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Topic: Yee Hah! I have a steel guitar |
John Bushouse
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Posted 8 Dec 2003 9:50 pm |
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I pulled the trigger this afternoon, trading in a rarely-played electric guitar for the National seven string guitar I've mentioned in previous posts.
It was pretty dirty - it had been in the stock of the guitar store I bought it from for around 10 years. So, I pulled off the 10-year-old strings, and started cleaning it up with a damp cloth.
While I was at it I thought I'd get a peek at the electronics, so I took the top off the guitar.
Surprise! It has THREE pickups: The visible one at the bridge, and two others - one at the seventeenth fret or so, and one at the 27th or so. Here are some pics so you can see what I'm talking about. The pickups are under the shielding:
I'm thinking the "Full Treble" and "Full Bass" controls fade in and out these two pickups, but in a split configuration (i.e., the full treble affects the treble side of both the neck and middle pickups, and the full bass affects the bass side) rather than each control assigned to one pickup.
Very strange, but very cool.
One casualty: one of the tuner knobs gave up the ghost when I was tuning my new strings up to pitch. I'm planning on replacing all of them anyway, as they rattle something horrible. At least it broke when the string was close to being up to pitch.
I plan on having the amphenol connector swapped out for a regular 1/4" jack. I'd also like to get the electronics overhauled - pots and caps replaced if needed.
But for now, everything works! I'm so excited!
More pics are here:
http://john.b.on.the.web.home.att.net/steel.htm
Including the cool sticker on the case:
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Chuck Fisher
From:
Santa Cruz, California, USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 8 Dec 2003 10:57 pm
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wow, thats really unusual. send a pic of the thing closed up too if you can.
welcome to steelin' still legal in the usa!
CF |
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Dana Duplan
From:
Ramona, CA
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Posted 9 Dec 2003 5:21 am
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Nice! I have an earlier 8-string version of the New Yorker, but I believe it only has one pickup? I chose to keep it stock by not changing out the ampherol (sp?) connector, and got a screw on adapter that accepts a standard guitar cord. Most of the harmonica shops carry them as they are used with many vintage harp mics. Just another option. Nice score!
D |
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Bill Leff
From:
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Posted 9 Dec 2003 7:53 am
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Cool looking guitar! Congratulations!
Bill |
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Paul Osbty
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 10 Dec 2003 1:45 pm
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| I like how the inlays incorporate the fret numbers. Nice touch. Certainly not a necessity, but visually well done. |
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