The Steel Guitar Forum

I recently changed the E9 pickup on my ShoBud Pro 3 for a George L E66. Three things became noticeable. Firstly it was quieter ( humbucking design), secondly it was fuller on the bottom end and thirdly it had a much higher output. The latter because it was around 4k higher than the ShoBud. I pick very hard (never been a tickler) and have found that I now get a slight distortion when I play chords. What is the optimum space between strings & pickup. I use a Nashville 400.

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Ken--I was going to tell you that the correct heigth was around the thickness of a quarter but I didn't want you saying 'a bloody lot of good that does me here'. Here's the pertinent info, taken from Carter's <B>The Steel Guitar
Information Resource</B> site on this page: http://www.steelguitarinfo.com/other/pickups/pickups.html

"When you are adjusting your George L's pickups, the STARTING POINT is at least the thickness of a US quarter {$.025}or .09 inch {2 mm}. This is the MINIMUM distance which should be used."

Key words are STARTING POINT. I would think that the minimum distance, as stated, would be appropriate for fat tone, light touch, so I'd expect you to need to increase the distance from your strings.

BTW--I tend to be a heavy picker too, especially in the heat of battle, but there are a lot of lush sounds that you can't from your guitar that way. I am frequently reminded of the world of tone that is available by turning up the amp and usng a light touch and I try to use this in an ever-expanding palette of colors.
End of sermon.
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jon Light on 10 November 2002 at 05:28 AM.]</p></FONT>

The output level of a pickup is not directly proportional to its DC resistance unless all other construction parameters are the same. I suspect that the higher output has more to do with the humbucking design, the way it is wound, the type of wire and the magnet.

The 4K difference is not the reason that your pickup is hotter.

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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), Roland Handsonic

What kind of volume pedal, and amp settings are you using? I find it hard to believe that any normal pickup would overload the input of a 400.