The Steel Guitar Forum

Just wanted to give Ron at Ram Guitars props for delving into and solving my hum problem on the new D-8 he built for me.When it arrived I loved the stunning good looks but when I plugged it in, the CC pickups had an annoying hum, especially when plugged into a board for recording or miking for live venues. Ron had me send it back to him in Chicago and he did extensive research to come up with a fix. He installed a dummy coil in the body to in effect create a humbucking effect...I think (Ron maybe you can chime in)? Anyway it works great. Ron is a great person to work with. He goes well beyond the extra mile for his customers. Thank you Ron, I love it.

What a fine looking guitar! what tunings have you settled on?

What a fine looking guitar! what tunings have you settled on?

Thanks Mark,

I am currently using C6 and A6. Ron builds some nice guitars. He does a very good traditional sunburst but I opted for the Blue Hawaiian look.

Being around a beautiful guitar, I know one when I see it. Yours is stunning, Gary! Congratulations.

Jon,
Wow! There's nothing like the real thing. That's one sweet steel.

Indeedy. But to the point, Ron is channeling some serious hoodoo and you've got yourself a fine axe that pays tribute.

Jon Light wrote:Indeedy. But to the point, Ron is channeling some serious hoodoo and you've got yourself a fine axe that pays tribute.

+1......sweet steel.

It's a wonderful time in the lap steel community for those who want a new steel. Extremely talented luthiers/metal-workers and pick-up winders.

All single coil pickups are susceptible to 60 cycle interference. This interference may come from various sources but mainly from the wiring in the walls of all buildings. There is more information on this on the internet and I wont go into too much detail here. The CC style pickups that I use( maybe all CC pickups) are affected by interference because of the larger size of the coil, bar pole piece and size of magnets. Gary really wanted to use this lapsteel in the studio but there was just too much hum to deal with. Pickup “Hum” can be attacked from a few different angles. As a luthier I can work on the components and structure of the guitar to reduce 60 cycle interference. All of the other ways to reduce hum must be addressed by the player from cable to amp to positioning and sources of interference in the room where the guitar is being played. I start with quality components, shielded wiring and shielded control cavity but these things cannot prevent interference at the pickup because it is not shielded on the top and sides. Adding a second pickup to the guitar would reduce hum in the same way a humbucker pickup cancels out interference but only when both pickups are on. This would require modifying the guitar with routing and can get expensive. The option I went with was a coil of wire without magnets that is wired into the pickup circuit. A “dummy coil”. This has the same effect that a humbucker pickup has. Reduced “hum”, slightly less output, and slightly less treble (depending on the resistance of the coil).
This is something that I have experimented with recently and will offer on my lap steels since it worked well.
Glad it worked out for Gary and I hope to hear the guitar on one of your songs soon.
Thanks for all the positive comments.

Yes, that is a stunning guitar!

Love the gibson tobacco sunburst. Wow such beautiful instruments.