Pick ups

[Stephen Goode]

I have what might seem to be a dumb question but I have always wondered why steel guitars only have one pick-up when all other guitars have 2 or 3 pick-ups. What am I missing here?

[Donny Hinson]

Pedal steel players (most of them, anyway), seem perfectly content with only one sound or tone. Maybe it's because they very seldom play rhythm, or maybe it's because multiple pickups would interfere with their picking. At any rate, it seems we're sort of stuck this rut that dictates what most players and audiences think a pedal steel should sound like.

[David Higginbotham]

There have been examples of dual pickups, primarily Mullen, but Desert Rose and Excel have done this with a couple of 14 strings.

[Bob Carlucci]

For many years as a much younger man, I played an MSA with a GeorgeL 10-5 near the changer including 5 way switch, the stock MSA single coil near the fretboard with polarity reversing DPDT switch,and a Sho Bud single coil with coil tap and switch between them... had on off switches for all 3 pickups, so any combination was available.. I got a bewildering variety of tones out of that guitar, but my most used was a strat "in between" sound that I loved,,, Other steel players took notice of the sound.. It sounded quite different than what most other guys local guys were doing... Alas, it was a mica body with very poor sustain, so eventually I moved on after probably 17-18 years, as I started playing a Pro III I had a lot more because it sustained a LOT better, but I made a lot of good music with that guitar, and people that heard it liked it, including other steel men.... bob

[Ken Metcalf]

Another solution.

[Donny Hinson]

Yeah, well...I've got all these, but it still won't quite get the sounds you can get with multiple pickups!

[Stephen Goode]

Thanks guys for the input. I have a fairly new Mullen Discovery and I thought a second pick-up might enhance the sound a little better although if I did it would have to go fairly close to the 26th. fret which is about where I pick the strings, so I don't know how that would work out. Maybe I should just try a different amp. Thanks again.

[Jack Hanson]

If two are good, it would figure that three must be better. Check out the Johnny Fields D-12 push-pull:

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... sc&start=0

I remember watching John (who was a big guy, and legally blind) chasing the bus down East Lake Street in South Mpls (the neighborhood that burned during the 2019 riot) lugging that thing, after the weekly Saturday morning jam at Suneson's Music Center.

[Donny Hinson]

The sound with multiple pickups is neither better nor worse. It just gives a fuller sound and more bass, but that's due to the change in harmonic structure. The overtone balance is different at different positions on the strings, and while sophisticated tonal networks can come pretty close, it's hard to duplicate the effect exactly, even with a graphic equalizer. (A tone control on the guitar does nothing but reduce the highs.) Pedal steelers seem obsessed nowadays with "cutting through the mix", and multiple pickups won't help in that department. I've always favored a sliding pickup, one with a couple inches of travel, but it's a hard sell to players, builders, and others who generally are stuck with only one sound or tone in their heads.

[Karl Paulsen]

As a lifetime bass player I completely understood both why folks would want two pickups and why someone would also be content with one. Jazz vs Precision comes to mind. As someone who often likes a warm tone, there is much that is appealing about having a second pickup option located further from the bridge.

As a less invasive option, I have thought a few times about digging into my encore to see if the humbucker has 4 wires and whether might be worth putting in a Series/Parallel/Split switch. I've put a Series/parallel push/pull switch in almost every Jazz bass I've ever owned and it's always a cheap and useful addition.

At this point, the tone on the Encore is so good though that I have no serious plans for modification, but the thought keeps poking at me.

[Jim Pitman]

I think I'd do what Karl suggests if I wanted different tones by way of pickup switching.
I did this on a lap steel I owned whereby I had replaced the original single coil pickup with a four wire humbucker type, ie Dimarzio soap bar 4 wire humbucker.
I played in a trio that made a live recording CD with this guitar and it was amazing the different tonalities I got.
The variants one can achieve with a couple DPDT switches:
single coil rear/single coil front/both coils in series in phase/both coils in series out of phase/both coils in parallel in phase/ both coils in parallel out of phase.
The advantage here is no mods are necessary to your PSG. Just get a 4 wire dual coil pickup (humbucker) and install it and wire it to a plate under the guitar if you prefer not to drill out an endplate for switches.
In fact I've been contemplating doing this with my PSG. I wonder if people's ears get tired of hearing my same PSG tone during a three set trio gig for example.
Now to find a 12 string 4 wire dual coil pickup - probably something I'd have to make, unless Dave Beatty of Telonics would entertain makin one based off his pro series pickup.

[Norbert Dengler]

i`ve sen Paul Franklin use a double pickup guitar once.
for my humble tries one is enough

[Paul Norman]

The pickup in steel guitars are in the 18,000 to 20,000 ohm resistance range. Regular guitars 8,000 or 9ooo.
This should make a lot of difference in adjustments to tone.