Steel is too bright

Billy Henderson · From: Portland, AR, USA

I have a S12 Zum that's so bright it hurts my ears, especially the 3 4 and 5 strings (Jagwire) I took out a Lawrence pickup and installed a Trutone. The Trutone is better but still too bright. I am using a Nashville 400 and sometimes a Profex 2 and a Hilton Pedal. Any Ideas?

David Ellison · From: California, USA

If it's hurting your ears with the treble turned down low, the amp is probably pointing at straight at your ears on stage. If that's the case, what you're hearing is not really the way it sounds when you're out in the crowd. Try pointing the amp away from your ears.

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

For many years I played a Sierra with hot-swappable pickups. I could change pickups between songs, so I got to know my pickups really well.

The Lawrence 712 and the Truetone are both very bright pickups. To take the edge off, I would use a George L's 12-1. It's a humbucking pickup with a full range that doesn't pierce at the high end.

Another idea is the Sarno Freeloader. This is a little box that attached to your steel leg. It has a single knob that changes your output impedance. You can use this to change the pickup tone, tamping down some of that high end. I use it to "twang" and "de-twang" my sound on the fly without changing my amp settings, like when I'm changing styles from Bakersfield to western swing.
_________________
-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

The Hilton has a tone pot on the bottom, because it passes a very "clean" signal. What many people have grown up thinking as "flat EQ" is actually way loaded towards bass and mids. To make a Hilton sound like a pot pedal, you have to roll off highs. If your sound is always too bright no matter what you do, the next least-expensive move is a different speaker - they have very different treble rolloff points. You may possibly just not like SS amps, what's known as the classic sounds of the 60's and 70's were recorded with tube amps, mostly Fender Twins.

One really easy, cheap way to find out if there's some pre-amp solution would be to find a long, cheap cord and use it from steel to pedal. If you're using George L's because someone told you they're "best", be aware that they pass along highs and a cheap cord will cut them. Hendrix specifically used one because otherwise, the combination of Strat+wahwah+Fuzzface+Marshall would shatter teeth, and most stratmeisters to this day have a favorite cheap cord that they may need to use for recording with. $10 fixes are usually more acceptable to the fem-unit than $1000 fixes....

Robert Brewer · From: Nebraska, USA

The profex has all the eq you could want and is a great way to get rid ou unwanted highs

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

My Zum U12 came with a Truetone wound to 17.5K. It sounded good, but was a bit bright for my tastes through my equipment.

I put in a Lawrence 912, which has a bit more body and less treble than a Lawrence 712 or the Truetone. I like it, and it's a humbucker to boot.

I use a pot pedal - an old Sho Bud with an old 500K AB pot - which tends to take a wee bit of the edge off, as compared to an active-buffered Hilton. I also use a Tubefex, usually into a Peavey Nashville-series amp.

I think there are a lot of wrinkles to this - Truetones sound great in certain situations. I imagine that if I was just going straight from my steel to the pot-pedal straight into the amp, that Truetone might be the ticket. But I really do like my Tubefex presets and the lack of hum from the 912.

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

The Lawrence 912 is a really nice pickup, but I had a hard time getting it to cut through the mix with a live band. It seems to dip a bit in the mids right around the point where I like to place my tone. Reminds me of the JBL D-130 speaker response, if that makes any sense.

A pot pedal helps to take the edge off, too. That's why I don't use an active volume pedal anymore.
_________________
-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video

bill dearmore · From: Belton,Tx.,USA

Once you roll the highs off of the Hilton I think you'll be happy.....

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

I have an older Zum D10. It had a Geo. L's 10-1 in it when I acquired it. It sounded dull and lifeless to me. I was ready to pitch the whole deal.

I tried a Zum s/c and a Truetone at around 17KΩ and 16.5KΩ respectively. Better tone but way too bright.

Things improved when I installed an Alumitone. Much better quality, fuller sound, smoother but still some bite. I have an active pedal, but I don't like it with the Zum. I like a standard pot pedal with this rig.

I'll say this though. Sound will vary with various instruments among the same brand. Different eras and models of manufacturers state of the art make a difference too. JMO.

Dave O'Brien · From: Florida and New Jersey

what b0b said.
_________________
Dave O'Brien
Emmons D-10, CMI D-10, Fender Deluxe Reverb, PV 112, Fender Pro Reverb
www.myspace.com/daveobrienband

David Nugent · From: Gum Spring, Va.

