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Topic: Strings for an Acoustic Lap Steel with a Magnetic Pickup |
Paul Honeycutt
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 23 Jul 2014 10:29 am |
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My "poor man's Weissenborn" is a '60's Harmony Sovereign acoustic with an extention nut and a Lace soundhole pickup. I've been using medium Elixer bronze strings as I like the way they sound acoustically. However, playing live I think I'll need steel strings to make it work.
I'm running it through my pedalboard and sometimes use a Mesa Boogie Studio .22+ that has a graphic EQ that I can turn on when I switch to the lap steel. But it's overkill for a lot of gigs so I use a Peavey Backstage Plus, and since I don't have an EQ pedal, it's pretty unbalanced. The second string is particularly loud.
Anyway, should I just get an electric set in the same gauge? Any favorite sets to sound more "acoustic?" |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 23 Jul 2014 10:45 am
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| When I got my Superior Weissenborn, I ordered a special set of strings from overseas that were sposed to come up to pitch with less tension. The Weissenborn is such a lightly built instrument that I didn't want to damage it. I forget where I ordered them from but the wound strings were brass wound and they worked out fine. I have a Sunrise pickup on the guitar in addition to an under saddle Baggs pickup. |
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Chase Brady
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 23 Jul 2014 2:55 pm
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I had an Elloree hollowneck with a Kent Armstrong pickup in it. I don't think the pickup was intended for bronze acoustic strings. I found that Ernie Ball 7-string Power Slinky set #2620 was about perfect. I threw away the lightest string and used the remaining 6. Cheap and sounded great, both acoustic and electric.
Caution: This gives you a set that runs from.014-.058. That's pretty heavy, though no worse the Pearse's "New D" Weissenborn set. The Elloree was very sturdy and had no problem with them. I don't know about your Harmony. The risk is yours. There are probably lighter gauge 7-string sets around, so you might want to investigate.
--Chase Brady
Check out my YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGB22R_hYOXh55h_zfazCPQ
Nice YouTube comments help local musicians get gigs!
My Web Page: pages.suddenlink.net/chasebradymusic |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 24 Jul 2014 6:43 am
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| I did some checking and the strings I used were Newtone Aloha strings. They use a lighter gauge core wire on the wounds in able to reach pitch with less tension. |
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Paul Honeycutt
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 24 Jul 2014 7:50 am
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| Thanks, guys. The Harmony, in spite of needing a neck reset, is pretty sturdy. No visable lifting from the bridge with the medium Elixers I'm using now. I'll go over to JustStrings.com and have a look around. |
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