Introducing the LightSound 2pup

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 3 Sep 2012 9:11 am

This product provides a totally non-destructive, non-invasive means of adding a second pickup to the neck of a 10 string steel guitar.

The system is composed of a thin Lace Sensor pickup (model USAB) and a leg mounted box providing a 3-way switch (Les Paul Style), a master tone control, a master volume control and a pull-pot to reverse the polarity of the Lace pickup to switch it out of phase with your permanent bridge pickup.

The Lace pickup slides under the strings and is pressed down to the fretboard to which it adheres with sticky pads which leave no residue and can be adjusted for tackiness. It plugs into the box, the guitar output plugs into the box and the box output goes to the volume pedal.

Who is this rig for? It is for a steel player who appreciates the range of color that is available on 2 pickup guitars and would like to explore this expanded range on a steel guitar. This would describe me. I have long wondered what a second pickup could do. I simply could not be more pleased with the results.
I'm seeing more steel guitars custom ordered with 2 pickups. This provides a retro-fit option without milling out your steel.

The pickup is sized for 10 string steels. I have a report in the field that it may be a hair too small:

"....the signal strength of the 1st and 10th strings is very slightly lower than the others. It doesn’t bother me...."

I play 12 strings exclusively. It does NOT cover 11 or 12 strings. I use it anyway and I'm loving it but I repeat--it does not cover more than 10 strings.

The price for this rig:

--pickup and control box: $250

This includes shipping, Paypal and Forum donation.
Any location that causes me concern re: shipping expense, we will have to talk about extra shipping charges.

Here is some discussion of this project:
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=1940004

Edited to add this link to the For Sale section:

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=232778

.

Ron Pruter · Post by **Ron Pruter** » 4 Sep 2012 12:15 pm

Very interesting. The Shobud has a wider spacing than some, hence the loss on 1 and 10. With Out of phase and a pan-pot, that could give you an adjustable amount of out of phase. Simply by allowing one Pup to be a little louder, you can infinatly vary how much Out of phase you want. I like this. Ron

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 4 Sep 2012 12:48 pm

Thanks for looking & for the comments, Ron. When I was prototyping this I tried two vol pots and was unimpressed with the bang/buck ratio. I'm finding myself far more interested in the color range from moving the pickup around. I have a habit of loving knobs & switches---I built a guitar that could do EVERYTHING---3 pickups, series/parallel/phase/1 & 3/1,2,3 etc..........Spent more time messing with the controls than playing the thing. I decided to keep this relatively simple.

I worded this poorly-----my Sho-Bud (in the pictures) is a 12 string and the pickup just doesn't come close. The person who is testing the rig has 10 string guitars, (no Sho-Buds). He made the comment about strings 1 & 10. He also saw my post quoting him and wrote back "The weak strings are very slightly noticeable, most people won’t hear it. I wouldn’t worry about it." but I felt the need to mention it as a matter of.... whatever.

Per Berner · Post by **Per Berner** » 4 Sep 2012 9:56 pm

Neat! But...what does it sound like?

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 5 Sep 2012 2:08 am

Well---you know how hard it is to describe stuff like this. I will say that it has 100% validated my interest in trying this. There are a lot more colors available on a steel guitar than what you get when you place a pickup within the first inch of the end of the string butted up by the bridge. Nothing makes this clearer than this rig.
Certainly if someone has totally found the sound they want and don't wish to explore further, this unit makes no sense.

Hopefully there will be a video soon.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 5 Sep 2012 4:22 am

What an awesome idea and execution, Jon. I may be checking into this in the near future.

Ron Pruter · Post by **Ron Pruter** » 5 Sep 2012 3:08 pm

Jon,
I have been curious for a long time, why the parallel wiring option, of adjacent coils within a humbucking pick up, is not used with steel guitar. It seems like a perfect fit. Instead people use the noisey option of splitting a humbucker or even tapping a pick up which makes for a poorer signal to noise ratio. Any thoughts? Ron

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 5 Sep 2012 3:53 pm

You know, Ron--I mentioned a grab-bag of wiring options but the truth is, I was just referencing guitar tech schemos and working with 4-lead pickups. I didn't know the what or the why of what I was doing and I really don't bring any insight to the subject of pickup wiring schemes and I can't take your ball and run with it.

Interesting question if anyone's got any thoughts. It actually deserves its own topic in Electronics.

