How good are the Alumitone pickups really?

Terry Barnett · From: Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada

Now that the Alumitone pickups have been on the market for a while I wonder how you fellas that have made the investment feel about them... I find that you never really get a handle on how a product is gonna perform until you've done a bunch of gigs and it shows it's true colors. So my question is are they everything you hoped they would be compared to what you had before etc..? Have they lived up to the hype? Cheers

Randy Beavers · From: Lebanon,TN 37090

I'm still very impressed with the Alumitone pickups. If there is anything negative about them, I'd have to say they have a little too much output. They can overdrive the preamp input and effect pedals. You can adjust for this by playing back on the volume pedal some.

Yesterday I changed strings on my SD-10 and decided to put the single coil back in just for reference. I think the lower strings are just a bit clearer with the single coil. Not much though. The bottom end is much clearer with the Alumitone than any other humbucking pickup I've tried. I also believe the top strings are much sweeter sounding with the Alumitone than any other pickup, single coil or humbucking.

Everything is personal preference. Let your ears tell you what you like the best. If you want something that sounds as close to a single coil as you can get without any 60 cycle hum, you won't go wrong with the Alumitones.

As they also say, your mileage may vary.

Carl Kilmer · From: East Central, Illinois

I put a Alumitone pickup on my new Rittenberry,
and what a difference it made. A warmer sound,
and string separation is much better and clear.
The sound now, is very close to my LeGrande III. Very Happy

Carl
_________________
aka "Lucky Kay"--Custom built Rittenberry SD10 3X5, Walker S/S, NV-112, and Hilton Pedal

Ken Metcalf · From: San Antonio Texas USA

I like em,
_________________
MSA 12 String E9th/B6th Universal.
Little Walter PF-89.
Bunch of stomp boxes

Richard Damron · From: Gallatin, Tennessee, USA (deceased)

Randy and Carl's assessment, precisely. Couldn't be happier.

Paul Crawford · From: Orlando, Fl

I still love mine. I put it in my Zum and have a single coil in the C6th neck. I can't tell any significant difference in tone between the two. The pick up is hotter but that may be due to having limited clearance in the installation. I'm now addicted to the clear string seperation and will be upgrading the back neck as soon as finances permit.

FWIW

Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

I like the Alumitone a lot in my old GFI guitar. I used to like the quotidian whitebread sound of the Barcus Berry, but it changed or I changed. Alumitone seems especially nice with Brad Sarno's Tonic pre-amp.

mike nolan · From: Forest Hills, NY USA

I put one in a guitar that is a little bright for my tastes. The Alumitone made the high end exactly right.... for my ears. I have not tried one in a guitar that I am already happy with.... which might tell me more about what the pickup does.

Stan Schober · From: Cahokia, Illinois, USA

I have a set in my 10-string lap and love them !

( If you want a good indicator of how happy most folks are, do a search in the "accesories" section. There are a whopping SIX ads for Alumitones for sale. 2 of those are from the same person, and 1 of them actually only mentions Alumitone in passing... )
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Emmons S-8 P/P,DeArmond 40. Slowly drifting back towards sanity.

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

so...because people are trying to get rid of their alumitones, they're great?

Jim Eaton · From: Santa Susana, Ca

I had Jim Palenscar put one in my Carpsteel that I use for "Fly Gig's" and it made a black/white difference in the output and tone of that guitar.
Knowing that it now sounds good and that I'll have no problems with single coil issues have made it a pleasure to use that guitar when the need arises.
JE:-)>

Albert Svenddal · From: Minneapolis, MN

I was the first one to have the Alumitone pickup in a Williams guitar. When I first got it, I was stunned by the clarity and output of the pickup. It actually made the digital reverb spring effect "ping" which was something all my other pickups had not done. It also has better string separation than any other pickup I have heard and used.

However, I decided recently to put a Wallace tru-tone in my guitar just to see and hear the difference. After using the Wallace tru-tone at the show in Gulfsport and in recording and practicing, I made some observations and have come to the conclusion that each pickup has it own merits.

I kind of liken it to the difference between digital and analog recording. Digital is cleaner and better quality, but sometime can be abrasive and too clean. A little distortion (tubes) can bring some warmth to an otherwise "harsh"and abrasive sound. It's the difference between a good old "tube" amp and a transistor amp.

Summary?

I like the sound better of the Wallace tru-tone but I like the output and clarity and no noise factor of the Alumitone. I wish I had the capability to swap quickly on my guitar like the MSA and Sierra guitars.

