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Topic: pup replacement on an old Dickerson |
Fred Brown
From:
Austin, TX
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Posted 9 Aug 2002 3:16 pm |
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Am fairly new to this page. But am soaking up everything I can. I have a question about replacing the pup in my lap steel. It is a really old Dickerson student model with the matching 2-input amp. Both are covered in green MOTS and in decent shape. No major problems except in the area of the pup. I want to put a Tele bridge pup in it and wire the tone/volume knobs like my Tele. Is that a reasonable thing to do? I am sure I can do it. Just wonder if it makes sense? Wonder if I am messing up from a "vintage" perspective. It is a Dickerson, not a Magnatone, and, best I can tell, from the '40s. Remember I am a newbie. So please have patience with me.
The details: Some owner before I got it pulled out the original pup and bondo'ed (yes auto bondo) in a Str@t pup. It is a bit of a mess. Some of the MOTS was cut up and reglued. So it looks a bit funky right behind the pup. I am not sure if it is wired back correctly because the volume knob is in the rear and the volume and one knobs work backwards to each other, at least to my Tele perpsective.
To put the Tele pup in there I will have to take out some of the wood to fit the width of the pup and then figure someway to mount it and make it heighth adjustable.
Is this a pipe dream? Is there a more reasonable way? I am assuming I will not be able to find an original pup.
thanx for all your help in advance,
Fred |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 9 Aug 2002 3:53 pm
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As far as I can tell Dickersons are not highly sought after lap steels, like Rickenbachers, Fenders, and Gibsons. More importantly... your's is missing the original pickup anyway, so I'd say there is no need to worry about destroying whatever vintage value it may have by installing a telly pickup. Cutting the wood is usually a no-no, but if you're convinced you'll never find an original pickup and you think you can improve the guitar's current sound, I'd say go for it.
There may be other old lap steel pickups that could be retrofitted to your Dickerson. If you watch ebay you might find an old lap steel with broken tuners, no case, etc... but with a good pickup. At least that way you'd have vintage tone.
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My Site - Instruction | Doug's Free Tab | Steels and Accessories
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Fred Brown
From:
Austin, TX
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Posted 10 Aug 2002 2:20 pm
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Basil,
I checked out your page. Some pretty cool equipment. Especially the '49 Leilani. That is the spittin' image of my Dickerson ...same bridge, same pup cover, same nut, same neck decal, same tone/vol knobs, same MOTS (not exactly sure about the color) same everything.
Would you please tell me how the tone and vol pots are setup? Which one is in front? Do they both operate the same ..ie: clockwise turns up vol and treble? Do the string ferrules on the top come out? What strings do you use on it? Is this the one you had the pup made for? If so, how much was it and how long did it take?
So many questions! Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I really like this little guitar.
Fred |
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 13 Aug 2002 4:12 am
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Ok Fred.
I'll do my best to answer your questions........... The controls work clockwise .... clockwise to increase volume and clockwise for the BRIGHTEST tone (the cap OUT of circuit)
The Volume control is the lefthand one of the pair.
The top string ferrules DO come out and can be replaced by any standard bootlace eyelette.
For E6/A6/C6 etc I use the following gauges.(obviously a compromise is needed to use more than one tuning,and this is what I find suits MY needs)
1=013"
2=015"
3=017"
4=022"
5=026"wound
6=034"wound
I'll put an mp3 file on my site of this particular guitar just for you to hear the Pick-up's tone.
I'll amend this post with the URL ASAP. http://www.waikiki-islanders.com/html/02caref.mp3While you're downloading files you might as well listen to http://www.waikiki-islanders.com/assets/multimedia/05steelg.mp3
It isn't too bad It's on a '57 Fender Deluxe-8
On a 1970 Emmons with George L's is :- http://www.waikiki-islanders.com/assets/multimedia/12ipenem.mp3
AND
http://www.waikiki-islanders.com/assets/multimedia/10bodyli.mp3 is on a Fender 1000 and "Live"
Baz
[This message was edited by basilh on 13 August 2002 at 10:25 AM[This message was edited by basilh on 13 August 2002 at 10:37 AM.] |
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Fred Brown
From:
Austin, TX
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Posted 13 Aug 2002 1:09 pm
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Hey Baz,
Thanx for the response and the patience. I really do appreciate it. Turns out that my vol/tone pots are switched and the vol pot works backward. Yours is the only one I know about. And the only place I could turn. So I just had to ask.
I will re-wire mine. That always bothered me and confused me, especially if I was jumping back and forth between the steel and my Tele.
Thanks also for the string sizes. That confirms what I had thought. I switched from much heavier strings per info from the John Ely page. Now I feel like I did the right thing.
I still need to check out the sound files. By the way, do have a link or phone number for Jason Lollar?
Fred ... a very appreciative newbie |
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Fred Brown
From:
Austin, TX
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Posted 16 Aug 2002 10:02 am
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I'm not sure who does it. But this string could be closed. I got lotsa help from the folks on this page and appreciate it immensely.
Fred |
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