The Steel Guitar Forum

I have a 8 string lap steel and the strings that are on there now are the strings when i bought the guitar . They seem to be of a lighter gauge than my other steel guitar. My problem is that when I am playing and i hit the ist string it doesnt sound as loud comeing from my amp. I raised the screw from my pickup and it doesnt seem to change anything. Do i need a heavier gauge set of strings?

Try a .015 gauge and that should take care of the problem. And a whole new set of strings wouldn't be a bad idea either.
Erv

Is the string directly over the pole piece?

What brand of steel is it? Some Valco guitars can do strange things when the pickup magnets get switched around...

thanks guys for your input. and it is an old "national " lap steel serial number was from 1949.