The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi team, looking for some guidance in replacing the pickups on my old lap steel please? It’s only a cheap one so the pickup / volume & tone setup is average.
I like good tone with a bit of grunt, any ideas on a good sounding alternative would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Bucko

What kind of steel is this? Do you have a pic?

Pickups come in many shapes and sizes. Without knowing what kind of steel this is, we can't suggest something that will drop right in without additional surgery.

Thanks Noah, makes sense, its got a humbucker in it at the moment, but its no better than the original one?
Cheers,

Bucko

Hi Paul...first thought is, that isn't likely a very old lap steel...it's been modified for sure, but SX is a more recent Chinese import brand (I've got one and like it...although I did replace the pickup).

It actually looks a lot like this one...given the (maybe? maybe not) nonstandard finish and control plate:
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... 27bb3b3a13

The pickup you've got in there now looks like a hot rails humbucker for Strat. I imagine the original it shipped with was more likely a standard 6 polepiece strat style single coil.

One of the problems with giving a pickup recommendation is that it sounds like you are unhappy with both the original (single coil strat style, guessing) and a rail type humbucker (which should have rectified both 60 cycle hum issues as well as any string balance/alignment issues...both of which are why I replaced the pickup in my SX 8 string, to good effect, with a Lace Alumitone). Since those pickups cover a pretty broad base, it might help if you could put into words what exactly you dislike about each. I could give general recommendations on what I like...but I'd hate for you to spend the money on a new pickup and like it no more than the first two you tried.

Thanks Nic, the standard Sx pickups tone control goes from too sharp to too dull with the smallest of adjustment played via an AER 60 which I also use for the GFI, Expo PSG and is fine. I guess what I'm trying to get is a more mellow tone with the ability to adjust it in and out.

Paul Buckingham wrote:Thanks Nic, the standard Sx pickups tone control goes from too sharp to too dull with the smallest of adjustment played via an AER 60 which I also use for the GFI, Expo PSG and is fine. I guess what I'm trying to get is a more mellow tone with the ability to adjust it in and out.

That's not the fault of the pickup, but of the tone control. It's a function of the pot value, cap value, and pot taper - especially the last one. If you like the overall sound of the instrument, you're better off swapping out these components. A lower-resistance pot with an audio taper is the first thing I'd try.

Hi all, I didn't like the sound of the original pickup/ tone control setup, that's why I was in the hunt to improve it. thanks for the technical tips but they are a bit beyond my limit