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Topic: Older Alumitone pickup wiring |
Roman Sonnleitner
From:
Vienna, Austria
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Posted 11 Apr 2017 4:41 am |
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Guys,
I've got an Alumitone 3.5 bar pickup that I want to put into an 8-string lap steel; I bought it a few years ago, and apparently, the construction has changed since I bought mine: the current ones have four wires (red, white, green, black & white) coming from them - mine only has three wires (red, white, green).
I can't find a wiring diagram for these older models - is anybody familiar with these, and can tell me which color is hot, which is ground, and what the third one does?
Thanks! |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 11 Apr 2017 6:00 am
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Orange/Red should be hot. The other two should tie together to ground.
edit: graphic removed because it was totally the wrong diagram. Sorry.
--Jon
Last edited by Jon Light on 12 Apr 2017 7:12 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Roman Sonnleitner
From:
Vienna, Austria
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Posted 11 Apr 2017 7:00 am
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See, the problem is that mine is like neither of those diagrams - because it does not have the black/white-striped wire, just a single white one - so: Tie it off? Connet it to ground together with the green one?
Guess I gotta use the old trial & error method... |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 11 Apr 2017 7:44 am
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Yeah--sorry about that. I just sort of ignored the white in the diagram and called it a 3 wire rig. The question of whether to consider your white wire the white wire or a variation on the black & white wire.......I don't know.
Yep. Trial. Error. |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 11 Apr 2017 10:20 am
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I think that's a text typo where it says tie white and green together. It should read white & black striped wire to green, not white.
The solid white wire is for splitting the coils, so if not using it for that, tape it off.
Seems pretty clear to me. You say yours only has 3 wires so: Org. goes to hot, green goes to ground and tape off the white wire per the diagram for no connection. |
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Roman Sonnleitner
From:
Vienna, Austria
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Posted 11 Apr 2017 11:12 am
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OK, had a chance to check the pickup with a multimeter:
Apparently, orange is hot, and white is ground - because I can get a reading (5.1k) between those - can't get one between orange and green, or white and green. So I presume the white one is just some grounding for the shell/metal part of the pickup? And there's no way to split this one? |
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George Piburn
From:
The Land of Enchantment New Mexico
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Posted 12 Apr 2017 5:35 am Alumatones
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The Aluminium bar is the pickup. On your particular model , no coil split function.
The Orange is hot , and tie both the green and white together to the Ground Plane.
The Alumitone is a completely new concept in Pickup, utilizing a Single Winding and Transformer. I do not know how they function , just that they are flat as a pancake wide range and very desireable sonically. Plus Super Quiet.
There is a major Difference between the "Tone Bar" for Steel Guitars and the Bass Bar for Bass Guitars.
(I am a OEM Alumitone Dealer for numerous years) and have installed both single and coil tap variations in numerous GB's.
One more thing , these PuP's are 30% more powerful than typical Single Coils, great for driving EFX boxes and so on, We typically place them lower below strings for a more clean Steel Guitar Tone , .170 versus the typical .125.
Hope this helps you. 
_________________
GeorgeBoards S8 Non Pedal Steel Guitar Instruments
Maker of One of a Kind Works of Art that play music too.
Instructional DVDs
YouTube Channel |
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Roman Sonnleitner
From:
Vienna, Austria
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Posted 12 Apr 2017 7:55 am
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Thanks for the wiring info!
I'm not sure whether this is a steel version, or a bass one - I think at the time I bought it, it was the only version available of that size, and the package just says "Alumitone 3.5 BLK". |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Darrell Birtcher
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Posted 13 Apr 2017 11:25 am
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George,
Per your comment:
"There is a major Difference between the "Tone Bar" for Steel Guitars and the Bass Bar for Bass Guitars."
Can you tell me what those differences are? I'd like to know from your experiences what you've heard. I was told by someone at Lace that the bass and steel versions were one and the same other than the names, but that was a long time ago and that situation certainly could have changed.
Thanks a bunch for your input. |
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George Piburn
From:
The Land of Enchantment New Mexico
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Posted 14 Apr 2017 7:30 am Tone Bar ---Bass Bar
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Hello Darrell and every one.
I don't have any experience comparing them, That was what my PR Salesman and their Teck-wenie told me.
It is possible you are correct , in they are exactly the same beast.
In Roman's Case , It will not matter at all as he plans to place it in a Lap Steel, he is more of a RockABilly style player than a Pedal Steel Purist type.
_________________
GeorgeBoards S8 Non Pedal Steel Guitar Instruments
Maker of One of a Kind Works of Art that play music too.
Instructional DVDs
YouTube Channel |
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Roman Sonnleitner
From:
Vienna, Austria
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Posted 14 Apr 2017 10:04 am
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From the tech specs on the Lace page:
Alumitone Tone Bar 8 (for steel):
resistance: 5k
peak frequency: 3800
inductance: 27 henries
BassBar 3.5
resistance: 5k
peak frequency: 3800
inductance: 2.7 henries
- so the difference seems to be the inductance (unless that decimal point is a typo) - not sure what that means; from what I've heard, the resonance peak frequency is the most important spec for judging the tone.
There are also some guitar versions (for 8-string metal guitars, I presume):
Aluma X-Bar 3.5
resistance: 2.4k
peak frequency: 2600
inductane: 17.5 henries
DeathBar 3.5
resistance: 5 k
peak frequency: 1450
inductance: 17.5 henries |
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Todd Weger
From:
Safety Harbor, FLAUSA
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Posted 5 Jun 2019 1:04 pm
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So, searching the Internet for answers, I'm now even more confused. I just got an Alumitone J-bass pickup I'm going to put in my Gold Tone LS-8. It has four wires: green, white, red and white/black.
According to their wiring diagram page (no instructions in the box), I'm suppose to tie the white and green together (ground), and red is hot. They say nothing about the white with black stripe wire.
How should I wire this? Just tape off the w/b wire? |
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Todd Weger
From:
Safety Harbor, FLAUSA
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Posted 5 Jun 2019 5:25 pm
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Well - I answered my own question! I just taped off the white/black-stripe wire, and connected as normal. I tested with alligator clips first, though).
Once installed and strung up, I have to say - WOW. Super clean and super quiet. Definitely not a 'vintage' type of tone, but very nice, distinct and clear. Lots of good string separation, too. I was a wee bit off on the mounting, even after many trial and error attempts, but it's all in there and works great.
If you have a Gold Tone with hum issues, the Alumitone "Aluma J-Bass" pickup will fit in that control plate slot. It takes a bit of fussing around to get it lined up right to fit, but it was worth it, to me.
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