When you were installing the 'Truetone', did you happen to notice to what value it was wound (Jerry usually has this information written on the base of the pickup)? If it is wound to 17.5, you could ship it back to him and have it rewound to around 19.0-19.5 ohms, this should make the pickup "darker" and help smooth out some of the highs.

David Higginbotham · From: Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

Dave O'Brien said:

Rich Peterson · From: Moorhead, MN

Another adjustment is pickup height. Steelers always want as hot a signal as they can get, when using a volume pedal, so they get the pickup as close to the strings as they can without them rattling on the pole pieces.

But that makes the sound bright. If the height is adjustable, drop the pickup down and turn up the amp.

Dean Holman · From: Branson MO

Depending on the guitar, a single coil wound to 17.5 can be a little too bright or thin. I've always felt a single coil wound around 18.5 give or take, produced a good tone with enough highs without being too bright and the lows nice and full without being too dark or muddy sounding. George-L has a couple of pickups in this range you might try. The TW or the PF-1. The TW might have a little more bite than the PF-1 but that's because they're made with the stainless steel blades and the PF are made with iron blades. I hope this will help.

Dave O'Brien · From: Florida and New Jersey

Oh, on most of my guitars with no vol & tone controls I use a Goodrich Matchbox. Maybe that's similar to the box b0b mentioned. My Emmons' don't need it IMHO.
_________________
Dave O'Brien
Emmons D-10, CMI D-10, Fender Deluxe Reverb, PV 112, Fender Pro Reverb
www.myspace.com/daveobrienband

Barry Hyman · From: upstate New York, USA

Boy was I happy when I remembered that the Hilton pedal has a tone pot. I had used it all the way up for about a year, and it was so bright I had to turn the treble and presence way down on my Nashville 112. I usually gig with mostly steel but some guitar as well, and the amp sounded deader than dog meat for guitar, since I never have time to tweak tone knobs when switching instruments. Turning down the tone knob on the Hilton solved both problems -- the pedal steel sounds exactly the way I want it, and so does the guitar. I set the Nashville's knobs at Bass +9, Mids -6 (at @ 780 Hz), Treble +3, and Presence +3, which gets me a great guitar sound, and the Hilton's tone pot is turned down about 60%, so the steel sounds rich and fat and satisfying, without biting my ears.
_________________
I give music lessons on several different instruments in Cambridge, NY (between Bennington, VT and Albany, NY). But my true love is pedal steel. I've been obsessed with steel since 1972; don't know anything I'd rather talk about... www.barryhyman.com

Rich Peterson · From: Moorhead, MN

Another idea would be to copy the "decade" switch of the old Les Paul Recording guitars. It added successive 0.001 uF capacitors across the output.Actually, they may have been even smaller than that; the effect was quite subtle, but effective.

It's an effect you won't get with the treble control oln the amp, because of the interaction of the pickup coil and the capacitor.

Larry Rafferty · From: Ballston Spa, NY

I'm in complete agreement with what b0b said about the variable impedence "Freeloader" box that clamps on the front leg. I also use Jagwire (bright)strings... and just a turn of a couple notches on the freeloader will take the shrillness out of the upper strings and give a nice mellow tone. It takes a 9v battery that is good for about 300 hours of play time (as long as you remember to uplug it when you're done).
_________________
Mullen D-10 8x5; Sho-Bud Super Pro D10 8x6; PedalMaster 5 Star SD-10 3x5; Dekley D-10 8x4;
Sho-Bud S-10 3x1; Fender Lap/Floor Steel; Peavey Power Slide; Supro Lap Steel; Peavey Nashville 400;
pair of Peavey Vegas 400's; Peavey NV112; Webb 614E with matching extension cabinet; Fender Twin Reverb and 3 cats.

They laughed when I sat down to play, cause' somebody pulled my chair away...

Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

Another vote for the Sarno FreeLoader.
_________________
Lee, from South Texas - Down On The Rio Grande

There are only two options as I see it.
Either I'm right, or there is a sinister conspiracy to conceal the fact that I'm right.

Williams Keyless S-10, BMI S-10, Evans FET-500LV, Fender Steel King, 2 Roland Cube 80XL's,
Sarno FreeLoader, Goodrich Passive Volume Pedals, Vintage ACE Pack-A-Seat

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

Billy Henderson · From: Portland, AR, USA

THANKS to all for the useful information,,,,I think I am on the right path to a good fix. I did not know the Hilton had a tone control. I did turn the tone down just enough to take the edge off then tweaked the amp a bit and now I think it is about 90% done. This is a big relief. Thanks again.

Forum Index > Pedal Steel		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic