Morrell "Little Roy Wiggins" 8-string?

Todd Weger · Post by **Todd Weger** » 29 Jul 2004 5:58 am

Has anyone tried one of these? MF has 'em for $249 on sale. I kind of have to think that the Armstrong lipstick p'up would be pretty danged bright, but mebbe not(?)

Seems that for $249, a solid maple 8-string steel is a great deal, even if one had to upgrade or change some things like a p'up or nut.

TJW

Wayne Carver · Post by **Wayne Carver** » 29 Jul 2004 6:58 am

I saw that in their sales flyer too. If you had to change the pickup, what would the options be? Would you have to stay with a lipstick? Could a resistor be installed if the pickup is too bright?

Michael Miller · Post by **Michael Miller** » 29 Jul 2004 8:54 am

I owned one for a while. The lipstick pup was too short for the string span, cheap tuners, tight string spacing (good for pedlers), but a nice piece of maple. Got rid of it. YMMV

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 29 Jul 2004 11:45 am

This is a great "Hot-Rod" guitar. We put state-of-the-art pickups on these guitars, legs and sockets, optional fretboards and tuning keys. Why? Because the maple body is incredible and very worthy of modifications. Properly set up, this steel guitar has no equals, for less money than a so called "great guitar". This guitar is the '55 Chevy or the '32 Ford of the lap steel world.

bobbe:
Steel Guitar Nashville
sales@steelguitar.net [This message was edited by BobbeSeymour on 29 July 2004 at 12:47 PM.][This message was edited by BobbeSeymour on 29 July 2004 at 12:48 PM.]

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 29 Jul 2004 12:06 pm

Interesting. The one I've played (stock) was unimpressive, but I like the look. What type of pickup(s) do you use, Bobbe?

------------------
Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

Chuck Fisher · Post by **Chuck Fisher** » 29 Jul 2004 1:07 pm

the 6 string pro model with the Seymour Duncan sounds great, the maple body is dense and sustains like mad. the 8-string LRW spacing is tight but if you dont slant its workable. Nice quick scale, but the lipstick pickup SUCKS HARD.

Mike Lovell · Post by **Mike Lovell** » 29 Jul 2004 6:35 pm

Hi, I'm a newbie and started on lapsteel november last year. Generally I dislike Rock slide guitar, all that skreeching and skrawing with the hopes of hitting the right note. My version of slide sounded more like a dobro I so I bought a Morrell lapsteel 8 string from Chuck Brattian. One of the nicest people I've met. Talk about a new world. I tuned that rascal to C6 and I have found my Home. I Skwank around on it so much, I'm loosing 30 years of 6 string guitar calluses. I agree, the Little Roy Wiggins model is not quite up to par. I've modified mine with a wider brass nut, a homemade bridge a properly spaced Goerge L 8-string pick up and I lenghtened the scale length a bit. Sounds much better. I know the new scale doesn't match the existing fret markers. I compinsate for that booboo. It works out fine. When I get more time and feel I can put it down long enought, I will reconfigure the fretboard and be in tall cotton. Anyway. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the Forum. I've learned more than I thought there was to know. My poor ol' Tele had to suffer the many tunings I've tried from Brad's Page of Steel. A wonderful resource for anyone new or experienced. I'm playing whatI hear imn my head now. Calluses can wait. . .
Mike
Mike

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 31 Jul 2004 7:36 am

Brad, a George.L. 10-1 on this guitar is about as incedible as you would ever want.
We have refinished, added this pickup, installed new keys and made a guitar that was a great unit for not much money. If tone is important to you, it was really wonderful. This guitar is really a great starting point for a good "Hot-Rod" lap steel. I think "Little Roy" would approve also.
bobbe

Larry Lorows · Post by **Larry Lorows** » 31 Jul 2004 12:46 pm

I have one and I hate the sound of it. I purchased it just to play in nursing homes for a hour at a time and it sounds so rough, I haven't been using it. If I were playing raw blues like in the thirties, I would fit right in. I'm going to try the George L pickups that Bobbe suggests, and hopefully get a sound I can live with.

------------------
U12 Williams keyless 400
Evans SE 150, Nashville 112, Line 6 pod xt

William Steward · Post by **William Steward** » 10 Aug 2004 4:09 pm

Bobbe thanks for the tip on the pickup mod. I played with the vertical adjustment on my Little Roy and improved it slightly but it still doesn't sound as good as my old Nationals. One odd thing I found is that the fretboard artwork is confusing - although it is kind of funky looking and clearly delineates octaves, the markings are different on each octave making it tough for me to use the normal visual queue of repeating fret markers. I am getting used to it but may add a couple of coloured dots to help me!

Blake Hawkins · Post by **Blake Hawkins** » 10 Aug 2004 4:40 pm

Todd,
Next time you are in Tampa, go to Guitar Center on Hillsborough Avenue.
They have a nice Chandler lap steel.
It is a 6 string and the tag price is $349.
Presently it is set up with E Major Low Bass
tuning.
Blake[This message was edited by Blake Hawkins on 11 August 2004 at 05:54 AM.]

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 24 Feb 2009 12:25 pm

William, I replace the fret boards with 24 inch boards, it is easy to change the scale on these guitars.

Bobbe

John Hanusch · Post by **John Hanusch** » 25 Feb 2009 8:58 am

Hello, Todd - Bobbe's right - check a topic about a month ago in this section "Morrell 8 string pup" (sorry I don't know how to bring that link in here).
Pictures of some of these changes and if you're some what mechanically inclined, pretty easy & cheap.

Tom Mnich · Post by **Tom Mnich** » 25 Feb 2009 11:40 am

Based on response to a recent post of mine, I have just completed putting a Lollar stringmaster 8 pole pickup in my Morrell LRW. I've played it "out" about 3 times since the mod. I'd say it is a vast improvement over the lipstick pup. I like the sound, it's pretty much exactly what I was looking for.
The Lollar stringmaster pickup dropped right into the existing hole and screw holes aligned perfectly. It was a breeze. I'd recommend it, if that's the sort of sound you are looking for.
While I had it open, I shielded the cavity also. Now I'd like to replace the bridge, then the nut....and so on.

The Steel Guitar Forum

Morrell "Little Roy Wiggins" 8-string?

Morrell "Little Roy Wiggins" 8-string?

Morrell 8's modded...