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Topic: New! - B8 Boxcar String Through Pickup |
Scott Swartz
From:
St. Louis, MO
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Posted 17 Apr 2021 12:57 pm |
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Developed in conjunction with George Piburn of Georgeboards, the B8 (B for Boxcar) is a single coil pickup that utilizes a magnetic yoke arrangement, as used on multiple classic string through pickups. The magnets connect to upper and lower steel plates creating a uniform magnetic field in the string zone, which allows for completely free string movement since there is no net magnetic force on the strings.
The uniform field surrounding the string gives great clarity of tone, and the upper harmonics of the string really ring out and sustain as compared to a under the string type pickup. The lows have great transient response to your picking and a bright character that gives great separation on chords and intervals. The highs are present but very smooth, no ice-picky quality at all. With many pickup designs you end up trading off clarity on the low strings to get smooth highs, that is definitely not the case here, the B Series gives you both at the same time.
The neodymium magnets were carefully selected to provide a field strength approximately 30% stronger than the well known horseshoe type pickup, while allowing the pickup size to fit a stretched humbucker type mounting ring.
Adjustable large size 10-32 pole pieces are provided for precise string balance.
The area and height of the pickup body was minimized to the extent possible and the top surface radiused so the right hand can move smoothly from in front of the pickup to resting on top to picking on the fretboard side of the pickup body and damping with the back of the hand on the bridge side of the pickup body. This is an important ergonomic improvement over many of the vintage string through designs made possible by the modern neodymium magnets.
George has put together a a console model that will feature the B8, he will be posting more details and videos on this.
With the B Series I am taking the best qualities of the vintage string through pickups but refining the design to be more compact and easily retrofittable to a wide range of of both vintage and modern lap steels.
The B8 is available on a custom basis for other 8 string lap steel mounting arrangements, please contact me for details.
Also of course there is a B6 six string version, available for both standard 50 mm humbucker and also 50 mm P90 type mounting arrangements.
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Scott Swartz
Steeltronics - Steel Guitar Pickups
www.steeltronics.com |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 17 Apr 2021 1:10 pm
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| How about a 58mm 6-string spread like the Gibson racetrack/wide oval pickups and their lap steel-specific P-90s? |
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Scott Swartz
From:
St. Louis, MO
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Posted 17 Apr 2021 2:22 pm
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Jack, I could stretch a 6 string spacing version to 58 mm easily, however the magnets are in the 4 corners of the rectangular cover, so it would not fit it a flat oval shaped rout.
If there is a version with the 58 mm pole spacing and a rectangular rout it may be possible.
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Scott Swartz
Steeltronics - Steel Guitar Pickups
www.steeltronics.com |
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Jim Fogarty
From:
Phila, Pa, USA
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Posted 17 Apr 2021 2:39 pm
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| I have the 6 string version of this pickup in my Georgeboards steel, and it's OUTSTANDING. A perfect combination of clarity and guts. Highly recommended. |
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George Piburn
From:
The Land of Enchantment New Mexico
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Posted 17 Apr 2021 3:20 pm B8 Boxcar - it's the one.
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Hello from GeorgeBoards
For those who don't know I've taken the last 3 years to learn how to make my GeorgeBoards Lap Steel Guitars completely ourselves.
This means the design software, the 3D router Robotic Software, the actual robotic Router.
I've been tightening up the designs at a micro management level.
I saw the Boxcar thread and contacted SteelTronics offering to make a short run of S8 Consoles
with a custom pocket to house the B8 BoxCar, set up to my spacing specs aka 3/8".
We both feel this is a super opportunity for "Real Steel Players" to have a new GeorgeBoard Long Scale 24.5 S8 Console with the BoxCar SteelTronics Pickup .
Click>> This video << of a Sapelle Wood 22.5 that is already sold as a kit guitar.
Click This Video of the 24.5 S8 Sapelle Wood Console.
Click This Video of the Walnut Wood 24.5 S8 Console
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GeorgeBoards S8 Non Pedal Steel Guitar Instruments
Maker of One of a Kind Works of Art that play music too.
Instructional DVDs
YouTube Channel |
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Eric Moon
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 18 Dec 2023 10:37 am
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Just bought one of these, 8-string wide mount. Looks beautiful!
Wondering about how to mount it, so that it doesn't move when I put my hand on it.
Any thoughts? Will foam such as used with bass pickups be firm enough to support my hand without flexing? I'm going to have to rout out the cavity, so I can make the depth pretty accurate... |
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Levi Gemmell
From:
New Zealand
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Posted 18 Dec 2023 4:45 pm
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What a great development! I'm looking forward to hearing how these sound. These are the first pickups I've seen that I'd consider retrofitting to my John Allison Stringmaster-style console...
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Commodore S-8
John Allison S-8
JB Frypan S-8
Sho~Bud LDG SD-10
1966 Fender Super Reverb |
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Tony Oresteen
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 22 Dec 2023 4:30 am
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Scott: PM sent
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Tony
Newnan, GA
Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8 |
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