The Steel Guitar Forum

How many of you guys use them and on what brand of guitar? I've got one on my JCH and it warms up my guitar's tone real nice.

Tony

I got one for my Carter SD12 for special purposes--they have the rep for being especially hum resistant and I'd had some problems with my Lawrence 912 in an especially badly wired room. It helped me to realize that there really aren't any bad pickups out there (other than defectives) and that the differences are subtle. I found the E66 in my guitar tends to be peaky--certain highs really spike out at you. It isn't terrible--just not my first choice. I'm now using a Lawrence XR-16--both this and the 912 tend to be more even across the spectrum. But I won't hesitate to pop in the GeorgeL for those bad neon barrooms. One thing I've learned for sure--as good as a pickup might be, it won't change your life.

My Derby has E-66's which is the standard pickup, although looks like the cavity is routed to take almost any pickup.
I LOVE IT!!! Wouldn't change a thing.

I didn't like the E-66 in my Sierra. It didn't have enough low end. I've heard E-66's that sounded great in wood guitars, though.

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<small><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic) Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6)

I've had them in all my Fessendens. Nice.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

My main giggin guitar is a real '66 S-10. I put the E-66 in it hoping to remain as true to the original only humbucking. It's clearly a different sound but NO humbucker will sound like a single coil. I've been very happy with it. It's a bit of a compromise but the hum in one club was louder than the notes I was picking, so I had to put in a humbucker. The Emmons guitar tone still shines thru quite well with the E-66 and compared to the BL 910, the E-66 is much more clear in the high frequencies so that when thing get loud, the E-66 stays clear and full. It's a nice sounding pickup. I'm happy with it, but I'd like to try them all and see for myself. The BL710 is next on my list to try.

Brad Sarno

i've used the e-66 on alot of guitars from a 1961 zb to both my jch's to my 1981 emmons and one of my new carter's and i loved it....however...on my latest carter i thought i would try a new bill lawrence pick up called a XR-16...xr being for extended range. sorry guys but i won't ever go back, this pick up is unreal in this guitar. it has 20 poles instead of 10 and is so full and warm it's unblieveable but just incase it doesn't work well on a different guitar i always have a e-66 lying around

wayne

carter sd-10 nashville 1000<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Wayne Brown on 19 August 2002 at 05:12 AM.]</p></FONT>

I just put one on the E9 neck of my MSA classic,It seems very very bright compared to the orginal but its in now and thats where its staying.It will take a bit of getting used to.
The orginal pickup wasn't that bad but I had heard a lot of good about the E66 pickups so I got one in Dallas this year.
Reece Anderson had one on his Msa in dallas.

When are George L, Bill Lawrence etc, going to have the guts to make single coil pickups. Even though they hum, they deliver a far better signal to an amp than any humbucker can, you guys that think humbuckers are best are deluding yourselves. Listen to the tone on old recordings, THAT is the single coil sound. Humbuckers will always deliver a muddy signal that no amount of expensive toys can clean up.

Could be the old guitars, old amps and old studio equipment also?
Dennis

The E-66 on my guitar comes through clean and clear, throughout the whole tonal range of the instrument.

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GFI S-12 extended E9

With my E-66, for some reason, my first string sounds like a sitar, the second string is too loud, and my 3rd string is too piercing. I've tried adjusting the pickup, and used many varieties of strings. Then I changed gauges on the first 3 strings, which helped a lot. By the way, using the gauges .14, .14, .12 on the first 3 strings is a neat way to go. Everything sounds very even, and it even solved my pickup problem. But I am gonna spring for an XR-16 this week. I play a Thomas.
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Rich Weiss on 25 August 2002 at 08:17 AM.]</p></FONT>

Richard, you need to qualify that statement by saying that singles deliver a far superior signal for CLEAN SOUNDS. I agree that PSGs, strats, and teles sound better clean than a Les Paul clean. But if ya need to dirty/fatten it up, nothing beats a PAF. The only PSG I have ever played and owned, has a single, and I have no problems w/ hum/hiss, but being a knucklehead tone freak, I have to really hold back my urge to pop a humbucker in there.

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Mattman in "The Big Sleazy"-:
S-10 Dekley, Suitcase Fender Rhodes, B-bender Les Paul

I have had the E-66's in a lot of guitars including a D-10 JCH which sounded more like a push pull Emmons than the real thing. Also a D-10 Zum, D-10 Fessenden and a 66 Emmons D-10 Bolt On. They were the best choice for the sound that I try to get although the Fessenden would get kind of funky about the 15th position at a very high volume. It wasn't until about a year ago that I found out that there are actually two styles of E-66's being made and the difference is in the blade material. One has blades made of one material and the other uses something else and one them seems to clean up the sound a bit more. (Removes some of the funky tank/mid tones) That's what I heard from Dick Miller that builds the Bethel Guitars. You might check with George or Mona Lewis at George L's about the difference. WC Edgar/ www.toteseat.com <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Edgar Pro Case on 25 August 2002 at 09:22 AM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Edgar Pro Case on 25 August 2002 at 09:25 AM.]</p></FONT>

Yes Matt,
You are quite correct in saying humbuckers are better for an overdriven sound, but in my opinion the majority of steel players like a pure, clean tone. I have always played regular lead guitar with a clean tone also, I dislike distortion.

I agree theres nothing like a single coil.
I'm just trying to keep quiet in the studios.
Although no complaints from the engineers when I was using the sc, it's just a mind thing I guess(what mind?)But so far the 66
sounds good with the equipment I'm presently
using. Evans pre-amp,Lex. MPX 100 & ADA cab simulater. All the studios I play at I go direct.Amps are not back in every studio yet!
Tony

I'm in the process of replacing the neck on my white mica MSA (Fortunatly Tom Bradshaw had an extra one lying around) and Tony at Sierra has graciously consented to sell me one of his housings for his interchangable pickups. I plan to buy several different ones and use them to achieve different tones for on my recordings.

The first pickup I plan to buy is an E-66. I also intend to get a PF, and a 712.

Bump

I've owned several Steels over the last few
years and I have had really good luck with
the E-66. I play S-12's as well as D-10
Steels & here are a couole of things I've learned: Two steels of the same brand,same
#of strings & pedals etc., can sound different even with identical E-66 pickups.
No one could accuse Manufacturers like Bruce
Zumsteg or Jerry Fessenden of being sloppy
or inconsistent and yet neither of them
could truthfully say that every guitar they
build sounds exactly the same. A friend of
mine, who is an excellent craftsman, once
said " Wood is an imprecise medium ". That's only one of the factors involved. Dekley
addressed the "wood" problem years ago and
pioneered the use of "Pakawood" (not sure of spelling) but even this did not completely eliminate the variables that control the sound of a steel. My hat is off to George L. for making a really good, consistent pickup that works well with a wide variety of Steels!