The Steel Guitar Forum

I'm inclined to agree with Rick about the dam screws. In a horseshoe pickup,it has to be taken apart to adjust the poles to get even volume. That may take several trys to get it right....A real pain.
I haven't tried a blade type yet, but I can see it comin'

Gary ... I'm talkin' about "splitting" a single blade ... between the 3rd & 4th strings.

Like this:



That way the steel blade doesn't connect .. or "yolk" ... opposing magnets.

The ferromagnetic connection between "like" poles ... would hasten their "demagnetization" ...

Rick, you might want to start patenting some of your work before someone decides to use one of your best creations and mass produce it without cutting you in on the profit.

Reading your post is better than a dime novel in 1870's or listening to the raido before TV. It's like sitting next to George Beauchamp or Leo Fender at their old workshops. It's HISTORY in the making.

This has been a very interesting topic. Thanks to Rick for his insight into Bakelite wiring and pickup design, but with this new info I am now a little confused. Do I understand correctly that the simple wiring diagram on John Ely's site is not the best way to go?

I am concerned because I have a good friend with a Bakelite 6 that has no output. The pickup tested good with an ohm meter, but the wiring is a mess. I recently gave him John Ely's wiring diagram for him to put it back together. He hasn't done anything with it yet so there is still time to correct my "assistance". I would feel much more confident if he were able to rewire it with Rick Aiello's specifications.

Rick, would you mind emailing me the correct wiring info? I would certainly appreciate it.

Gary ...

Iain ... I agree with Ron, you will love that B6 !!! ...

My posts on this thread are just ramblings ... thinking out loud ... mostly on the topic of bringing these units back to "the state" they were in when they left the factory 70+ yrs ago.

Time does take it's toll on everything ...

Anyway ... Mitch, here's the way I hook up a Ricky:



I thought it was on my site .. I'll add it here with the other Ricky "tricks" :

http://www.horseshoemagnets.com/_sgg/m7_1.htm

Thanks Rick. I'll pass it on.

Rick's diagram works very well. Although I think I rewire the tone pot in the other position as suggested by Dave Zielinski. Seems like a cool idea.
Thanks.

ok, i'll play into this! rick..thanx for your knowledge. i have a 37ish b6 rick..volume on one side..tone on the other...string thru body, etc.
sounds good, but the tone control is mostly on the bass side...fast change from bass to treble...what should the tone pot be...i would be more comfortable with a more even taper from bass to treble?? ok, i just looked back...500k audio taper?

chris ivey wrote:ok, i'll play into this!

My favorites are CGE pots ... nice taper ...

I get them here ...

http://www.tubedepot.com/pots.html

If you want the most gradual change in your tone control ... try a 250 K audio CGE ... and combine it with a 0.022 mfd capacitor ...

Just my opinions ...

thanx, rick!

Rick,

Can you use audio taper for volume as well? I notice there are both audio or linear taper pots. I was assuming that one is for tone and one for volume?

I like logarithmic (audio) pots for both ...

Some folks/companies like linear pots for tone ...

But your hearing is more logarithmic in nature ... so even though liner would appear to give you a more "even" taper ... it's actually quite the opposite.

The "change over" is much more abrupt with linear pots in general.

Potentiometers are relatively cheap ... as are capacitors ... so to really "fine tune" your steel to your personal tastes ...

It's prudent to get an assortment of each ... some 250K, 500K, 1 Meg (log and linear) ... 0.022, 0.047 and even 0.1 mfd caps ...

Make some of "jumpers" (alligator clips and wire) ... and just try every combination you can think of ...

When you have what you like ... solder it

Forget about what was "originally on" the guitar ... and use what suits you best.

Personally ...

I used to just wire the pup straight to the jack (no pots or caps) ... and use a Hilton Volume pedal to vary volume and the amps circuitry to shape tone ...

When I put away the Hilton for a few years ... I used a 1 Meg pot for volume ...

I wanted to hear everything that the pups I was experimenting with ... could "put out" ...

Everything that goes between the pup and the amp (in terms of passive pots/cap) ... sucks away some amount of high frequencies ... even when "wide open".

The greater the resistance of the potentiometer ... the more highs it lets through ...

But when folks started coming out here ... to hear and play my stuff ... I wanted my steels to me more "user friendly" ...

So I redid them all using the pots/caps listed in the above wiring diagram.