| Author |
Topic: PSG Pickups |
Daniel Morris
From:
Westlake, Ohio, USA
|
Posted 13 Aug 2021 7:00 am |
|
On occasion, the subject of pedal steel pickups vs. guitar pickups will arise. I'm none too savvy, but my understanding is that the ones on steels run much hotter.
Generally speaking, is there a range that PSG pickups fall into, or does it vary widely?
Seems I heard 13K - 17K somewhere, but for those of you who know, could you direct me to some answers?
Thanks.
_________________
1979 MSA U12 Pedal Steel
1982 Kline U12 Pedal steel
2019 Sierra U12 Pedal Steel
2011 Bear Creek MK Weissenborn
Milkman 40W Mini amp w/Telonics 15" speaker.
Dr. Z Surgical Steel w/TT 15" speaker.
Frenzel MB-50 head.
Spaceman, Empress, Eventide, Pigtronix. |
|
|
|
Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
|
Posted 13 Aug 2021 8:37 am
|
|
The typical modern pedal steel pickup is wound much hotter than the typical guitar pickup. Typical old-school guitar pickups are in the 5-7K Ohm (Strat/Tele) to 7-9K Ohm (Gibson P90 or humbucking). Some modern hot-wound guitar pickups run from 10K on up, but most of those are for super-distortion use.
Pedal steel pickups didn't use to run particularly hot - old Fender pickups in the 8-10K range, early Sho Bud and Emmons pickups ran in the 8-14K range. I think most modern pickups run in the roughly 17K well up into the 20s.
There is a caveat however. Winding resistance is just one of several parameters in pickup design. Magnetic strength, wire gauge & insulation type/thickness, winding method, width of magnetic sensing window, and other design factors can influence the sound significantly. For example, Bill Lawrence pickups cannot be compared to conventional designs based solely on winding resistance because he did other things to significantly vary the complex impedance of the pickup, which is determined by resistance, capacitance, and inductance. Even though a lot of his pickups have DC resistance over 20K, he termed them "medium impedance", which I believe is accurate.
Lots of threads over the years on this - the first has a bunch of references to other threads on this:
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=210462
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=148663
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=129179
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=132143
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=133310
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=155158
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=151156
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=146700
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=129179
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=155483
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=135450
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=230920
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=148663
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=272491
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=305197 |
|
|
|
Daniel Morris
From:
Westlake, Ohio, USA
|
Posted 13 Aug 2021 10:38 am
|
|
Wow, thanks very much, Dave.
(I think this is the first time I've posted in two sections at the same time; the other one got closed down.)
The pickups I have are a George L (don't know the model), Tonealigner (Bob Hoffnar) and Telonics X12.
All are 12 string models.
I figured there might be more to my question than just a simple yes or no....great to have such knowledgeable people on the Forum.
_________________
1979 MSA U12 Pedal Steel
1982 Kline U12 Pedal steel
2019 Sierra U12 Pedal Steel
2011 Bear Creek MK Weissenborn
Milkman 40W Mini amp w/Telonics 15" speaker.
Dr. Z Surgical Steel w/TT 15" speaker.
Frenzel MB-50 head.
Spaceman, Empress, Eventide, Pigtronix. |
|
|
|
Daniel Morris
From:
Westlake, Ohio, USA
|
Posted 13 Aug 2021 11:24 am
|
|
Sent you a PM, Dave.
_________________
1979 MSA U12 Pedal Steel
1982 Kline U12 Pedal steel
2019 Sierra U12 Pedal Steel
2011 Bear Creek MK Weissenborn
Milkman 40W Mini amp w/Telonics 15" speaker.
Dr. Z Surgical Steel w/TT 15" speaker.
Frenzel MB-50 head.
Spaceman, Empress, Eventide, Pigtronix. |
|
|
|
Dustin Rhodes
From:
Owasso OK
|
Posted 13 Aug 2021 11:31 am
|
|
| Resistance isn't a great indicator of output and steel pickups differ greatly from guitar pickups because of the size of the coil. Magnet type, magnet charge, gauge of wire, etc. all make a difference in output as well |
|
|
|
