The Steel Guitar Forum

Has anyone tried an Alumitone pickup on a Sierra 8 lap steel?

I'm curious as to how one would sound.

Thanks,

Bob

I have one on a 6 string lap steel with an aluminum body. I wouldn't see why it wouldn't sound good. That Sierra is pretty heavy if I remember from carrying in a friend's 8 string.....the alumitone will save you a couple ounces.....they weigh next to nothing.

I have one with a split switch on my georgeboards s8, sounds awesome.

I find the one on my MSA SuperSlide painfully bright. Thought the same about that pickup on a Carter S-10, but YMMV.

It matters which Alumitone pickup. Thy make a wide range o Alumitone pickups with different voicing. I've used their 6-string "P-90" and "humbucking" models - both sounded excellent.

You may be able to use their 6-string models on an 8 stringlike I did. It's not just the frame and magnets that have to be under the strings - the small chrome plate that extends from one side (with the coil attached to the inside section of it is actually part of the unique magnetic field. If it is mostly under a string it'll work.

The entire assembly picks up string vibration with very even response from each string - even far away from that plate.

For an 8 string steel you want to go with a 3.5" TONE BAR

Jim is in the right track, the Aluminum frame is the Pickup so it gets all the way across.

Modern ones have a splittable feature for 2 sounds, so a switch is good.

These are 30 % more powerful than typical single coils , for a pure steel guitar tone I recommend lowering them to say , .170 below the strings , opposed to .125 below the strings. This will equal most other outputs.

The response is flat as a pancake and super full range. Very Desirable sound in general.

Plus +++ Amazingly Quiet.

I've only installed a hundred or more on my 8 string steel guitar consoles, everyone seems to like them.

Hope this adds to the discussion.

GeorgeBoards

The string spacing on the Sierra "lap" steel is wide - it's a full 3" from the 1st string to the 8th. Mine has the stock George L's pickup in it and it sounds great. I wouldn't mess with it.

I ripped the Alumitones out of my Carter D-10. They just didn't sound good in that guitar.

Thanks for you comments everyone.
b0b, I am quite happy with the George L sound. Just thought I'd inquire.

I'm still trying to decide what to put in my lap steel, the SX 8 string model...has an 8 string P90 which is OK, but I would love a humbucking model...anyone know which model would be best for that one?

I think the rout is 4 1/8" x 1 3/16" which is half the problem...which one would actually fit, if any?

Hey Nic,

I apologize in advance for this long-winded post, just trying to help.

I have the same SX lap. I play at home and the only way I could eliminate annoying hum with the original sc was to hold the lap steel vertically like a regular guitar. Kinda hard playing that way. In July 2017, I did the same search you're doing ... for a better pup with the least routing required.

I got a TruTone from Jerry Wallace based on the excellent reviews. I shielded the pup cavity with copper grounding tape from stewmac and bonded the tape, bridge, pots and jack. Results = (drum roll, please) The TT has excellent tone but, sadly, no change in hum. Also, the pole pieces don't exactly align with all of the SX strings due to the wide string spacing, but they don't vary enough to effect the sound.

Because turning the guitar's volume knob down and unplugging from the amp both remove the hum, I concluded that my hum is not caused by a ground loop, appliances, fluorescent lights, dimmer switches, monitors or TVs, etc. It's EMI from outside. So, it's no reflection on the quality of either pups I have used so far, or of the instrument.

Determined to defeat the hum monster, single coils are no longer an option. I searched again last week and ordered this:

http://sillmusicsupply.com/Brand-New-La ... _p_51.html

BL-705 narrow mount chosen because of the reviews on tone and the fact that it has rails and not pole pieces so no worries on string placement. This pup is designed for 10-string pedal steel (I just ordered my 1st one, an Encore) so it is longer than the SX pup cavity. Cavity is 4-1/8" and the pup is 4-1/2 so I'll be routing 3/16 on each end. It will be delivered tomorrow and I have high hopes, even though I have now spent more $ on pups than on the guitar.

So, I might have a gently-used TT for sale if u think it may help your situation.

Side note: I have received outstanding e-mail communications from Sill Music. Props to Mr Sill and to bOb and forum members because most of my research and educated purchases would not be possible without this forum, just sayin...

What is an SX?

Not a Sierra, right? The Sierra lap steel comes stock with a George L's humbucker, at least mine did.

b0b wrote:What is an SX?

Nothing that would ever cross your lap b0b - it's a ballpark $160 Chinese job.

It's an SX brand, sir,(unrelated to Sierra) Plain Jane, sub-$200, 8-stringer with pretty good reviews. Not flashy but functional.

https://www.amazon.com/SX-NA-Electric-S ... B006Q7X7AQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Gi4sspu3iY

Yup, cheap Chinese but a good beginner.

Here's another apology

I apologize to Bob Stone for high jacking his thread. I responded to Nic Neufeld based on this previous thread https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... t=#2730111 which, by the time I read it, was kinda dated for me to post. I saw his new post here and responded without reading the thread, duh.

lesson learnt

sorry, again

I'm late to the party. I'm dealing with the same issue, but with a Gold Tone LS-8. The 3.75"x 1" opening in the metal control plate/pickup mount is giving me limited options.

Nic suggested (in my recent thread on this issue) the Alumitone pickups. I think a Aluma J-Bass Pickup will fit just right and may be what I will try. I figure for $120, it will be well worth it if it sounds good, and kills the 60-cycle hum. If not, I'll put it in my J-Bass.

I have a 4" all black almitone tonebar in a maple body 10 string I got from Sonny Jenkins (great guitar). The tonebar has the neutral, studio monitor quality that others have alluded to, the clear separation of notes in a chord. if you're looking for "chime", "quack" and other tones that people say good Strat pickups or Gibson HB's have, it doesn't have that. It does have some volume dropoff w/ .011 and .012 and thinner strings, also, but not bad.

Also it looks like there's nothing there, somebody screwed a pickup cover on and that's it.

I have a theory about asking a group of musicians about tone/frequency response, they'll have varying degrees of high frequency hearing loss, and respond accordingly: "dark", "bright", "mid body attack", "laid back" "cuts thru mix" etc.

My RAM Speakeasy 8-string had an Alumitone. As George says, the pickup needs to be farther away from the strings than a conventional pickup. Mine sounded really good. I could never come to grips with the extra string, so regrettably, I sold it. Perhaps Kevin from Farmington will comment.

I was thinking about seeing if I could change pickups on my Sierra too, but without hacking up the aluminum plate.