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Topic: question about pickup height |
Daniel McKee
From:
Corinth Mississippi
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Posted 23 May 2013 7:12 pm |
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| I Play a Bethel pedal steel and lately the sound is far from good and before it actually sounded ok and the amp settings are the same but lately it has really bright sound that is really way too bright and the high notes r not good and Im wondering if pickup height has something to do with this.any help will be great. |
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chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
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Posted 23 May 2013 7:47 pm
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| if it sounded good before, daniel, it's probably not the pickups now. have you got a steel player friend who could give it a looksee in the amp, cords,switches dept.? the bethel should be a fine guitar. |
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Doug Earnest
From:
Branson, MO USA
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Posted 23 May 2013 8:57 pm
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| I would start by tightening every screw on it. Note where things were loose and then take notice to see if it made any real difference in the sound. |
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Daniel McKee
From:
Corinth Mississippi
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Posted 23 May 2013 11:03 pm
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| Yea there are players who can look at it around here.I just thought i would try the forum first. |
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Daniel McKee
From:
Corinth Mississippi
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Posted 23 May 2013 11:17 pm
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| it could possibly be the cords or something like that |
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Pete Burak
From:
Portland, OR USA
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Posted 24 May 2013 6:50 am
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The general rule-of-thumb on pickup height is the thickness of two quarters. Check it and see.
Is it a D10?
If so, is the thin tone coming from both pickups, or just the E9 neck?
This would rule out weather the E9 pickup has suffered an internal short (causing it to sound very treble-ee), or something else in the chain that is affecting both pickups.
Run a cord directly from the steel to an amp to rule out the v-ped or effects.
Try a different amp to rule out the amp.
Try a different cord.
etc... |
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Daniel McKee
From:
Corinth Mississippi
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Posted 24 May 2013 10:31 am
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| it is an SD-10.I checked with the two quarters and thats about right but it had a small amount of space still left though under the strings.I am gonna hook it up to another amp and then try it with no volume pedal. |
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Andy Jones
From:
Mississippi
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Posted 24 May 2013 3:58 pm
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Daniel,Jim Parker told me a while back that my guitar sounded sick.He put his cords on it and it really came alive.I had some big name cords that were supposed to be the best;but they sucked.I got a couple of Peavey cords and the problem was solved.
Hope to see you soon.
Andy |
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Daniel McKee
From:
Corinth Mississippi
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Posted 24 May 2013 5:10 pm
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| I had some cheap cords but I dont think they were good enough to check with so im gonna dig out some older ones I had and give them a try. |
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Daniel McKee
From:
Corinth Mississippi
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Posted 24 May 2013 5:12 pm
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| I had been getting some ok sounds with my guitar and then about two weeks ago the sound just really started to go away.it just gets a thin sound now |
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Ole Dantoft
From:
Copenhagen, Denmark
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Posted 25 May 2013 4:00 pm
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Daniel,
As with all troubleshooting, start asking yourself: What has changed?
If you haven't changed anything i.e. cables, amp, location, girlfriend, whatever I would suggest getting an Ohm-meter out if you have one, else get hold of someone who has and measure the resistance of the pickup - I have a feeling that it's got an open circuit, as that could give the exact symptoms you mention.
I know it may sound weird, but I have a Gibson Les Paul and once during my wild "hair-rock-days" at some point I found it to be a little thin sounding and the coil of my bridge pickup - the only one I used - was completely open. It still produced enough sound to be quite ok through all my distortion pedals, but when auditioned clean it was thin and weak.
Just a thought!
Ole |
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Daniel McKee
From:
Corinth Mississippi
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Posted 25 May 2013 8:50 pm
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| Ok I will check into that.I havent changed anything and its been in the same place for a while now I havent even moved the amp. |
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Jim Palenscar
From:
Oceanside, Calif, USA
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Posted 25 May 2013 9:03 pm
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| Just wondering if it has a coil-tap switch that you inadvertently hit? |
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Daniel McKee
From:
Corinth Mississippi
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Posted 26 May 2013 9:41 am
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| Nope no switches at all on this guitar. |
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Pete Burak
From:
Portland, OR USA
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Posted 26 May 2013 10:02 am
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| fwiw, If you had a known-good pickup, you could connect it to a cord using alligator clips, and hold it over the strings to A/B-test the pickups, and see if it is substancially different, tonally. I've used my kids blocks and some of that blue-masking-tape to make a little temporary stand to hold the pickup steady over the strings. |
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Jerry Jones
From:
Franklin, Tenn.
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Posted 26 May 2013 12:15 pm
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I think I'd measure the DC ohms on the pickup first. 
_________________
Jerry Jones |
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Daniel McKee
From:
Corinth Mississippi
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Posted 26 May 2013 4:25 pm
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| Im gonna mess around with some more cords and see if I can tell a difference I think it might actually be the cords. |
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