What capacitor is best. For a Lap Steel?

[Andy DePaule]

Anyone know what capacitor is best to get that extreme swing like some kind of mini Wha Wha? I think some of the steelers used that back in the 40’s and 50’s.
I have a couple of older lap steels I'd like to have that on.
Also, is it best to have a 250 or 500 pot?
Thanks if you know?
Andy

[Brad Sarno]

I would try both a .1uF and a .047uF capacitor. Voltage rating doesn't matter. Try a decent cap too, maybe a mylar orange drop 225p series or Mallory 150 series. See which cap value has the best voicing for that effect. Kinda depends on the pickup itself, so experimentation is important here.

A 250k pot would probably be good too. It may be worth trying both a linear AND audio taper as well for the best "boo wah" action and response.


B

[Andy DePaule]

Thank you Brad,
Should have mentioned that I like the tone to go from Dark to Mellow and then bright cutting.
Until now my electronic skills have been limited to changing light bulbs and putting plugs in wall sockets!
Best wishes,
Andy

[David Dunn]

Andy, I just did an overhaul on my Remington Steelmaster this spring (color change and all new electronics).

I used 250k CTS pots and a NOS .047 orange drop cap. It was a fantastic improvement from original. I can dial up about whatever sound I want.

Amp is a 71 Twin Reverb w/JBL's.

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[Andy DePaule]

Thanks David,
I'll copy the info so I don't forget! (Getting old...*^&%#$@)

BTW, That's a nice looking steel.
Wish my Fender Duel had four legs too.
Andy

[Steven Welborn]

I'm experimenting with caps and pots myself for the best 'boo wah' effect on my poor mans' Stringmaster - National D8. I'm going to 'clip on' different configurations of 250k,500k,1meg pots with .047,.06?,.1 caps to see what works best with the Nat. D8 pickups. I'm going to put the tone pot where the Vol pot normally is on the National and use a volume pedal and scrap the original tone selector altogether. Save original parts of course.

[David Weisenthal]

Steven, I was just woking on my 49 National D8. I replaced the original caps with the same values it was made with. A .02 and .05uf The bright setting uses no cap, the mellow uses the .02, and the bass adds them for .07uf

Actually I found the effect to be less than I had imagined. I had to really turn up the treble on my carvin tube amp for the caps to roll off the highs. I like your idea. Both of the original pickups only measured 2500 ohms each...seems low.

[Godfrey Arthur]

Andy you want a wah/swell effect try an .05uf cap and a linear pot if you want abrupt changes in the sweep of the pot.

Would depend on your pickup whether 250 or 500.

Singles=250k humbuck=500k.

If you switch from a 250k to a 500k pot your guitar will sound brighter.





You can get these from Darren Riley. He has a few .05uf to choose from.

http://darrenriley.com/product-category ... tors-wire/

[Andy DePaule]

Thanks Godfrey,
Went on the site and ordered that cap. Kind of spendy so I'm guessing it must be a good one. Looks like he has quite a bit of NOS on that page.

Hi Steven,
I think some of those Nationals are really nice.
I almost got one of those D-8's a while back but missed out.
I also really like some of the National Lap steel designs.
My favorite being the New Yorker model, but they had a lot of very cool designs.
I'm planning to build a few close to the New Yorker in style, but not an exact copy.

Hi David,
That looks like some good info there too.
I'm saving all this for future reference when I start getting my lap steels built.
When it comes to building, I'm real good at that, but the electronics is not something I know a lot about. I'm studying all I can find and have just ordered a coil winder because I want to make my own pickups too. Got a long way to go still.
Regards,
Andy

[Godfrey Arthur]

Thanks Godfrey,
Went on the site and ordered that cap. Kind of spendy so I'm guessing it must be a good one. Looks like he has quite a bit of NOS on that page.
Andy

Andy I restored my '63 Jazzmaster with parts from Darren.

[Steven Welborn]

Steven, I was just woking on my 49 National D8. I replaced the original caps with the same values it was made with. A .02 and .05uf The bright setting uses no cap, the mellow uses the .02, and the bass adds them for .07uf

Actually I found the effect to be less than I had imagined. I had to really turn up the treble on my carvin tube amp for the caps to roll off the highs. I like your idea. Both of the original pickups only measured 2500 ohms each...seems low.

yeah, that would be better positioning for right hand boo wah operation. Eliminating that other circuitry might brighten up the tone too which could help with better contrast from very dark to very bright. I don't really want to de-solder that tone switch/pickup blade switch assembly so I'll remove it intact and install another 3 position blade switch. I'll need to alter and shorten the switch so it fits in the existing slot and screw holes but I have an idea how to do it. I dont want to remove any more material from the bottom of cavity it's already only 3/8" thick there. I may put a volume pot where the old tone switch was just to have a shaft to attach the cool chicken head knob to.
BTW, I had Jason Lollar repair/re-wind one of my pickups and he upgraded the magnets for both with stronger ones. The originals were weak and out of balance. The tone is now very full and rich now.