Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on April 16, 2018 at 7:06am

Depends on your string spacing, but you might be better with a pair of P Bass pickups.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on April 16, 2018 at 7:35am

The P Bass pickups are a good recommendation.

You could also use 2 Lipstick Tube pickups wired in series. 

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Permalink Reply by Jon Leslie/Runaway Veal Music on May 10, 2018 at 12:58pm

Thank you for the pbass pickup idea for lap steel ...any suggestions on which pots and capacitor are better suited for bass pickups considering its for lap steel? I have some Wilkinson pbass type pickups that are about 9.3 ohms. I’ve never used or installed a bass pickup only guitar pickups. Also I have no idea since the pickups are already joined by a wire already which would be the pickup closer to the bridge etc...does it matter in this situation ? Thank you again.

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on May 11, 2018 at 6:06am

If you use P Bass type pickups, they single coils so use 250k pots and .047cap, just like you would on any single coil pickup.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Leslie/Runaway Veal Music on May 11, 2018 at 6:59am

CBJ,

Thank you the reply!. Glad I asked.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on May 11, 2018 at 10:12am

If they sound too dark, you can go up to 500k pots and .022 cap or even use 1meg pots depending on the tone your looking for.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Leslie/Runaway Veal Music on May 11, 2018 at 3:25pm

Looking to make it sound bright and lush but not harsh....I guess I’ll know how the pickup sounds once it’s wired...never had a bass pickup so I’m not sure how it so supposed to sound if it was used on a bass and not a lap to begin with....

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on May 12, 2018 at 7:42am

My avatar guitar has the Pbass pickups with a 250k volume only and works fine for that.

Usual slide guitars can be bright sounding or you can go for the usual guitar tone.

Start with the 250k pots and .047 cap like CBJ suggested, then increase the volume pot to 500k, then consider a .022 cap if it's still darker than you want.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Leslie/Runaway Veal Music on June 9, 2018 at 8:07am

Well, the pbass pups are cool and there’s a beginning of a cavity. Reading my fill of pbass pups. I understand the way to wire to the pots etc but HOW THE HECK DO YOU HIDE The extra wires that not only join the two pups but stick out of the bottom of the pups instead of the side like guitar pickups. Cant seem to find a decent pic of the manner in the two pups joining wire stays hidden. Most likely I’m having a mental block and even if I used a pickguard still odd..

The cavity is gonna be different as it’s a lap steel not a pbass. Still the extra wires.... Do they go under the foam somehow? Seems like the pickup covers would cut into the wires. Very confused here and been reading and looking at pics of pbasses but not sure..

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on June 10, 2018 at 7:47am

I had to cut the wire on my guitar to wire the pickups to a 4-way switch and the pickups come through the top from the bottom, so no problem with wires.

Most guitars  mount the pickups in a pickguard or mount to the body in cavities. The cavities usually have holes drilled to route the wires or a channel to run the wire and cover with a pickguard.

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