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Topic: Lap steel recommendation please |
Joe A. Camacho
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Posted 29 Aug 2005 7:38 am |
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| Came over from the dark side of pedal steel, getting more "rock" gigs and looking for a lap that works well with overdriven sounds, think David Lindly on Jackson Brown's Running on Empty record. thanks, Joe |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 29 Aug 2005 7:44 am
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| Do you have a price range Joe? |
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Joe A. Camacho
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Posted 29 Aug 2005 7:46 am
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| I'd like to keep at or around $450. |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 29 Aug 2005 7:48 am
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My National Dynamic screams when I run it through an overdrive, and is probably as close to the "Lindley sound" as I will ever get (they're his favorite for that sound, he once described the sound as "concentrated rock'n'roll tone").
They sell on eBay for $4-500.
Steinar
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www.gregertsen.com
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Peter Jacobs
From:
Northern Virginia
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Posted 29 Aug 2005 8:07 am
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Steinar -- any sound clips of your National?
Thanks,
Peter |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 29 Aug 2005 10:35 am
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Peter, here is a solo I recorded at home for a CD project I've been involved in. Don't mind the backing, that's just a rough mix I received to record over....
It's recorded using a Fulltone Full-Drive2 overdrive through my POD, direct to the board, no compressor used. As you can hear it's a very fat and creamy tone, in this case probably with a tad too much overdrive..... 
I have to mention that I had to replace the volume control to achieve this tone, when I got it it was very thin sounding, thanks to some weird wiring scheme they used at the time (mine is an early '60s model, I've also had a '50s model and that one sounded better without any modifications)..
Steinar
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www.gregertsen.com
[This message was edited by Steinar Gregertsen on 29 August 2005 at 11:37 AM.] |
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Joe A. Camacho
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Posted 29 Aug 2005 11:00 am
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| wow, there's the tone that I'm looking for! |
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Peter Jacobs
From:
Northern Virginia
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Posted 29 Aug 2005 11:17 am
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Wow, Steinar -- that's it! What a great sound (and great playing). What is it about these pickups, anyway? They cut without getting thin and wimpy.
Thanks for the clip,
Peter |
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Keith Cordell
From:
San Diego
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Posted 29 Aug 2005 11:29 am
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| Nice work, Steinar! |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 29 Aug 2005 11:44 am
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| Nice playing, brotha. |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 29 Aug 2005 11:58 am
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Oh, thanks guys! 
Unfortunately, the only one up on eBay now is the one that Guitar Center keeps offering for a ridiculous $1,795...
The pickup on mine has about the same output as a regular humbucker (after I changed the volume pot, that is), and my guess is that the rest of the creamy sound is because of the placement.
I am considering selling mine since I need the money for another project and I only use it on those rare occasions when my Asher isn't heavy enough, but the "problem" is that I will most likely get approx $200 more by selling it over here.......
Steinar
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www.gregertsen.com
[This message was edited by Steinar Gregertsen on 29 August 2005 at 01:05 PM.] |
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Bill Leff
From:
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Keith Cordell
From:
San Diego
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Posted 29 Aug 2005 4:50 pm
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| Hey Steinar, just out of interest (and not intending to hijack the thread), would changing the wiring on my National D8 make it sound even better? It is a little weak, though I love the tone. |
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Chris Morrison
From:
Massachusetts, USA
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Posted 29 Aug 2005 5:10 pm
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| Hi Steinar, I have a Nat'l Dynamic that sounds great on upper strings, kinda dead on lowers -- is that anything like what you changed your volume pot to fix? If so, what did you install? thanks! Chris |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 29 Aug 2005 8:08 pm
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Here is what I wrote about the modification in another thread (it was the tone pot, not the volume pot. My mistake..)
quote:
Just spoke with my tech, and here's what he told me;
The old tone pot was wired with a condensator in each "end" - as opposed to having one major condensator as is standard today - this was supposedly done to create a broader range of sound, but it also 'holds back' on the output so it gets weak. For the most natural sound from the pickup you're supposed to have the tone control in approx center position, not wide open.
What he did was to simply replace it with a modern tonepot and wire it as is standard today, using only one condensator.
This brought the pickup up from a rather wimpy nasal tone (weaker than my standard Tele) to a full humbucker-like output, so if anybody has a Dynamic that sounds nasal and weak this modification may very well do the trick.
Unless it is a very special model that it is a point in keeping in mint condition, I think checking the electronics and upgrading the pots might be a good idea (but I realize opinions on this differs...). Remember that there may also be other reasons why a vintage pickup can get bad, like de-magnetizing and bad wiring.
The difference this simple tone pot modification did to my National was HUGE, as I wrote in my post it was like going from a weak Telecaster to a Les Paul..
I have also changed the volume pot since the tone pot modification, but that was because the old one worked more like an on/off switch.
I hope this is of some help, I'm not much of an 'electronics' guy so I'm pretty dependent on help from my tech and others myself...
Bill,- the Supros and Dynamics have different pickups, plus the Supros have their pickups closer to the bridge, so they usually sound brighter than my Dynamic (which is not necessarily a negative thing, a little more treble wouldn't have hurt mine). The Supros are great rock/blues lap steels, there's no doubt about that.
Steinar
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www.gregertsen.com
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Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
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Posted 30 Aug 2005 4:48 am
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And there was never a more beautiful guitar to look at while you're playing than the Dymanic, especially in red.
Just beautiful, Steinar. |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 30 Aug 2005 7:27 am
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| At this price range and for what you want, I'd check out the Industrial Guitars lap steels. I have one that I picked up new for around $300 and it will do all the Lindley licks you want. |
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Skip Keane
From:
Rhode Island, USA
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Posted 30 Aug 2005 4:25 pm
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Hello,
If you want to make your ear scream try a Oahu lap steel maybe a "killer bee" model (black with yellow letter down the neck). It has a string through pickup which is the best.. It's a killer and you might find one for $300. if you're lucky. I just love the sound this thing has, my favorite.
good luck,
Skip |
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Chris Morrison
From:
Massachusetts, USA
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Posted 30 Aug 2005 7:10 pm
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| thanks, Steinar! |
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