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Topic: Dead String |
John Mulligan
From:
Ontario, Canada
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Posted 25 Apr 2016 3:30 pm |
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I just bought this 1960 National Hawaiian Student model with string-through pickup. I put new strings on it and it sounds awesome. I put it in open E for playing rock and blues. There's a problem, though. The middle string, the G#, is dead. Brand new string, not hitting the top plate of the pickup box. Puts out about 1/10th the power of the other strings.
Is this a known issue or should I just replace the string and try again?
Thanks in advance. |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Posted 25 Apr 2016 7:35 pm
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Is the pole piece lower than the rest? You could try and raise the pole piece, but be careful to not force it if it does not want to move. Its a pretty delicate bobbin and if the pole piece is frozen, you could damage it if forced.
One other thing to check is to see if that pickup has two magnets, one each side or one magnet and a wood dummy on the other side. A lot of the later string throughs came with only the one magnet, but usually the symptom of that arrangement would be several weaker strings and not typically isolated to just the one.
_________________
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 26 Apr 2016 12:16 am
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It's a long shot, but did all the strings come from a set or did you use individual strings you had lying around?
If you somehow managed to put an odd string on from an acoustic guitar set, they don't have the same magnetic properties as electric strings and will be much quieter. |
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John Mulligan
From:
Ontario, Canada
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Posted 26 Apr 2016 6:27 am
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| No,I put of full set of strings of a brand and type I have used for years with no problem. |
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Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 26 Apr 2016 6:29 am
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| It's possible that one of the magnets is upside down, effectively cancelling out the magnetic polarity for the middle strings. I had a similar problem with a K&F steel: the middle strings were very quiet, so I flipped one of the magnets and the issue completely went away. |
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John Mulligan
From:
Ontario, Canada
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Posted 26 Apr 2016 6:30 am
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Hi Tom;
The top plate is actually missing a screw and another one is stripped. Possibly someone tried to take it apart once.[/quote] |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Posted 26 Apr 2016 9:47 am
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John, that certainly is a posability. If its been taken apart, then Noah's advice about a magnet getting flipped is highly possible. Even the orientation of the top plate can be important. While it in itself is not a magnet, over time the steel plate does become somewhat magnetized and should be re-installed the same as it was originally.
_________________
Some misc pics of my hand crafted steels
Follow me on Facebook here |
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John Mulligan
From:
Ontario, Canada
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Posted 26 Apr 2016 10:04 am
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| Thanks for all the tips. Live a little, learn a little. I really appreciate this forum. |
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Michael James
From:
La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 30 Apr 2016 7:33 am
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I just bought a guitar that had a dead string. Someone had not filed the nut correctly. All I did was run my nut file lightly over string slot a couple of times and it was fixed. It didn't even lower the sting in relationship to the first fret.
mj |
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Michael Maddex
From:
Northern New Mexico, USA
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Posted 30 Apr 2016 7:44 am
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| John Mulligan wrote: |
| ... The top plate is actually missing a screw and another one is stripped. Possibly someone tried to take it apart once. |
Two thoughts:
If someone clumsy enough to strip one screw and lose another one took the pickup apart, then you will probably find your problem there.
In the meantime, you might want to switch the third and fourth strings and see if the problem stays with the position or follows the string.
HTH. Good luck with it. 
_________________
"For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert." -- Arthur C. Clarke |
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