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Topic: Pickup placement , bridge or neck? |
Jerry Recktenwald
From:
Louisville KY
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Posted 14 Jan 2012 5:13 am |
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| I have a double neck 8 string that I made about a yea ago and now changing my pickups. Both guitars have two pickup cavity's . The bridge pickup is 2" from center of the pickup to the bridge, and the neck is 5 1/2" I have a Gorge L 10 string and a Barcus berry 12 string that I want to use. My pickup cavity's are 4 1/4" long 1 3/4" wide and 1 1/4 " deep so size won't be a problem . Now to my question ! where would you put these pickups? which one would you put closes to you playing the steel and which one would you put in the furthest steel? Last but least bridge or neck ? I don't know what these pickups sound like .It's a lot of trouble to install and I wanted experienced advice . I wouldn't know the difference but you the experience,experts,and all others would.I just want it to sound the best. Thanks for any and all advice. Jerry |
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Don McGregor
From:
Memphis, Tennessee
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Posted 14 Jan 2012 12:07 pm
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I'm sure someone with more experience at steel building will chime in with more information, but here's how I look at it.
I would put both pickups in the cavities closest to the bridge. If you look at pictures of steels and pedal steel, almost all of them have pickups in the bridge position. This makes for a brighter signal, that can be adjusted by tone controls on the steel or amp. It should also give you the best sustain with the most clarity.
I'm not familiar with any of the Barcus Berry pickups for steel, but I assume, since you are using a 12 string pickup for an 8 string steel, that it, like the George L, also has rails instead of individual pole pieces. That's the beauty of the George L pickups. You can use one on any number of strings that the rails will cover.
As for which one on which neck, my gut feeling is that it would depend on what tunings you intend to use. For instance, on my main double neck, I use a high C6 on one neck, that has higher gauge strings, and a higher top note than my other, A6 neck. To sort of try and even the tone out between the two by pickup placement, I would put whichever pickup I think is brighter sounding on the lower tuned neck.
Good luck. |
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Jerry Recktenwald
From:
Louisville KY
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Posted 14 Jan 2012 6:04 pm
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| Thank you ! The bridge it is. Does anybody know the difference between the Gorge L and Barcus Berry as far as sound? |
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Jerry Recktenwald
From:
Louisville KY
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Posted 17 Jan 2012 5:57 pm
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The Gorge L goes in my first neck and the Barcus Berry in the second neck. Both in the bridge position. Sounds like a steel now YEA!!  |
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Don McGregor
From:
Memphis, Tennessee
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Posted 18 Jan 2012 8:45 am
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| Pictures? |
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Jerry Recktenwald
From:
Louisville KY
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Posted 18 Jan 2012 1:44 pm
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