Magnatone pickup problem

[Peter J. Faith]

I have an old Magnatone hollow aluminum 6 string keyless. The sound is great but the 5th string is muted almost no sound at all, any ideas?

[Stephen Cowell]

If you could post pictures, inside and out, that might help... I'm not sure what kind of pickup, pole pieces, magnet, etc we're dealing with.

Also, beware of bronze strings!

[Peter J. Faith]

It looks like a bar magnet with wires wrapped around it.

[Frank James Pracher]

I would try changing the strings first. See if that helps. Did the pickup have a metal cover? I have a keyless magnatone, but mine the pick up has a metal cover.
If changing the string doesn't help, try contacting Jason Lollar. He was very helpful when I had a pick up problem in one of my other Magnatones (the magnet was weak). To say he knows a lot about lap steel pickups would be an understatement.