The Steel Guitar Forum

I've been having Larry at Aero Instrument rewind some pickups and he mentioned that he makes drop-in replacements for the 8 string Morrell lap steels. (The stock pickup is a Kent Armstrong lipstick pickup intended for 7 string guitars so the outside strings are not as loud as the rest.)

I mentioned that there are probably members of the forum here interested in a pickup upgrade so he just sent me these pictures:






His price for a custom pickup like this is $170 plus $7.50 S/H.

http://www.aeroinstrument.com/index.html

Larry was telling me that he has been making pickups for 19 years and used to be located in San Diego before moving to Hawaii:

Larry J Pollack
Aero Instrument
Hilo, Hawai'i
808-969-6774

pickupz@aeroinstrument.com

Steve Ahola

P.S. Dom Franco had been building replacement nuts for the Morrell 8 strings the last time I checked with him. The stock plastic nut is pretty crappy and Dom makes them with a wider string spacing. Definitely recommended.

P.P.S. In case anyone is wondering about "trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear" this is what Bobbe Seymour had to say about the Morrell 8 string lap steels back in June 2004:

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

:

I have two Morrell "Pro" 6-strings (essentially the same platform as the 8s) and I can't see why they get dissed so much. Yes, they need some tweaking/upgrading, but they're pretty solid guitars for not much money if you shop wisely.

Bob Russell wrote:I have two Morrell "Pro" 6-strings (essentially the same platform as the 8s) and I can't see why they get dissed so much. Yes, they need some tweaking/upgrading, but they're pretty solid guitars for not much money if you shop wisely.

The solid block of maple used for the 6 and 8 string Pro lap steels is great. The main issue with the 8 string is that the stock pickup does not pick up all 8 strings properly. (The 6 string does not have that problem since it uses a different pickup which is designed properly for the steel.)

Steve Ahola

I've read earlier posts about the 8-string pickup length problem. That would seem to fall under the category of "dopey design flaw". Larry's mod looks like a nice solution.

I have a Morrell pro 6. Morrell has a major problem with quality control. On mine the nut was 1/2" out. I was told that the fret marks were sometimes put on wrong, crooked etc. With some help from this Forum it was determined that the frets were fine but the nut was wrong. On closer inspection I found the mark on the neck where the nut was supposed to be. I clamped the new steel nut on that mark and the measurements were right on. When the old nut was removed there was still sawdust in the slot and sawdust mixed with paint in the slotted head stock. The paint chips really easy.
2 of the tuners were set in crooked. The tuners are bottom of the line.
I e-mailed Morrell 2 or 3 times, never heard back from them.
These are some of the reasons they get dissed.
The Kent Armstrong hot rails pickup works fine for me and the body is a nice chunk of maple.

Is maple an ideal choice for a steel guitar? On a standard (Spanish-style, to us old-timers!) solidbody electric, it generally provides a brighter tonality that is less agreeable to most ears than the more commonly used ash, alder or mahogany. I have gone on record since the Dead Sea was merely ill, that I am a stone junkie for the look of curly maple, but it might not be my first choice as a solid body tone wood. Just sayin in general terms, and not a knock on this particular make and model of steel. But if I was to build a steel, I might laminate the exterior with the "Lana Turner" of all woods, but underneath would be some alder, mahogany, or even basswood.

I guess I shouldn't say that I hate to say this, since I don't. But Morrell is an entry level, student model guitar. It isn't really meant for anything else. The price is low. And the materials and workmanship reflect that. Save your money. When you are ready to move up to a higher quality guitar, do so.