Just my 2 cents worth.
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Williams D-12 9x7, Emmons PP D-10, 8X5, Quilter SteeAire amp.

Stan Schober · From: Cahokia, Illinois, USA

Terry Barnett · From: Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada

Interesting... My problem with Lace pickups over the years has been that they really lack depth and are in my opinion very little soul. "Improvements" say for electric guitars such as Stratocasters and Teles with all their noise come at a price. By going to a humbucking format you lose the clarity and high end etc...everything has a cost. I love the single coil sound. I own a Mullen D10 with single coils and it sounds great. I also own a Carter single with a Bill Lawrence humbucker it too sounds great. My question about the Alumitones and I thank you guys for the info, is...are they that unique? I'm not seeing any builders out there commiting to them...might be wrong about that. I like the concept (they are radically different in design) and I'm all for improving balance and tone...I'm not sure an increase in output is necessary. In fact a small percentage increase in output over what you're used to could send you running back to your old pickups. After all, playing a gig is very different than practicing. Maybe they're really onto something. Thanks again for the valuable input boys....cheers

Carl Kilmer · From: East Central, Illinois

Hi Terry, Check out the SteelGuitarCanada web sight by Al Brisco.
You'll see that Carter Pro steels now have the Alumitone pickups.

Carl
_________________
aka "Lucky Kay"--Custom built Rittenberry SD10 3X5, Walker S/S, NV-112, and Hilton Pedal

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

The acid test for tone for me is the clarity of the low strings way high up the neck, and the Alumitone beats the George L E66 by a mile. I've used several Lawrence blade pickups on six-string guitars, and it seems to me that the Alumitone is like a Lawrence, only even more so. (If Lawrence is a step in the direction you like, the Alumitone is two steps). Mr. Green

The Alumitones are not popular among most soulful bluesy guitar players, because they're more conservative that Anita Bryant and they like their ill-defined mush-tone - it's part of their style... Jazzers are coming around to the Alumitone, it's a great humbucker for archtops.

Ken Metcalf · From: San Antonio Texas USA

Comparing the (Blues) six string PUs and the steel PU which is actually a Bass PU is like apples and oranges.
Way different applications.
When I first saw them in Dallas at the Carter booth.
There were a number of Carters all with different PUs and all plugged strait into Nash 112s.
The comparison was very even matched and the Alumitone was clearly a different sounding PU.
It seems to me like it is a much more manageable sound.
True Tones are good sounding but can be touchy until you get used to them, and all single coils are some what inconsistent in that you can get a good one and a not so good one.
All PUs have good and bad points and it is a personal preference.
Rarely do you get to do a real comparison with a bunch of identical guitars.
I almost never play the Carter Alumitone out any more since I got my hands on a Push Pull Emmons.
That is the sound I was looking for all along.
_________________
MSA 12 String E9th/B6th Universal.
Little Walter PF-89.
Bunch of stomp boxes

Franklin · Posted 19 Jun 2010 7:16 am

Chris,

The alumitone pickup has its own nuance on the low strings, which I thought was cool. For my money, the BL 705 covers more bases.

There is a vintage nuanced sound I get through my 67 deluxe reverb that is like no other amp I play through. Its killer on many things because of the way it inherently reproduces certain frequencies. It has warm bright highs without that piercing hard digital sound and clear growling lows...No matter how great that is, because of its gain structure and lack of parimetric control, it does not function well for everything I do.......My Stereo Steel and Mesa Boogie amps work well on everything because of their ability to reshape frequencies from soft to hard. They provide me with many variables that are not found using my deluxe. I'll stick with the BL 705 and 710 for the same reason.

PF

Richard Damron · From: Gallatin, Tennessee, USA (deceased)

Perhaps it's time to restate the obvious regarding this thread: - "Personal Preference" trumps all other considerations when searching for "that tone". Doesn't matter what part of the entire steel guitar setup one considers. It's the end - "personal" - result which ultimately matters.

I posted, above, my preference for the Alumitone over the GFI II. Is this determination the result of an exhaustive, in-depth study of a hand full of pickups? Not hardly. I - and I suspect many others - do not have the resources to be changing out pickups in willy-nilly fashion. The decision was based upon the recommendations of others - so I installed one (with crossed fingers) and hoped for the best. Turns out that the Alumitone was, indeed, a marked improvement over the GFI II - in accordance with MY PREFERENCES.

