National New Yorker Pickup - What is Normal

Travis G. Johnson · From: Tennessee, USA

I have a 1950 National New Yorker lap steel. It sounds pretty good, but the pickup seems a little weak.

The DC resistance on my steel is 1.62 K. This seems low, but I don’t have access to another New Yorker with the same pickup, so that I can compare. BTW, I do realize that DC resistance is not the only determinant of pickup sound and output.

I would really appreciate it if any of you that have this same steel, and have a meter to check it’s DC resistance, could check your steel and tell me what reading you are getting. For clarity, my steel has the large, rectangular, nickel-covered, single-coil pickup. If you have any other style of pickup, your readings wouldn’t be relevant. Though thanks in advance if you considered helping.

Anyway, I would appreciate any feedback I could get on this.

Thanks!

Jeff Highland · From: New South Wales, Australia

Mine is a 50 with that big nickle plated cover incorporating the bridge saddle. I'm reading 20K or so measured at the jack, but it was rewound by Jason Lollar maybe 15 years ago.
Despite appearances it is actually a humbucker with 2 coils for 3 of the strings side by side. Mostly open space under the cover
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1949 Supro Supreme
1950 National New Yorker
2008 Highland Baritone Weissenborn
2020 Highland New Yorker.
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Frank James Pracher · From: Michigan, USA

I've had a couple of Nationals (not New Yorkers) and they all had resistance values near that. I think it's normal.
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Travis G. Johnson · From: Tennessee, USA

Thanks to Jeff and Frank. Hopefully, I’ll get a few more responses, and then I can sort of average the results. Then go from there on whether to seek out a rewind, or not. I know that many would probably say, “forget about the DC resistance and other such technical stuff. Do you like the way it sounds?” Of course, the sound is the bottom line, but I’m still curious to know if I’m getting what I could out of this pickup.

So bear with me.

Eric Dahlhoff · From: Point Arena, California

National used several different pickups on New Yorkers over the years. Post a picture of yours.
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"To live outside the law you must be honest." (Bob Dylan)

Travis G. Johnson · From: Tennessee, USA

Frank James Pracher · From: Michigan, USA

That looks like the same pickup my National Dynamics had...I know they were all under 2k... I looked up an old email I had sent to Jason Lollar years ago asking him about the low resistance reading. Here's what he had to say.

"Its not unusual for those old pickups to read even as low as 1.6K, they used thicker coil wire than what was typical later so ohms have no comparative meaning"
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"Don't be mad honey, but I bought another one"

Travis G. Johnson · From: Tennessee, USA

Frank,

Thanks for the info! I’ve done additional sleuthing with dealers that have these in stock. And the information you got from Jason matches the responses I’ve been getting; 1.6K to 1.8K ‘ish. It’s also good to know the reason why; i.e. the larger wire.

So I’m going to conclude that mine is normal and enjoy it just the way it is. Thanks again to all who responded.

Regards,
Travis

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