| Author |
Topic: Need pickup cover/handrest for Magnatone |
Steve Wilson
From:
Morgan Hill, California, USA
|
Posted 13 Jul 2003 8:50 pm |
|
Thanks for all the responses to my wiring questions for the Magnatone/Dickerson econo steel. It turns out the pickup is nearly dead - so I am going to replace it. The steel doesn't have the chrome handrest/pickup cover - so I was thinking of routing from the back so I wouldn't have to cut the pearloid. After thinking again I decided to look for a handrest to hide the new pickup and just drop the pickup in the top as described in a post a few weeks back. Does anybody have an extra handrest or know where I might find one? I was going to make one out of aluminum but thought I would check around first. I think I am getting lazy in my old age!
Steve |
|
|
|
Jesse Pearson
From:
San Diego , CA
|
Posted 14 Jul 2003 6:18 am
|
|
I think you will have to make one. My E6 Magnatone has no pickup cover and I kinda like that, much easier to do right hand damping. It would be nice if you could find a cheap piece of "cromed something" since you have to go thru the top, but who's really gonna know what the steel normally looks like outside of this place? These Magnatones are great starter steels that you can also gig with and that MOT is a great eye catcher. Good luck with what ever you decide to do with her.  |
|
|
|
George Keoki Lake
From:
Edmonton, AB., Canada
|
Posted 14 Jul 2003 7:34 pm
|
|
| Those "hand rests" are a throw back from the dark ages and run straight interference with right hand blocking, also muting of strings when desired. JMHO. I'm sure if you, or a skilled carpenter could do a neat job of it, you'd be far more satisfied than having a "hand rest" which is totally useless. The new Gretsch models have hand rests which my students (2 of them) have both removed. They are keeping them in the event they decide to sell their guitars down the road. [This message was edited by George Keoki Lake on 14 July 2003 at 08:35 PM.] |
|
|
|
Steve Wilson
From:
Morgan Hill, California, USA
|
Posted 14 Jul 2003 8:48 pm
|
|
Thanks guys -
Scott - check your email
George - I know what you mean about these handrest things mostly getting in the way. On this guitar I feel need it for cosmetic reasons. I dropped an EMG pickup in from the top and want to hide where I had to cut the pearloid. I did an okay job getting it in - but it just looks funny to me without the pearloid their - sounds better though! I am going to try the Fender Bass handrest Scott has. Thanks again for your help! |
|
|
|
Jeff Strouse
From:
Jacksonville, Florida, USA
|
Posted 16 Jul 2003 11:49 am
|
|
| I took the pick-up covers off of my T-8 Magnatone, and off of my Harmony lap steel for the same right hand blocking reasons. Pick-up covers may look nice, but they really get in the way! |
|
|
|
George Keoki Lake
From:
Edmonton, AB., Canada
|
Posted 17 Jul 2003 7:16 am
|
|
I guess, amongst the worst examples was the old Gibson Ultratone model...a beautiful sleek "in the future" guitar designed back in the fifties. It had a permanent pickup cover/hand rest combination. The Ultratone was certainly a "modernistic" design for that era, but for muting, etc., it proved to be a real pain in the butt.  JMHO. |
|
|
|
Jesse Pearson
From:
San Diego , CA
|
Posted 17 Jul 2003 8:43 am
|
|
| One good thing about the Magnatone pickup cover is, if you want to move up to a Ricky Horse shoe pickup one day, you will already be used to it's shape and feel against the strings. I have adapted to the Magnatones and I'm now working on making the move up to the great sound of a Horse shoe in the very near future. |
|
|
|
Denny Turner
From:
Oahu, Hawaii USA
|
Posted 19 Jul 2003 6:32 am
|
|
Steve,
After reading the recent postings about right hand blocking, I wondered why the hand rest didn't seem to interfere with my picking (my god, have I not been blocking?); So I picked up Maggie, picked a bit and realized that I would normally play it with my right hand in front of the handrest anyway ....where much prettier tones are IMHO ...and yee-ghads the Maggie pickup has tons of treble edge with the tone control open even with the hand placed forward, ... although YOU are now using a different pickup (?) than stock. I suggest you play it for awhile and find out where your hand is going be while playing for the character of the pickup you're using. If it's going to be further back than the handrest, you won't be able to right-hand block with a handrest.
Playing it for awhile will also allow you to adjust the pickup height for the string to pickup distance you will want for tone.
I took the handrest plate off for a good look. It is a high quality mild steel polished on the hand side. Stainless would work great too. It would be a cinch to fabricate. The top bends are radiused about like a large screwdriver shaft and the tab bends are a tight brake (although all bends were probably stamped in). A large screwdriver clamped in a vice with the fabricated plate (and scar preventing plates) would brake the top bend, while just the vice (and scar plates) would brake the flange bend. I can draft you a "blue print" if you'd like. BUT MINE IS STRAIGHT ... NOT LIKE SOME SLANTED ONES I'VE SEEN.
In lieu of a handrest; If your pickup poles are lower than deck plane, you might consider making a nice plastic cover for the pickup cavity. If your pole pieces are higher than the deck plane you might make a similar plastic flashing plate with an opening for the pickup. When I make flashings I always leave enough clearance around the pickup to put a rubber bushing band between the flashing and the pickup, especially if the pickup is mounted on spring suspension for height adjustment. The rubber bushing keeps the pickup from having lateral movement which can produce unpredictable tone changes to a discerning ear. The pickup moving is the same thing electronically as the strings moving, and the cyclic attraction of the strings will vibrate a pickup and transfer that vibration into the other pole piece / strings' fields ... creating unpredictable tone and some minor phase amping & cancelling (minor phase cancelling can effect chimes) ...which all adds up. The bushing also protects the pickup from the flashing. I usually use automotive (or aircraft even better) inner-tube rubber because it lasts a very long time. If there's not enough clearance below the strings for a cover plate or flashing, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to replace that chinchy bridge / string-feed plate by fabricating something similar but taller; ALTHOUGH:
EXACT fabrication and placement of the saddle-ridge is critical to make the scale length match the fret geometry; and exacting string passage holes are critical to proper string spacing. Too much saddle height will start to effect the eyeball paralax to the fretboard.
Aloha,
DT~[This message was edited by Denny Turner on 19 July 2003 at 07:33 AM.] |
|
|
|
