The Steel Guitar Forum

At first glance, it looks like a L710 but only has one row of magnets.

Looks like a BL 910 ... a little darker sounding than the 710

I've been, pretty much, a single coil guy for a long time. I had a L710 on the first steel guitar I owned(Emmons LL2) and I was very friendly with it. But I think now that the L910 is my new favorite pickup. Of course, I use a Hilton volume pedal and a Sarno Blackbox.

I have an L910 that I used briefly on a Carter. In my practice room I loved the sound of it, very sweet and musical with sort of a compressed aspect. Onstage however, it was just too dark to cut through and be heard well against the other instruments.

The BL910 is what John Hughey recommended to me to use on a Zum I once owned. Sounded really good on there. Good sounding pickup.

Brett Cooper wrote: "Of course, I use a Hilton volume pedal and a Sarno Blackbox."

I don't mean to hijack the thread or sound like a wisenheimer, but what is the advantage/purpose of using both a Black Box and a Hilton pedal?

Isn't the Black Box a buffer?
Isn't the Hilton pedal buffered?

There wouldn't be anything wrong with doing it, but is there something that is added by the Black Box?

Thanks in advance.

@ AJM

Tremendous advantage! The Blackbox has a tube and "Vari-Z" that gives a broad range of control over the way the pickup loads and affects the tone. I used my Blackbox for time with my pot pedal until I got fed up with pots and strings. When I got a Hilton, I drew from the wealth of information on this forum and discovered on my own how beneficial the Blackbox would be to the Hilton.

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