New Humbucking Pickups From Steeltronics

[Scott Swartz]

I have introduced two new humbucker models.

First, the PH10 is a pole humbucker design developed working closely with a major steel manufacturer.

Second, the BH10 is a blade humbucker designed to fit into pickup pockets as narrow as 1 inch. Examples would include the early 70s MSA, the ShoBud Maverick, and others.

All the product pages are up at www.steeltronics.com , and you can hear these in a pickup comparison video I just released at

https://youtu.be/hyUgu0Bjpoc

I get lots of questions about the sound of my pickups relative to one another, so I thought I would make a video where everything is held constant except for the pickup - the parts played, the signal chain, the string clearance, etc. All details are explained in the video, steel is a Williams 700 Series D10.

The results can used to at least compare between the models and somewhat to extrapolate to other steels and signal chains.

I also added a comparison track of my tone touchstone 1969 ZB D10 for fun at the end of the video.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Really great and thorough demonstration of the various units.

Absolutely great to have you building this variety of pickups for the steel community.

[John Poston]

Love my CE10s. Scott is a great guy to deal with. Nice work on the video!

[Stu Schulman]

Scott,Nice playing my friend!

[Patrick Timmins]

Nice video Scott!

Will need to order another pickup soon.

[john widgren]

I have been very satisfied with my CE pickup and Scott's customer service. Thanks Scott!

John Widgren

[Stan Joyce]

which model works for the mullen g2? thanks.

[Ron Funk]

Hi Scott

Very very well done

Glad to have you as a contributing member of the Steel Guitar Community.

I wish you nothing but The Best with All of your endeavors

Thanks for the video

Ron

[Bruce Bouton]

I thought the PH 10 sounded really good as a humbucker. Would it be similar to Lawrence 705 or is it a stand alone design ? I thought they all sounded good.

[Scott Swartz]

Stan, I sent you a PM on the G2.

Bruce, the PH10 is a rod magnet design rather the blade style of the 705 or the George L models.

Blade and rod magnets each have there own impact on tone, but the field strength and geometry, and coil wind also are important, everything has be coordinated.

I am using a different grade of alnico rod magnet on the PH10, not the typical Alnico 5, to promote smooth highs and the coils are wound to keep the lows tight and punchy.

Those are the two areas where single coils excel, the fast bright low strings while simultaneously having nice smooth highs, but using the ideas above I tried to get as close as possible on the PH10.

[Bruce Bouton]

Sounds really interesting Scott. I wil reach out soon.

[Daniel Morris]

Well, it took a while, but my (custom) Steeltronics (humbucker) pickup is now seated comfortably in my Kline U12.
Scott was great to work with; a tip of the hat to the man who bought my Mica Kline (Stephen Karney) and mapped out the cavity for Scott, that was very helpful.
I had Rick Troyer at Hummingbird Music install the pickup today, and he was very pleasantly surprised at the thought that went into designing my pickup (Kline guitars, as I understand it, can be difficult to outfit with a new pickup, but the Steeltronics went in perfectly.)
I feel my Kline sounds clearer than it did with a George L pickup siliconed in place.
Thanks to Scott - my new pickup isn't even a stock model (yet?), but I would highly recommend Steeltronics if you're considering a new pickup.

[Olli Haavisto]

Playing an overdub session right now with a Z12 in my MSA Legend.
Loving it! A perfect 70´s California tone with loads of clarity without harsh mids.
I’m sure the new humbuckers are great,too!
Thanks Scott

[Bruce Bouton]

I'm currently using one of Scott's humbuckers in my LeGrande.Only playing it live ,through an old Standel , buts it's sounding really good. Can't wait to try in the studio.

[Boo Bernstein]

Hey Bruce —

Are you using the PH10?

Hope all is well with you!

Boo

[Damir Besic]

top of the line pickups …

[Jim Fogarty]

I just got an 8 string non-pedal from Georgeboards, and because of my great experiences so far with Scott and his pickups, had him install a Steeltronics S-8, a string-thru humbucker. It's really sweet.

Here it is....first time trying "Remington Ride" ......

(Excuse the occasional intonation wigglies. Still getting used to the long scale and just learning the tune.)


https://youtu.be/sYDlelktWcw

[Jeff Dale]

Hi All -

Happy 2023!

Scott recently made a custom humbucker for my Kline 12 string that I love. The original Kline pickup had gotten a bit microphonic and seem to have lost some of the "zing" I thought it should have. I was a bit hesitant to switch over to a humbucker thinking I might lose something along the way, but the PU sounded great and even matched the tone of my other Kline - which has an amazing original pickup - without any of the single coil noise issues.

Additionally, Scott's service was amazing. When I first received the pickup, I played some gigs and there was some static/shorting that was coming through the pickup. In the process of me trying to remedy the issue I made it worse. Scott rebuild the pickup and even made some additional mods to the original design to assure the pickup would be great - as warranty service!

I highly recommend Steeltronics pickups and Scott's great service! I am confident that he can make the exact pickup you are looking for - and it will probably exceed your expectations.