The Steel Guitar Forum

Hey Weissenborn players. I've got a Weissenborn-style guitar on its way from Victoria luthier Neil Russell. I like the sound of straight magnetic (Fishman or Sunrise) pickups. But I'm wondering what would be good to reinforce the sound. What do you use/suggest? I've heard a lot of people like the Pick Up The World. What gives the most honest repro? Thanks.

-Tim

I am planning on a double pickup setup. A sunrise to pick up the sound from the strings and a Baggs I-beam inside the guitar under the bridge to pick up the sound from the guitar. Then blending the two pickups using a Rane AP-13 preamp.
Erv

I've tried both a Sunrise and a Seymour Duncan MagMic on my 'Superior' weissenborn and they're both too magnetic sounding on their own for my taste.
Neil is finishing a weissenborn for me these days and has installed a Pickup-The-World in it. I believe the PUTW is one of the most natural souding pickups available, but from what I hear from other players it won't cut through properly if you play in a 'loud' band setting with el.bass and drums.
I'm still set on trying out the PUTW on it's own before I decide whether I should blend it with a magnetic or not. I sincerely hope I won't have too, the natural acoustic sound of these instruments is too beautiful to be diminished by magnetic pickups IMHO.

I owned a Fishman Rare Earth single coil but sold it as it was way too noisy for my taste. I understand Ed Gerhard uses the humbucking version of the Rare Earth on the road and likes the result he gets.

Hi (hey, Andy!)
I do like the Rare Earth humbucker a lot and have been using it on my touring guitar. If you're looking for a bit more of the acoustic sound, try a Rare Earth Blend. It's got a condenser mini-mic attached and you can dial in varying amounts of pickup/mic. Very nice.
Good luck.
Cheers,
Ed