Drop-In Replacement for SX 8 Lap Steel

Mathew Peluso · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

Pedal steel is one of my favorite things on the planet but I’ve officially caught the lap steel bug. I recently bought an old Supro that I’m really happy with. I’ll be keeping it in open D and adding Certano benders shortly.

I also picked up a new SX 8 string lap steel with the plan to teach myself the ins and outs of simple electronic mods. I’m planning to re-wire with CTS 250k pots but I’m having a little trouble finding a pickup that’ll work. A blade style seems best and I’ve been looking at the George L E-66. However, I’m not sure it’s compatible after looking at the tabs on the sides. The cheap p90 that it came with installs with two screws from the top of the pickup, towards the middle. Any recommendations for a drop-in that won’t require routing the body?

Gene Tani · From: Pac NW

Alumitones are very compact but the sound is kind of like listening to studio reference monitors or headphones, think Akg 701 or Sennheiser 600/650ss.

They used to have specs/sizes on their website I can't find them anymore https://lacemusic.com/collections/12
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Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

I had a (new) SX8. Sounded terrible and I was going to return it until I found it was mis wired from the Factory. Rewired it (and the tone cap) and 100% improvement both volume and tone, and the tone control worked. I'm used to pedal steel sound and the rewired SX8 (tuned to C6th with high G like pedal steel) sounded very good with my Quilter Travis Toy 12 amp. I didn't hear any single coil hum as I only played it at low "apartment volume levels". It was an interim guitar between Pedal Steels and was sold after I got a new Pedal steel. The new owner has complained about hum. Researching the SX8, after the new owner complained about hum I found other forum threads about it. The Alumitone humbucker was one that I recall used.

Tim Whitlock · From: Colorado, USA

I think rewiring and replacing the pots and cap would be the best place to start. As Jack mentioned it's possible your steel wasn't wired correctly. There are several options for wiring a one pickup guitar with two controls.

If you are still not happy with the sound I would look at Jerry Sentell's website. He offers several eight string steel pickups. Usually the dimensions are listed so you can tell which ones will fit. I can attest that his Fender style pickups sound great at an affordable price. Here's a link:

https://www.sentellpickups.net/steel

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

Here's the wiring diagram that I used to rewire my SX8. Both pots are 500K. Existing cap is .047, just move to center lug on tone pot.

Mathew Peluso · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

Thanks for all of the advice! I’ll go ahead and change out the pots and rewire the pickup as suggested to start. I’m pleasantly surprised with this steel for the money. Planning to set it up in A6!

Nic Neufeld · From: Kansas City, Missouri

I am probably on a lot of those other threads saying the same thing, but I was really happy with an Alumitone Bass Bar (3.5"), slips right in, no routing needed and senses evenly across all strings. If you use a somewhat lower pitched tuning and you want bass response, it makes pretty fat sounding chords (mine stays in B11). Here's a sample I recorded with it (SX8 with Bass Bar...into a basic software amp sim).

https://soundcloud.com/tropicstrings/sand

Definitely try the cheaper route of rewiring, first, though...if you swap out the pickup you'll want to do that anyway so if it results in you liking the sound, you've saved a decent bit of money right there.
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Mathew Peluso · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

Thanks Nic, that’s very helpful. Great playing and fantastic tone, btw!

The Alumitone Bass Bar sounds like a solid option. I’ll definitely keep that in mind if I decide to swap it out.

Tom Wolverton · From: Carpinteria, CA

I took Nic’s advive and put a Lace Alumitone pickup in my SX8. It made for a nice upgrade. The original wiring was a bit wonky and the pots are undersized. If you replace the pots, be prepared to enlarge the routed cavity a bit.
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