The Steel Guitar Forum

In this ad for an old Volutone amp and steel, to what is the seller referring when he says (re two outlets) "you plug it into the right for a couple of seconds to charge the steel, and then into the left for ACTION".

http://www.capsulemusic.com/retail/detail.php?id=1073

Geo

I don't know all the details, but from what I've read, the lap steel required AC power to work. Power was transmitted from the amp to the lap steel to activate the pickup in the guitar. So the player had an AC powered instrument sitting on his lap, and in his hands! Not the safest situation.

Be very careful of original Volutone amps. They can be dangerous.

http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum11/HTML/003138.html

Thanks Andy, I'll advise the person who asked me.

At my age, 77, I've lived through all the years of hot chassis components. One time, a friend of mine was playing his metal Rickenbacker on stage, and a lady vocalist was singing some love song. I guess to give some mood to it, as she was singing holding the mic, she put her hand on the back of my friends neck!!!!!!!!!!! But they both lived, more than slightly shaken.

Maybe that's why nobody is responding to my nice Jordan J110 amp I have for sale on my local Kijiji. It has a switch on the back to reverse the polarity!!!!! Back in those good ole days, we used to be reversing the AC plugs around to get the least hum!!!!!!!

Geo

Imagine what could happen if a Volutone player had sweaty hands! It's shocking!

Actually, I think there was no current in the Volutone pickup while playing. The pickup needed to
be "charged" which involved a few seconds of power to magnetize the pickup and possibly the strings.
On some Volutones it was a pushbutton and on others,
like this one it was a separate plug.
If I'm in error, please let me know.
I have schematics for a couple of Volutone amps which did not include the charging circuit.

Thanks for that info, Blake. I wonder how long the pickup would hold a charge?

Doug Beaumier wrote:Thanks for that info, Blake. I wonder how long the pickup would hold a charge?

HELLO FROM SOUTH AUSTRALIA-MY VOLUTONE HOLDS ITS CHARGE UNTIL I CHANGE STRINGS AND THEN I RUN A MAGNET UP AND DOWN THEM!!