pickup at a better price, and I think that’s exactly what the guitar market needs right now,” McKnight said.

For McKnight, however, the partnership has significance that goes far beyond manufacturing.

“The first aftermarket pickup I ever bought was a DiMarzio FRED in 1990 for my Aria Pro II guitar,” McKnight recalled. “I remember being handed that pickup in its clear case and having the same feeling I had as a boy when my mother would buy me a Matchbox car at the local toy store. It was that feeling of joy and excitement—like someone was handing me something special.”

Decades later, having his own pickup manufactured by the company that pioneered the aftermarket replacement pickup industry brings that experience full circle.

“The opportunity to work with DiMarzio is one of the greatest moments of my life,” McKnight said. “The DiMarzio Northern Lights pickups are truly a dream come true.”

Moving production to DiMarzio also means the Northern Lights can now be offered in far more configurations and options than McKnight could realistically provide while producing them through Blackstock.

The DiMarzio Northern Lights pickups are available on the Know Your  Gear website

Learn more:
www.knowyourgearpodcast.com

About Phillip McKnight / Know Your Gear

Phillip McKnight through his educational content, podcasts, and product reviews, focuses on helping guitar players better understand the instruments, gear, and companies behind the products they use.