Add a Second Pickup to Your Neck?

[Jon Light (deceased)]

I have finally found something I've been looking for---a way to add a second pickup to a PSG neck with no alterations, no milling. There is a bass pickup by Lace that is slim enough to slide under the strings with perfect clearance. I have made a box to clip on the leg that has a 3-way switch and a phase reverse switch and volume and tone pots.

The pickup, if you want to experiment for yourself, is a Lace USAB.

The pros---If this is something that interests you, it works really well and sounds really good, adding to the palette of sound. I especially like how the harmonic expansion works with distortion/overdrive.

The cons---the package will cost around $225. Also, when the phase is reversed the pickup has the noise characteristics of a single coil. I'm still experimenting with ways to shield it.

I'm still working on cleaning up the design and perfecting a sliding rig for the pickup in order to fine tune its neck positioning, both for tone and for optimal interaction with the bridge pickup, especially out of phase. I am also playing with different features such as individual volume controls (I'm not finding this very useful) or a volume control just for one pickup in order to blend in more or less--jury is out on that.

I am thinking of offering this as a package. And I also might just play it and drop the idea of marketing it. This poll is to get a very rough idea what sort of interest there is. I can't see this being of much interest to traditional country players but I could be wrong.

Oh---important---I play 12 string steel and this pickup is NOT big enough. It covers 10 strings just right. I'm making it work for me but I wish it were just a bit longer.

[Chris Reesor]

... until the last line. ( I play U12 )
Cool idea, though.
Maybe Lace will come up with a version for 6 string bass someday.

Cheers, Chris

[Jon Light (deceased)]

Yes, Chris--drag, that. Nowhere could I find specs on the pickup except for the mention that it would fit a 5 string. I was hoping.....
It is still quite functional for me. Especially for blues & rock, string 12 is not much in play and when played with both pickups on, the affect of one string dropping out of one pickup's field is somewhat minimized.

[James Holland]

I was looking at these, and some other slimline pickups a couple months ago, as a way to add a pickup. Depending on your string hieght, there are other pickups that will squeeze under the strings. Did you look at the Alumitones? They might straddle the neck. I might have to try one.

[Jon Light (deceased)]

Correctly, I was not expecting a flood. But the amount of response is gratifying. Thanks. There's no such thing as a negative response since I was seeking honest answers and I fully expected that many people would have no interest in this. I am, however, quite pleased (and not surprised) that there is some interest.

I will post when I am ready to present this as a product I am satisfied with.

One teaser:
I am working with the idea in mind that the tone control will be easily accessible to be used as a boowah, adding a level of versatility to this unit. If I can pack a corkscrew into it I might call it some kind of army knife.

[b0b]

I have a thin single coil pickup that's part of the old ZumSteel dobro simulator. I use it now and then. Just thinking out loud... I could probably add a mini jack and a blend control to any guitar to use it as a second pickup.

[Jon Light (deceased)]

It is a different approach (as opposed to equalizers and sound shapers) to exploring different tones and timbres. One thing I'm finding is that there are a lot of different harmonic colors up the neck. No surprise, of course. Same as how where you pick the string has a large impact on the tone, the ability to alter the pickup position opens up the picking up of different overtone profiles, an idea not lost on standard guitar builders & players. And with both pups out of phase, the position greatly affects the amount of cancellation and the amount of 'quack'.
Obviously many players will say "I've got exactly the sound I want...why mess with it?" to which I say "indeed. I wouldn't if I were you."

Yeah, b0b. Try it. The wild card is if your changer pickup is humbucker, finding out how the SC and HB work together. There may be a mismatch but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[b0b]

Last night I played with a local guitar player who is a real tone fanatic. Boutique amps, custom guitars, high-end gadgets, etc. - always looking for "that sound". He was blown away by the tone of my little 8-string Desert Rose, through a pot pedal into a little 20-year old Mesa combo amp. I told him it was a Truetone pickup, so now I think he's probably out looking for one.

Anyway, I think I'll stick with the single pickup for now. I have enough to worry about getting my hands to work properly. The equipment seems to generate the right sounds, as long as I can play the right notes.

[Donny Hinson]

I like the idea of a sliiidddding pickup better! That would give you more tone options without adding complexity, weight, and cost. I've seen some multiple pickup setups, but with the BIG pickups everyone makes nowadays, two of those giants will get in the way of many picking positions. With a sliding pickup, you could pick where you wanted, and on either side of the pickup!

I really thought that a new design "door" would open up at the turn of the century, but pickup manufacturers and steel builders alike mostly seem "stuck in the '80s".

We got (for a short time) composite bodies from one maker, and another maker recently came out with a one-piece aluminum body. Everyone else is stuck in same old same old. No real "style", nothing new visually, and very little, mechanically.

If I were a young player, flat boards with a couple of inlay strips and blocky machined parts wouldn't excite me too much...no matter how shiny they were.

Couple all that with the confusing and endless setups, layouts, and pedal arrangements, and we really shouldn't wonder why young people aren't flocking to this instrument.

We are our own worst enemy.

[Lane Gray]

You're so right, Donny.
I've noticed nobody picks Teles or Strats anymore, with those 50 year old designs.

[Donny Hinson]

Sure they do, Lane, and I'll be the first to admit it! There's a place and a clientele for those classic olde-timey designs.

But not everyone wants 50 year old looks!

In the straight guitar world, companies like Dean, Jackson, B.C. Rich, Rogue, Washburn, and even Epiphone are making some really eye-catching guitars, with shapes, colors, and designs made to visually stand out from plain vanilla Strats, Pauls, and Teles.

Young people today are more visually oriented than ever. They want wild, cool, strange, and different - NOT what looks like stuff that Les, Chet, and Luther played.

[Jon Light (deceased)]

I've solved some problems and refined some design and started ordering parts. I'm liking this more & more.

In addition to the tone control I've chosen to go with a master volume. I am unimpressed with the subtleties of individual volume controls so I've ditched that.
For me, the master volume control is useful in controlling how hard an overdrive pedal gets hit if it's in front of the volume pedal. And even if it's after the v/pedal I like to be able to just floor the pedal and forget about it, controlling the steel output/stomp box input with the pot.

Out of curiosity I hooked up a switch in the tone control to be able to take it out of the circuit in order to assess the difference between full 'treble' and tone bypass and I could hear zero difference so I will not wire a bypass in this box.

When I've got a final version completed I will post pics and announce this New Product.

[Jon Light (deceased)]

This is operational and in stock.

The sound clip is just a quick glimpse at its range. I hope to post some more stuff soon.


click me>> SOUND CLIP


click me>> 2pup in Buy & Sell

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