The Steel Guitar Forum

Lee D Kaiser wrote:Another thought, if wiring permits, rotate the pickup 180 degrees--bass to treble, treble to bass. Maybe the balance is better that way.

I'll check...good idea - thanks!

Stainless steel strings tend to make most Kay and other low-budget lap steels and guitars sound very brittle. I find pure nickel wrap to be smoother on those types of guitars. Well, I've ordered some SS strings, so we'll see! Does the pickup have a ceramic (or alnico) bar magnet underneath, or are ...

Per Berner wrote:You can get a pickup with any string spacing you want from Sentell pickups. I had them make a Console Grande-style with custom spacing, good quality at a very reasonable price. Choose wisely and you won't need to cut any wood.

Thanks, Per - I wasn't aware of Sentell.

Move the treble side of the pickup farther from the strings and the bass side closer. Try lighter gauge strings on the treble side. Re-magnetize the bass-side magnets (search internet for how to do this). I don't think I would be able to angle the pickup without major hacking on the guitar. I shoul...

Stainless-wound strings are likely to give you the best balance in that situation. I'll have to give those a try - I've never used SS strings...thanks! You can replace the pickup, but frankly, I think you're better off just replacing the steel altogether. That's not a standard-sized pickup, and any...

Hi all... I've got a Kay-branded six-string, I'm guessing from the 1940s. The top two plain strings are much hotter than the wound strings. I can get OK (but not great) overdriven tone, but the clean tones are pretty thin. I'd like to have more even response across the strings. Since the pole pieces...

I just learned of this guitar yesterday...from Billy Cardine, the player in the first video. I'm not a big fan of the ladder filter, and that video was embedded with a start point well past the best stuff IMO. I also think this is a better demonstration of what the guitar is capbable of, and why I'd...

Count me in...although I'm a dobro player, with a very little lap steel experience. I didn't know K6UA was a steel player though...

The Gruhn guitar is an 18, and may be a pretty good deal at that price. I paid a good bit more than that for a 1935 0-18KH last year...I don't think I overpaid, but I was on the high end of what I think they're worth...but it is a great-sounding guitar. The guitar referenced by the OP is a 28, and I...

Thanks Don,

That's what I was looking for...think I'll pass on this one!

Howdy... I've got a chance to get one of these (at least I think that's the model)...only thing is that it's pretty beat. Tuners are shot, there's a pretty good spot of rust on the body, the tone control doesn't seem to do anything, the volume knob won't rotate, and it looks like the pup magnets wer...

My board is set up Comp>Tuner>OD>OD>Tremelo>Volume>Delay>Clean Boost I primarily use it on the Tele, but also on the lap at times...the logic is the same either way. If I used 'verb, it would be after the delay...as it is, I can adjust my delay to a reasonable 'verb the little I might use it. Not qu...