The Steel Guitar Forum

Has anybody swapped out the pickup in their SX lap steel? I'm playing (well, I'm trying to play) classic country on mine and the stock pu is just kind of blah sounding to me. I'm wondering if a hotter Strat bridge pu would be an improvement? Maybe something like dogear P90? What have you all done?

I have 2 sx laps. The first one mahog. with single coil and the new Ash model with p-90. I also wasnt crazy about the stock pickup and replaced it with a Seymour Duncan lipstick. Really hot, bright pickup. Just roll the tone off and you can get as much mellow or bright as you need. I spent a little extra and got a Duncan instead of the budget pups. I know it's a budget steel but wanted to at least get a descent pickup. The Ash model has a p90, and it sounds really sweet. A little under powered but I am not inclined to replace it. I am a huge p90 fan. My favorite. Love my Rondo laps. Use them quite a bit. Real handy. Nice to get away from the bigger rigs once in a while and go back to the roots of the steel and play 6 string. Have fun with it and try something cool. Will make a big difference. I think also the tone knob is a big part of getting the sound as well. I tend to roll it off a bit for sweeter tone on the lipstick. Dont have any real experience with other pickups. Whole world of stuff out there. Hope you find something cool.

I also have an ash model with the P 90 and am satisfied with the sound. I didn't like the bridge arrangement so I replaced the bridge with a Tele style string through body type and I find that much easier to change strings. My amp is a Mesa Boogie and it's really hot so I have to use the tone control to tame the sound for mellow. The brights are really bright.

Thanks, guys. I think I'm going to look for a dog-ear P90 or a P90ish pickup in a Strat form.