The Steel Guitar Forum

I just picked up another old National New Yorker (hey, you can never have too many!) from 1940. I'm curious about the tone control; the "chimes" and "harp" settings make sense, as they're bright and mellow, respectively. The "Hawaiian" setting, however, seems to roll off treble on the bass strings while leaving the treble strings alone. I know this should be possible because there's a separate coil for each string, but it's still a surprise. However, the tone pot is a replacement, so I'm not sure what other changes might have been made. If this isn't the original wiring setup, it would have probably required some surgery on the pickup itself to split it into two sections.

My question is: is this a normal setup for a 1940 New Yorker? Were the bass and treble strings affected separately by the tone control?

It's the third guitar from the left:

What a nice collection of New Yorkers - and all 7 stringers too! What years are they?
I have one like the far left (with 4 separate knobs).

I have seen wiring diagrams for several different versions. The one you are asking about - is the tone knob a pot or a switch?
Eric

This one has a pot. I know the earliest ones (with 4 knobs) split the treble and bass sides using separate coils for each, but this version has a single pickup.

Jealous now. What a beautiful set.
The one you have just aquired looks like mine with the pickup over the strings rather than under it. The wiring is a standard one volume and one tone pot. I just think they have used the same control plate as the multiswitch to save money.

here is a link about New Yorker wiring for a single pickup with a pot tone control...

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... 57a44a71c6

The pot has 2 caps, one on each leg, so center is the most treble & a different roll-off left or right.
Does that seem how yours is?

There is a pickup embedded in the neck which is difficult to access.

http://www.lapsteelguitar.com/The%20Haw ... waiian.htm

Victor Becker wrote:There is a pickup embedded in the neck which is difficult to access.

Nope. This is the first version of the New Yorker to feature a single pickup. Earlier versions (the two on the left in the photo) have three pickups underneath the fretboard.

I stand corrected...

BTW - The second guitar from the left in your photo (so pretty) looks almost identical to an "Electric Hawaiian" that I used to have, except mine had one white replacement tuner button and a missing bass string.

Very nice collection Noah! I almost bid on the 1940 one, but ended up buying an earlier 6-string that's similar to the one to the left in your photo. David Siegler posted 3 audio samples of his NY'er, like mine, in a 2007 thread:

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=107540

The "acoustic" tone of David's audio samples is what got me interested in these early NY'ers. If you have the time & inclination, it would be great to hear some audio samples from your guitars for comparison.