A testamonial on a Forum member

Lap steels, resonators, multi-neck consoles and acoustic steel guitars

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Michael Lester
Posts: 420
Joined: 5 Mar 2013 12:10 pm
Location: Illinois, USA

A testamonial on a Forum member

Post by Michael Lester »

Scott Swartz - Steeltronics Steel Guitar pickups.

A few months ago I acquired a 1950s National Grand Console D8. The guitar is in fine shape - being 70+ years hold.

At a gig with a 5-piece band in December, I discovered a big difference in the volume and sound of the necks. On the belly neck I had to have almost 95% volume knob versus the far neck at 50% - a lot of knob twitching at an inconvenient time. Quite a difference from the low volumes in my practice room

Starting with the old pickups, I searched the Forum and on-line hoping to just replace them with more modern versions.

No luck.

I have another steel that has a Steeltronics pickup in it that I really like. I contacted Scott Swartz and he suggested doing a thorough analysis, cleanup and rewind if necessary.

I sent Scott both pickups as well as the control panel.

I installed the whole rig last evening and it's like night and day different.

Scott concluded that the pickups were fine but some of the control parts needed attention.

I am very pleased with the result.
Rick Abbott
Posts: 2213
Joined: 20 Feb 2007 4:10 pm
Location: Indiana, USA

Post by Rick Abbott »

Scott and I corresponded by email for a few weeks regarding my Remington Steelmaster. I wanted new pickups and wanted them to have some very particular qualities. He answered every question thoroughly and made some suggestions for me to consider. He built three 8-string ZB-type pickups for me and I am truly amazed by them. These pickups are perfect. I took the steel to its first jam session last night. Even the banjo player commented on how great the Remington sounded. Haha. But seriously, everyone commented on how much they liked the sound of the guitar.

Scott is a genuine asset to our community, and he builds great pickups.
RICK ABBOTT
Sho~Bud D-10 Professional #7962
Remington T-8, Sehy #112
1975 Peavey Pacer 1963 Gibson Falcon
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