Is there another one, or two which might satisfy my aural needs in better fashion? Could be. Would Paul's BL 705 or 710 be a better choice? Don't know as I don't have the resources to swap them out on the chance that I'd find something extra-special.

The only thing that can be said, at this time, is that I'm much happier than before. If anyone else can find that same happiness with an Alumitone, then have at it and enjoy! If not, then happy hunting!

For every decision that's made, there are consequences. The consequences of my decision have been enjoyable. I would hope that yours would be equally so.

Respectfully,

Richard

Ned McIntosh · From: New South Wales, Australia

I replaced Truetones with Alumitones on my Carter D10 and they are superb! Clarity, string separation, no hum(!!!!), even-ness across the neck and along the neck, balanced sound. Best thing I ever did to that steel (in fact, apart from adding a couple of pulls, changing to Alumitones was the only thing of any consequence I have ever had to do to the Carter.) The biggest prpoblem with the Truetones was hum pickup. Soundwise they are great p/ups.

Not so long ago I had the great good fortune to acquire a magnificent used Mullen D10 RP from Al Brisco. It has the Mullen single-coil factory p/ups on it, and I got Al to send me a set of Alumitones for it as well. But before changing them, I played it for a while. Guess what? I'm leaving the Mullen p/ups in it. They are also superb p/ups, with very little hum pickup. A slightly different sound, yes, but superb and in no way needing replacement.

Part of this is the fact that the pickup on its own is only part of the equation...once it is installed into a steel-guitar, and played by you through your amp and volume-pedal, rack etc, only then can you evaluate how it sounds, and whether it is the improvement you are seeking.

I don't regret changing to Alumitones on the Carter, and I'm happy I don't have to change to Alumitones on the Mullen. One less thing to do. But Alumitones are great!
_________________
The steel guitar is a hard mistress. She will obsess you, bemuse and bewitch you. She will dash your hopes on what seems to be whim, only to tease you into renewing the relationship once more so she can do it to you all over again...and yet, if you somehow manage to touch her in that certain magic way, she will yield up a sound which has so much soul, raw emotion and heartfelt depth to it that she will pierce you to the very core of your being.

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

What Paul said about both the Alumitone and Deluxe.

I have an Alumitone P90 as the middle pickup in my hotrodded 400 (Stringmaster bridge PU, Alumitone P90 middle and stock long-scale Fender "neck" PU with individual on-off switches, series/parallel switches, phase reversal on the Stringmaster and a two-level active boost circuit.) I find the Alumitone to have superb note definition with a nice midrange growl, and as Paul noted with my DR it really shines (also with my BF Vibroverb).

One other note - on a one-pickup guitar you can eliminate problems with many guitar effects. Impedance situations cause many effects, for example most MXR models, to distort like mad when hit with the signal from a 22k-wound steel pickup unless an impedance matcher/buffer is used. With an Alumitone you can eliminate use of a Matchbox, Steeldriver (I use one on my GFI just for the volume and tone control - GFI II's are much lower than most in impedance), active/buffered volume pedal and other "processed" gear. It also makes quite a difference with tube amps - as Paul noted you lose the icepick highs often encountered with most "normal" steel pickups (I had one of the humbuckings as well and had similar results).

As I prefer a passive volume control (when I use one at all) and vintage tube amps, *IF* I had a steel with high impedance pickups I'd replace 'em with Alumitones in a heartbeat.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional

Richard Damron · From: Gallatin, Tennessee, USA (deceased)

Jim Sliff -

I think, perhaps, that your expertise can help with a question that I have with the Alumitone.

As posted above, I've mounted one in my GFI in place of the GFI II. However - I think I recall having read quite recently that the pickup should be mounted such that the wires coming from the pickup should be toward the TREBLE strings. Is the configuration of the Alumitone such that this is of concern?

If so, then I've got mine mounted backards! Deal or no deal?

Respectfully,

Richard

Roger Francis · From: kokomo,Indiana, USA

Richard, ive had mine both ways and i coudn't tell any diff, i left it with the coil under the Hi strings.

Richard Damron · From: Gallatin, Tennessee, USA (deceased)

Thanks, Roger. I won't go to tearing into this thing again.

Richard

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

I've still got a new one lying around. Can't decide which guitar to try it in. Prolly the Zum. Maybe this week.

I was just looking at their Alumitones on the www.lacemusic.com site and noticed that Western pattern embossed one labeled Countrybucker. That'd be cool on a Tele or a steel wouldn't it?

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