The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi Everyone,
I am having a guitar made and I'd like advice on which brand of pickup to use.

Either Bill Lawrence 705 or the George L
pickups.

I will be mainly playing Gospel, Hawaiian, old time Country. I would prefer a "Byrd-Like" sound.


Thanks

Deirdre

If I was looking for a Byrd-like tone I would buy a vintage steel guitar, Rickenbacher, Gibson, Valco, etc.

You won't likely know what tone the body and pickup combo will be until you try it. Is it gonna be a 6-string ?

I assume by "Byrd-like" you refer to the sound of Roger McGuinn on electric Rickenbacker 12-string. For a comparable chime tone, you can't go wrong with a vintage Supro lap steel with string-through pickup.

I can recommend the excellent Supro-style string-through pickups made by Jason Lollar.

Lollar also makes a "Broiler" single-coil pickup for 6-string guitar which accurately recreates that McGuinn chime. No doubt the Broiler can be fitted into a lap steel...

Lev, that's hilarious.

I have pick ups that I really like the sound of. Especially the older single coils. That being said I am always amazed when a master player can make a beautiful tone on anything they play. Ex: When Reece Anderson played my Clinesmith, he made it sound like I had never heard it sound. ..............hmmmmmm. Guess I need to keep practicing

I assume by "Byrd-like" you refer to the sound of Roger McGuinn on electric Rickenbacker 12-string.

When they wind that pickup tell them to "Turn, Turn, Turn" it! Then you'll have the Byrd sound.

Mark, I agree that older single coil pickups with fewer windings have a special tone, a light, airy, vintage tone that is not found in modern pickups and especially not in humbucking pickups. Having said that... I do believe that about 90% of the sound produced is in the Player's hands and head. We've seen that many times. A good player will sound good on any cheapo steel guitar and a poor player will sound poor on the finest steel guitar.

Aaahhh.......YUP !

I swapped the George L for a reissue BL 705 in my S8 Remington and prefer the BL. The BL can set up for switch selectable humbucker or single coil operation, and I recommend this. I used a push pull switch 500 K pot on the volume control for this so a separate panel mounted switch was not needed. This is simple for your luthier.

Doug Beaumier wrote:I agree that older single coil pickups with fewer windings have a special tone, a light, airy, vintage tone that is not found in modern pickups

Agree totally. I have a vintage Recording King (Regal?) with a strange-looking pickup that only measures about 2.1K on my meter. It sounds just unbelievable; for whatever reason, harmonics just fly out of that thing. (Sorry for straying off topic.)

The only experience I have with a modern pickup is a Lace Alumitone, which I would characterize as quite bright and clear-sounding, with well-defined string separation. Hardly a vintage-type tone, and about as far away from the classic Jerry Byrd tone as you could get.

Best possible pickups for your stated preference, Dierdre, may likely be a modern reproduction of a horseshoe-type ala Rickenbacker (good luck finding one), a string-through ala Valco, or a Gibson "racetrack" or P-90 (but not a standard guitar-type P-90 -- there is a difference).

Also would agree with Doug that the best vintage tone would be from a vintage pickup on a vintage guitar. Ric Bakelite or Frypan if you have an unlimited budget, or a postwar Gibson single-coil if you don't. The many different brands once manufactured by Valco in Chicago and Magna/Dickerson in LA can often be found for a very reasonable price.

I settled for a George L. E-66 If Buddy Emmons used it it must be of excellent quality.

Did Buddy Emmons actually use an E-66? The pickup was designed by George L's to simulate the sound of a 1966 Emmons pedal steel guitar. Whether or not it does that it questionable. I had one in a Carter and it was extremely thin sounding. I couldn't get any lows from the pickup.

you will never be able to get a true "byrd" sound. what you hear on a record has also been affected sonically by the recording process. what amp was used? what kind of mic was used, what was the signal path, what was the recorder. what was the mastering etc.

what byrd sounded like in the room might be much different than what you finally hear on the worthless digital approximations of mp3 files that we listen to now.

the george l E66 is a good pickup. it does not sound like byrd, but its a good sound never the less.

Deirdre
If you haven't already put any money down on your lap steel build,you might as well try to find a Rick Panda either here on the forum or elsewhere. There is one for $750 + shipping in For Sale Steel Guitars!

Doug Beaumier wrote:Did Buddy Emmons actually use an E-66? The pickup was designed by George L's to simulate the sound of a 1966 Emmons pedal steel guitar. Whether or not it does that it questionable. I had one in a Carter and it was extremely thin sounding. I couldn't get any lows from the pickup.

The George L's website appears to imply that Buddy Emmons did use this pickup, although probably not on his 1966 recordings. "The E-66 was designed by George L. Lewis for Buddy Emmons to give that 1966 sound that made him famous!"

I agree with Bill. Processed mp3 recordings won't sound the same as playing at home. My old LP's are a closer match but even then, only Jerry Byrd will sound like Jerry Byrd.

Deirdere, developing your sound is an on going process. You are doing exactly what you need to do to evolve as a player. Don't put preassure on yourself to to get it right and have fun with the process