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Topic: Why Do SG Pickups require more Power? |
Larry R
From:
Navasota, Tx.
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Posted 6 Jun 2001 7:18 am |
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Why does it take more power to drive a Steel Guitar pickup than a regular 6 string guitar pickup?
I've played my steel through 100 Watt amps and couldn't get the volume out of them that I can with a 6 string tele.????/ |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 6 Jun 2001 7:29 am
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| It could be the volume pedal. Run your steel directly to the amp and see what happens with the volume. |
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Craig A Davidson
From:
Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2001 7:39 am
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Dewitt Scott jr. told me awhile back that steel pick-ups are wound hotter, so I would agree with Jack that it must be in your pedal or somewhere.
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1985 Emmons push-pull, Session 500, Nashville400, 65 re-issue Fender Twin, Fender Tele
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Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2001 8:00 am
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| Steel guitar pickups do not require more power than regular guitar pickups to reach a certain volume level. Usually they require less. Maybe your pickup is too far from your strings. |
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Darvin Willhoite
From:
Roxton, Tx. USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2001 8:13 am
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| I play Strats and Teles through the same setup I play my steel through and I get about the same volume with my pedal about half way down on the steel that I get with the Fenders wide open. The 710's on the steel I play most of the time, are really hot. |
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Larry R
From:
Navasota, Tx.
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Posted 6 Jun 2001 9:57 am
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| Then why are we using 200 plus watts of power where as a tele needs only an 85 watt or less amp (not running through a board of course)to have the same volume level? I've tried playing through several Fender Twins with my steel. They all start to bust up at about 5 on the volume knob (if you can trust that). I've also tried other steels with Geo. L's (10-1) and stock Mullen PU's, no change. Yet these same steel guitars pu's are very hot in the Webb and Peavey steel guitar amps. In order to get the same volume level and headroom, I find that I need power in the 200 plus watt range. |
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Craig A Davidson
From:
Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2001 11:40 am
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We need the power for the headroom so that the sound comes out clean. I use a Twin when I am in a small room or I can mic it. Otherwise I have to go to my Session 500 so that when I get down on it, it will still be clean. Also a Twin is designed with a hot pre-amp stage just for guitar,because pick-ups on a guitar are wound weaker than on a steel. When we send the signal from a steel into it we are already banging the front end. So what you end up with is something like turning your Peavey pre-knob higher than the post knob. Steel amps are designed with the steel in mind that's why you can plug into an Evans, Peavey, Webb, or any of the others and not get this. I hope I explained all of this right. It is how Dewitt Jr. explained it to me. To test it plug a guitar into a Nashville and set it for the way you like it. Then plug a steel in without changing anything. I guarantee the steel will be much louder.
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1985 Emmons push-pull, Session 500, Nashville400, 65 re-issue Fender Twin, Fender Tele
[This message was edited by Craig A Davidson on 06 June 2001 at 12:50 PM.] |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 6 Jun 2001 1:08 pm
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| I think the main issue is that most lead players like a little "overdrive", and steelers don't. The steel is known for it's ability to sustain chords and notes, and to "slur" everything together, and that's the farthest thing for most lead players minds (with the possible exception of the "Blues players"). Clean sustain requires gobs of power. The last "really clean" Country lead player is probably Leon Rhodes...also Jimmy Bryant, but hardly anyone remembers him nowadays. No one wants that sound either...in Country Music, anyway. |
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Ricky Davis
From:
Bertram, Texas USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2001 9:11 pm
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Amen Donny.
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Larry R
From:
Navasota, Tx.
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Posted 7 Jun 2001 8:50 am
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| Thanks for the lesson in pickups and amps. |
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