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Post new topic ¿Why only one pickup?
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Author Topic:  ¿Why only one pickup?
MUSICO

 

From:
Jeremy Williams in Spain
Post  Posted 6 Feb 2005 2:01 am    
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I was looking at a stick page. They are up to 12 strings and use two pickups.

But there on a stick page was a video of a stick player demoing how he uses the fact that sticks has two outputs to play the melody with distortion and the bass clean.

We could do that if we used two pickups. Anyone ever tried it?

Jeremy Williams
Barcelona Spain.
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richard burton


From:
Britain
Post  Posted 6 Feb 2005 3:24 am    
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Why can't I get an upside-down question mark from my computer keyboard?
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basilh


From:
United Kingdom
Post  Posted 6 Feb 2005 5:50 am    
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Windows XP


Go to your control panel ( Start > Control Panel for Windows XP ).

Go to the "Date, Time, Language and Regional Options " .

Under "Pick a Task" choose "Add other languages".

On the "Languages" tab click the "Details" button.

Click on "Add".

In the "Keyboard layout/IME" dropdown select the "United States-International" option and click OK.

Change the "Default input language from"to "United States-International".

Click OK and exit the Keyboard settings and control panel.


Your keyboard should now be configured to use the following combinations to type these characters.

Character - Instructions

á - apostrophe, then letter
à - button above tab key, then letter
â - shift-6, then letter
ä - “ button, then letter
ç - apostrophe, then C
ñ - ~ then n, or Ctrl + Alt + n
¿ - Ctrl + Alt + /
¡ - Ctrl + Alt + 1 (one)
ß - Ctrl + Alt + s
“ - shift + quotation mark, then press spacebar
‘ - apostrophe, then press spacebar

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Quote:
Steel players do it without fretting





http://www.waikiki-islanders.com

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ed packard

 

From:
Show Low AZ
Post  Posted 6 Feb 2005 6:41 am    
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A number of folk use/have two pickups on their instrument. Mt new BEAST = PSTL C69 does, but not for the reason that you said. Conbining the two tapped pickups in various ways gives a large spectrum of sounds.

For the type of mix that you refered to, and to much more, I use a Roland midi pickup and GR1. Slide the pickup beneath the 6 strings from which you want the modified sound (Sax, trumpets, bass, etc.), and use the standard pickup(s) for the steel sound(s).
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MUSICO

 

From:
Jeremy Williams in Spain
Post  Posted 6 Feb 2005 9:23 am    
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¿Why can´t you get the upside down question mark?

Ha ha....This is a ¡¡¡Spanish Keyboard!!!

From sunny EspaÑa.

Back on topic.....¿Don´t you find that the roland midi pickups have a problem cos they curve to fit the radiusing of electric guitar necks?

Jeremy Williams
Barcelona Spain
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MUSICO

 

From:
Jeremy Williams in Spain
Post  Posted 6 Feb 2005 9:41 am    
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ed,
¿don't you have problems with string spacing?
¿aren't those roland GK pickups curved?

Jeremy Williams
Barcelona, Spain
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ed packard

 

From:
Show Low AZ
Post  Posted 6 Feb 2005 9:55 am    
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The pickups are curved, and the string spacing is for the standard guitar.

Shave/sand off the curved "extra" material...carefully.

Slant the pickup across the PSG strings in front of the regular pickup so that the PSG strings are responded to.

Place a strip of the rubberized magnet material (with one side adhesive) on the PSG neck. Place another strip on the pickup. Now the pickup can be slid to pick up the desired strings.

Stacked thirds tuning structures are particularly good for four part woodwind sections etc.

[This message was edited by ed packard on 06 February 2005 at 10:27 AM.]

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Bobby Lee


From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
Post  Posted 6 Feb 2005 10:03 am    
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I have two pickups on my Maverick, but it's wired for mono output with a switch.

The stick uses a separate pickup for the bass strings. It's sort of like a guitar and bass combined. You use one hand for bass parts and the other for chords and melody. That's not what we do on pedal steel.
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Pete Burak

 

From:
Portland, OR USA
Post  Posted 6 Feb 2005 10:17 am    
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I'd like to see PSG's go to the standard 3 single coils with a 5-way selecter, as has been the Strat style standard for years.
Using Ed's "slant to fit the string spacing" method, I guess you could outfit an S12U with 6 strat pickups (2 each... neck, middle, bridge).
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ed packard

 

From:
Show Low AZ
Post  Posted 6 Feb 2005 10:44 am    
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Pete B; And now you are getting close to why I have two pickup platforms and removeable pickups on the BEAST. Something else is happening here...impedance matching issues, and new devices also.

Two six string pickups would give half the turn length, hence half the resistance (approx), hence less inductance and capacitance for a given number of turns per pickup = higher Fr = more bite/attack.

If the two pickups are used in parallel, the impedance of each matches that of the other = best common mode rejection. Phasing them gives some humbucking advantage.

The combined impedance (in parallel) is half of the individual, therefor the output will be 6db down (half voltage) of the individual pickup...but clean and crisp and shapeable. The volume pedal (Pot) effect upon the highs will be much less.

Now add a Hi Zin, lo Zout active into the package.

That is for openers....The BEAST (PSTL C69) is a breadboard for signal channel work and other things.

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Jeff Lampert

 

From:
queens, new york city
Post  Posted 6 Feb 2005 11:14 am    
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The multiple pickups on many guitar brands (as well as the variey of body types like solid body, semi-hollow, hollow, etc.) allows for the wide range of tones that the massive number of guitarists require for the many different styles that are demanded in pop/rock/country/blues/jazz music. Since the very big majority of steel players only play one style (i.e. country) or play other styles in the context of country-type bands, there has never been a need that would justify a steel manufacturer to offer such an option, let alone make it standard. If we ever get to the point that steel players are seriously AS A GROUP (not just a few isolated players) playing in a wide range of musical situations requiring a wide range of different sounds, then we might well see more pickups.