Dave Hepworth · Post by **Dave Hepworth** » 10 Sep 2012 7:31 am

This looks a superb idea.However will it be suitable for a GFI Ultra as the string height from neck is smaller than a conventional steel.
What is the height of the lightsound pup?
Regards Dave

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 10 Sep 2012 11:46 am

Hi Dave. Thanks for the interest.

There are a couple of variables in the pickup height. The way I am currently shipping it with one layer of pad, it is approx 15/32" (12mm) tall.
This is just about perfect with my Sho-Bud which has strings approx. 9/16"(14.2mm) high.
My Fessenden has higher strings and calls for an additional pad. The pickup can also be adapted to be 1.5-2 mm lower than the 12mm.

Regrettably, I don't have gear that is up to the task of precise measurements so these numbers are only approximate.

I'd discuss these dimensions with all users in order to ship the pickup ready to go with the optimum fit. It also ships with additional pads so that it can be fitted to any other steel you wish to use it with.

I'm very interested in the string height of your Ultra if you could provide me with that data.

Larry Bressington · Post by **Larry Bressington** » 10 Sep 2012 6:46 pm

Well done Jon, what you are doing is brilliant sir!

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 11 Sep 2012 11:27 am

Larry--thank you. That is exactly what my cat says when I open a can of cat food with a can opener.

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 14 Sep 2012 4:07 pm

I finally found a couple of minutes to sit down and doodle this. Sorry if it sounds like I'm attention deficited. I'm all over the place. I hope to post better played (and better annotated) stuff soon.

The summary---this begins with the permanent pickup--a BL 912--and I proceed to run through different switch positions. The take away? The Lace pickup position at fret 24 makes it much broader spectrum, high fidelity with a deeper bottom. You can really hear it with the wide grip playing. And the reversed polarity A&B sounds somewhat thin single coil with a bite. This position really shines in an overdriving situation as I hope to demonstrate.

clicky clicky.. http://picosong.com/wZmg
.
.

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 15 Sep 2012 4:23 pm

Great product!

I'll post a video as soon as I can get my Franklin working (mechanically).

Gary Glisson · Post by **Gary Glisson** » 18 Sep 2012 4:24 pm

hi jon sent you a pm
thanks gary

Ron Pruter · Post by **Ron Pruter** » 20 Sep 2012 1:11 pm

Jon,
Very nice. Lots of good sounds, nice, in tune, playing also. Now this presents the question of "which sound should I use? A nice dilema indeed. Ron

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 20 Sep 2012 2:56 pm

Thanks Ron. If you ain't creating dilemmas, then you ain't living.

I'm working on a product revision. Getting the pickup height perfect for every steel is tough. Although I'm providing enough extra sticky pads to custom tailor the mount, I am working on adding a trim pot to the box so you can tweak the output for better balance with the permanent pickup. A slight millimeter too close to the strings on that neck pickup with its fatter harmonic content and there can be a noticeable volume jump when you flick the switch.

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 30 Sep 2012 2:43 pm

This lousy picture taken with my lousy phone will have to do while my camera refuses to cooperate with the computer.

This is 2pup2. A slight upgrade as per the above post. Trim pot on the side is a volume control for the Lace pickup. It gives better ability to control the balance between the two pups in the event of imperfectly matched heights and/or outputs.

This is now the standard for this unit.
.
.

Jim Palenscar · Post by **Jim Palenscar** » 12 Oct 2012 6:19 am

I'd like to give kudos to Jon and this great product. I received mine at the shop and it is a very well designed product that performs as it should w multiple options for varying the sound from your guitar- all w no permanent changes to the guitar itself and I'd like to invite anyone to come try it for themselves at the shop.

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 12 Oct 2012 11:42 am

Thank you Jim. I appreciate the kind words a lot.
I, too, invite anybody out there who is interested to check this out at Steel Guitars of North County.

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 12 Oct 2012 11:57 am

Ron Pruter wrote:Jon,
I have been curious for a long time, why the parallel wiring option, of adjacent coils within a humbucking pick up, is not used with steel guitar. It seems like a perfect fit. Instead people use the noisey option of splitting a humbucker or even tapping a pick up which makes for a poorer signal to noise ratio. Any thoughts? Ron

While I haven't experienced that option myself, reading I've done in the past about guitar wiring suggested that running humbucker coils in parallel sounds thinner than splitting to a single coil. Thus a trade-off with hum reduction.