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Author Topic:  Alumitone pickup height?
Marvin Born

 

From:
Ohio, USA
Post  Posted 7 Sep 2009 9:39 am    
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Anyone have an idea of how far to space the Alumitone pickup from the strings for E9?


Marvin
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Doug Rolfe

 

From:
Indianapolis, IN
Post  Posted 7 Sep 2009 9:54 am    
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Marvin,

Albert Svenddal has it on his new Williams and said that they need to be about 1/8 of an inch, or a little more, from the strings. They started with a quarter laid on the pick up and it was much too close. He said it picks up bar and pick noise unless you increase the distance between it and the strings.
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Marvin Born

 

From:
Ohio, USA
Post  Posted 7 Sep 2009 10:10 am    
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That is what I found Doug. It needs to be lower especially on the bass side. I thought I would see what the other steel players were doing.

I picked one up in St. Louis and put it in my Zum. Using the Telonics pedal and a Webb amp. That combo sounds great. Stainless strings and my cables.

Marvin
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Jim Sliff


From:
Lawndale California, USA
Post  Posted 7 Sep 2009 10:17 am    
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It completely depends on your guitar, amp, strings, attack; there IS no specific pickup height for any guitar, which is why the height is normally adjustable.

Try different heights until you get the tone/output you want. THAT is the right height.
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Bobbe Seymour

 

From:
Hendersonville TN USA, R.I.P.
Post  Posted 7 Sep 2009 10:26 am    
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What Jim said! Exclamation
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Bob Baringer

 

From:
Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, USA
Post  Posted 9 Sep 2009 8:53 am     alumitone pickups
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I have a pre RP Mullen D 10 that I installed alumitone's on both necks, I made mounting plates of aluminum that mount in the original pickup holes but even at that I can only get them down two quarters from the strings, they work great there but I would like to know if they would be better spaced a bit more...
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Marvin Born

 

From:
Ohio, USA
Post  Posted 9 Sep 2009 11:47 am    
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Bob,

That was the same problem I ran into. The changer brackets run along the outside of the pickup hole and the sides of the Alumitone go down only so far before they hit the brackets. It sounds nice at that location, but I was hoping that someone has mounted them on another guitar where they can go down farther. I was interested if they need to go lower for the sweetest sound.

But like you said they go down only about two quarters on the bass side and slightly less on the treble side due to the matching transformer.

The need to bend the body of the pickup a little inward to clear the brackets and transformer coil but hopefully not change the audio quality.

Marvin
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Bobbe Seymour

 

From:
Hendersonville TN USA, R.I.P.
Post  Posted 9 Sep 2009 12:02 pm    
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Marvin, just try a bigger hammer, it'll go down.


Seriously, if it works where it is,,, use it and forget it. It won't sound better moving it farther away.

Bobbe
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Bob Baringer

 

From:
Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, USA
Post  Posted 10 Sep 2009 4:27 am     alumitone pickups
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Marvin...yes the changer extends into the pickup cavity and that can't be changed but at two quarters it sounds great especially the high's my low's are a bit muddy but that may be my amp, I have to try different settings, that may help. Bobbe have you tried these picks they are different, I had single coils before and realy loved them but the last job the hum was way too much...
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Wayne Franco

 

From:
silverdale, WA. USA
Post  Posted 10 Sep 2009 9:59 pm     Maybe Randy Beavers can chime in on this
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He really likes his and it might be helpful if he could give us some of his experience as to how to get the right height.
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David Pinkston

 

From:
Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 11 Sep 2009 6:28 pm     Alumitone on Show Pro
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Jeff Surratt gave me springs and I picked up some longer screws at Ace Hardware (#6 will go through the holes in the pickup.) I am able to adjust it as low or high as I need. I didn't use the foam that came with the pickup. I had to drill new holes as they didn't line up with Bill Lawrence 710s.
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Ken Metcalf


From:
San Antonio Texas USA
Post  Posted 12 Sep 2009 6:49 am    
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I tried to use foam supplied with the PU.
It seemed too high to me on the low strings which would touch and click.
I mounted it down direct to the body of my Carter U-12.
No mounting plate involved just 4 screws supplied by Lace.
Solid, sounds and works good.
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