------------------
[url=http://www.mightyfinemusic.com/jeff's_jazz.htm]Jeff's Jazz[/url]

[This message was edited by Jeff Lampert on 06 February 2005 at 11:16 AM.]

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Pete Burak

 

From:
Portland, OR USA
Post  Posted 6 Feb 2005 11:37 am    
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You know how they sell Strat pickgaurd assemblies with all three pickups, selector switch, volume/tone knobs, and output jack, all as one preassembled unit?...
Maybe trashing a couple of those beyond repair (as a means of modding it to fit your steel) would be a fun Sunday afternoon Dremmell Tool intensive activity?!
Two six-string pickups in each position (Neck, Middle, Bridge).
Two 1/4" outputs (Treble [strings 1-6] and Bass [strings 7-12]).
Now we're tawkin'!


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chas smith R.I.P.


From:
Encino, CA, USA
Post  Posted 6 Feb 2005 2:01 pm    
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I have 2 pickups on two of my Sho-Buds. My Professional has a Bigsby copy at the bridge and Lawrence 705 at the neck. The solo neck pickup sounds too mid-rangey, for my tastes, so I have a blend knob that blends it in with the bridge pickup, to "fill out" the sound. It makes a big difference.
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Jim Phelps

 

From:
Mexico City, Mexico
Post  Posted 6 Feb 2005 8:38 pm    
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Chas, just curious... If the neck pickups on your Sho-Bud are too midrangy, and I can believe they would be as they are humbuckers, why haven't you replaced them with something brighter, such as maybe a True-Tone? I would think that would have a great sound.

Also, speaking of only one pickup, how did it come to always be placed right up against the changer fingers on all steels? Were any factory-built steels ever made with the pickup farther away from the fingers?

[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 06 February 2005 at 08:39 PM.]

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chas smith R.I.P.


From:
Encino, CA, USA
Post  Posted 8 Feb 2005 10:25 am    
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Jim, True-Tones didn't exist when I added the 705's. At the moment, the combination, with the blend, sounds great to me. I have Emmons pickups on my Super-Pro:

And again, in the neck position, a solo pickup still has a midrangy sound that doesn't sound like a steel guitar to me. It's not that it sounds bad, but I have an idea of what I want to hear and that wasn't it. On the Super Pro, I have separate outputs for each pickup, (you can't combine an active pickup, EMG,with a passive one). What works nicely with this setup is running the Emmons to an overdrive and mixing with the clean sound.
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Rick Schmidt


From:
Prescott AZ, USA
Post  Posted 8 Feb 2005 12:53 pm    
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Chas...can you get the out of phase strat sound?

[This message was edited by Rick Schmidt on 08 February 2005 at 12:56 PM.]

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Bill Hatcher

 

From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
Post  Posted 8 Feb 2005 2:05 pm    
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Chas. Nice PU combinations!

In regards to mixing active and passive, I have done that before with EMGs and Lawrence pickups on a standard guitar. I did not have any problem.
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Bill Hatcher

 

From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
Post  Posted 8 Feb 2005 2:09 pm    
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Rick. FYI Strat positions 2 and 4 are not out of phase. They are in-phase parallel.
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Rick Schmidt


From:
Prescott AZ, USA
Post  Posted 8 Feb 2005 3:25 pm    
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Ok Bill I stand corrected.
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chas smith R.I.P.


From:
Encino, CA, USA
Post  Posted 9 Feb 2005 11:38 am    
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Bill, maybe it's voodoo. My lack of understanding electronics is a constant source of problems. When I originally wired them together, they "clashed", so I asked one of the amp guru's, and it was his opinion, that they couldn't go together. Which seemed to confirm what was happening.

On a standard guitar, it would work if only one pickup was selected at a time. Do you blend them at all?
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Bill Hatcher

 

From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
Post  Posted 9 Feb 2005 11:56 am    
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Chas. That is sort of what I did. I had two Lawrence pickups in the front and back and then a third PU which was the EMG SA Strat size. I had a mini switch that turned the EMG on and off. When turned on, it worked fine and added quite a unique sound. That instrument was one that I built and has been decomissioned ie. trashed. Wish now that I had turned it into a 12 string.

You ever do that with instruments and gadgets you build. I never sell or give away any of my experiments or protos. When I finish experimenting with them, I pull off the parts and destroy them. You give them away or sell them and pretty soon someone will see something that you built to test something or whatever and that person will have no clue what the intended purpose was for the instrument and think that you were some kind of wierdo "Frankenluthier".

In regards to this topic, I have always maintained that the PSG needed more than one pickup. Might open up a few more sonic doors that it so desperatly needs.
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Larry Schubert

 

From:
Orcutt, CA, USA
Post  Posted 9 Feb 2005 12:47 pm    
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My question is this then. The alum. neck is where a lagre part of sustain. SO buy puting 2 pick ups in wouldent the loss ot metal = los us sustain?
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chas smith R.I.P.


From:
Encino, CA, USA
Post  Posted 9 Feb 2005 9:30 pm    
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Quote:
The alum. neck is where a lagre part of sustain
Well, in the "world-according-to-chas", sustain is helped when there is nothing to "damp the sound, like loose connections, dissimilar materials, that the vibrations have to pass thru and unresonant materials. An important thing is a ridgid instrument, and this is where the idea of a lot of mass comes from. The amount of aluminum removed from the neck is fairly small. The important thing, from a structural perspective, is the outdside edges of the necks weren't compromised and actually, those necks are solid from the changer to the bridge. And yes, it's very temperature sensative.
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