Lace Tone Bar fitting?

[Chris Tulloch]

So .. one more question! I have a Lace Tone Bar for my new (now to be 7-string) that I’m about to build. Lace supply on-line wiring diagrams, but NO tips on how to actually mount the thing, especially if you want to have an adjustable height once everything’s in place (strings etc).

They also have the worst customer service! I had contacted them several times with no reply, then finally just wrote and said “Do you know of a public forum for your products?”. That prompted a reply “How can I help?”. Since then silence!

* The Tone Bar comes with 4 screws and 2 bits of rubber. Does anyone have experience of fitting these tone bars & could give me some tips?

Many thanks
Chris

[Marshall Woodall]

Hey Chris, I've done a few of these. From my experience, they are mostly meant to sit flush (bottomed out) in a standard routed pickup cavity. I suppose you could use the little foam rubber pieces as beds under the pickup ends to provide resistance and some adjustable height. One helpful tip is to find your mounting holes by holding the pickup upside down in the cavity. Also, be sure to drill proper pilot holes because the included screws are susceptible to stripping or snapping.

[Chris Tulloch]

Thank you Marshall. Good tips. Strange about such poor quality screws .. ?

BTW … for anyone wondering why I’m making a 7-string instead of the 8-string I was planning? I’ve obtained a 22.5" Stringmaster fretboard & with 7 strings I can get to a 9mm gap between the strings; my 6-stringers are a little wider than that, but I’ll be able to adapt. My main instrument is a mandolin & the steel is just for odd songs and a few bands I can sit in with. With A6 tuning it will give me a root A on the bottom. My preferred music for the lap-steel is country/rockabilly so 7-strings will be enough. I play nothing too complicated but trying to work on my ‘boo-wah' and my slants!

Thanks to everyone who posts on this forum. One day I hope to be able to offer my own help & advice!!!
Chris

[Chris Tulloch]

Hey Chris, I've done a few of these. From my experience, they are mostly meant to sit flush (bottomed out) in a standard routed pickup cavity. I suppose you could use the little foam rubber pieces as beds under the pickup ends to provide resistance and some adjustable height. One helpful tip is to find your mounting holes by holding the pickup upside down in the cavity. Also, be sure to drill proper pilot holes because the included screws are susceptible to stripping or snapping.

Hi Marshall … one more question; what string clearance do you use?
Many thanks
Chris

[George Piburn]

Hello from GeorgeBoards™ Steel Guitar Company,
When we were actively manufacturing 8 String Lap and Console Steel Guitars, I installed well over 100 of these pickups an became a Lace OEM dealer.

To try to answer some of your questions in steel guitar American measurements (Thousands , not MM) ,
For a .500 tall bridge
PuP Height .888 -- pocket depth , .550-.558 this brings the bottom of the strings to .170 above the pickup top, the little rubber cushions are for the small amount of adjustment to personal taste. Definitely drill pilot holes , for the #4 - 1.5 long screws. I personally use a waxed # 4 screw to literally Thread the pilot hole. Remove the waxed threading screw then use the long ones to install. Makes for much easier installation.

A Tone Bar is 30 % more powerful than most other pickups, to keep your sound crystal clear , you want .170 distance , a standard pickup the basic distance is .125 Basically add .050

If you are looking for a distortion pickup this is most likely not the one you want, These are Flat as a pancake and super wide range As well possibly the Lowest or non existent Hums..
If on the other hand you want to use out board EFX pedals , these will drive those to oblivion.

If you got their version with 4 wires , then you can do a "Split Tone" sorta thing by adding a simple SPST switch, and get two different sounds. We did this on a lot of steels sold to every USA state and over 20 countries worldwide, all to very satisfied owners.
I actually got an email this morning from a client in the UK who bought this in 2012 and this year , had his local paint expert Re color in a Buck Owens theme. And built his own pickguard to customize his set up to personal taste.

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[Marshall Woodall]

I think George pretty much nailed it. I checked the string height off the top of the Lace Tonebar in my Excel Pedal Steel and they sit at around 1/4". You would be hard pressed to find a quieter pickup!

[Chris Tulloch]

Hello from GeorgeBoards™ Steel Guitar Company,
When we were actively manufacturing 8 String Lap and Console Steel Guitars, I installed well over 100 of these pickups an became a Lace OEM dealer.

To try to answer some of your questions in steel guitar American measurements (Thousands , not MM) ,
For a .500 tall bridge
PuP Height .888 -- pocket depth , .550-.558 this brings the bottom of the strings to .170 above the pickup top, the little rubber cushions are for the small amount of adjustment to personal taste. Definitely drill pilot holes , for the #4 - 1.5 long screws. I personally use a waxed # 4 screw to literally Thread the pilot hole. Remove the waxed threading screw then use the long ones to install. Makes for much easier installation.

A Tone Bar is 30 % more powerful than most other pickups, to keep your sound crystal clear , you want .170 distance , a standard pickup the basic distance is .125 Basically add .050

If you are looking for a distortion pickup this is most likely not the one you want, These are Flat as a pancake and super wide range As well possibly the Lowest or non existent Hums..
If on the other hand you want to use out board EFX pedals , these will drive those to oblivion.

If you got their version with 4 wires , then you can do a "Split Tone" sorta thing by adding a simple SPST switch, and get two different sounds. We did this on a lot of steels sold to every USA state and over 20 countries worldwide, all to very satisfied owners.
I actually got an email this morning from a client in the UK who bought this in 2012 and this year , had his local paint expert Re color in a Buck Owens theme. And built his own pickguard to customize his set up to personal taste.

Thank you George - you’re a star! And yes, I’ll be doing split-wiring. It’s a shame Lace don't provide this information, apart from wiring diagrams. But you‘ve supplied exactly the info I need, thank you.
BTW I have another steel project coming up; rebuilding a seriously hacked-about Selmer GoldTone. I’ll be looking to use one of your fretboard overlays.
Chris

[Chris Tulloch]

I think George pretty much nailed it. I checked the string height off the top of the Lace Tonebar in my Excel Pedal Steel and they sit at around 1/4". You would be hard pressed to find a quieter pickup!

Indeed. And thanks for your help too, Marshall