The Steel Guitar Forum

Any idea which pickup this is?

If it’s rather new, may be a Telonics 84. If older, Shields Crap Trap.

I think it's maybe 10 years old or so.

Looks like a Tonealigner to me, but certainly no expert here.

Good news: I agree, it looks like a Tonealighner. A great sounding pickup with a warm, modern tone. Think Greg Liesz on his Williams 12... here's "Shenandoah":
https://youtu.be/OMSVYi4FD5o?t=1728

It looks like a "Tone Alligner"to me also...Bob Hofnar will know?

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!
Judging by the seam across the top, I would also lean toward the Tonealigner.
Otherwise it would look similar to the Telonics 84.

It is one of mine. Funny how it looks just like a telonics

Definitely Tone Aligner, a great pickup.
Jerry

That’s interesting, I have had this pickup for some time , is it or isn’t it? It measures 21.7kohns

Certainly looks like a Tonealigner. The measurement may not identify it; Bob Hoffnar would wind them to whatever the customer wanted. I'll let him chime in.

Thanks Tucker , it’s just that 21.7 is an unusual impedance. I have a E66 on my GFI at present and thought about putting this on to hear the difference.

It's not a Telonics -- they don't have that split/join down the middle ...so probably a tonealigner !

Alan,
I made that pickup. I would often have a conversation with people about what they wanted there pickup to do and wind them accordingly. Every steel has its own resonant peak and you either need to work with it or around it. There are some tricks I learned after a while about adjusting the inductance that sometimes helped.

I made them by hand in my apt in Brooklyn and I'm not much of a craftsman so they came out a little sloppy looking. It was a great learning experience for me and I really enjoyed making them. I had some problems with the corner rivets (I hope I replaced or refunded everybody that got a crappy pickup from me) and then never really got up and running again after my move to Texas. I was planning on doing some production changes and then Telonics started making copies. They made a couple changes that were improvements. They had the pole pieces go all the way through the base plate giving them more variability and plus there over all build quality is better. Telonics pickups are more consistent and reliable.
I'm talking with a great full time pickup builder now about picking up the slack with steel guitar pickups. We could use another good standard single coil and I'll maybe bring back the Tonealigner and sell them cheap just to piss off the good people at Telonics

Many thanks Bob for taking the time to respond to my post , I greatly appreciate your comments. I’m fascinated to know how the pickup will sound so I’ll give it a try. As I mentioned before the unusual impedance is still an unknown factor as to what tone it will produce.

Alan,
One thing kinda cool about the 12st pickups is that they can have a nice full midrange due to the increased mass of the magnetic metal parts. If you ever measure the resistance of pickups you have you will find that they vari quite a bit. Plus the resistance changes dramatically depending on the temperature. They are much more primitive than you would assume.

Thanks Bob , this gets more interesting every minute , fascinating facts are emerging.

Bob, please keep us updated on your pickup development. I'm thankful for Telonics, but would would love a less expensive option.

For purposes of identification, it is easy to tell one from the other by the split vs. solid case. Neither is dust resistant.

Alan Cannell wrote: I have a E66 on my GFI at present and thought about putting this on to hear the difference.

The Tonealigner will very likely be a much fatter pickup, with less high-end edge than the E66 (which stands for "Emmons 1966"... the bright end of the spectrum). So, whether you'll like it depends on your tonal preference and the characteristics of the PSG you're going to pair it with.

I've found GFI's to generally have a bright tone. When paired with an E66, it becomes too much of a good thing, IMHO. I would put that Tonealigner in. Also, you can adjust the volume of individual strings by moving the pole pieces up or down. No more weak third string -- just don't overdo that adjustment or it will cross over and stop sounding like the instrument we love. I made that mistake...

Thanks Tucker , I’ll get the soldering iron to work and hopefully like what I hear. Strangely my GFI has never sounded over bright with the E66 when used with the matchbox....watch this space...and stay safe.

Bob made a great pickup, any of you modern players that have played out on tours have found venues in bad locations or with bad house wiring that single coil pickups hum so loud. I had to switch out the pickup in my Emmons PP because of this. Guitar players can adjust their position with the amp but steel players cannot. His Tonealigners sound really great. Not that I'm playing out now...