Balancing output on a double neck steel

[Tom Wolverton]

I have a double neck lap steel with one neck significantly louder than the other. Is it possible to add a resistor in-line on the hot wire of the louder neck to bring the signal down a small amount? It will be a trial and error process. Do you think 10 ohms would do it? Or more like 100 ohms?

[Erv Niehaus]

Chances are it's the pickup.
Erv

[Tom Wolverton]

This pickups sound great. They are new. But are different designs. I just want to tame the really hot one a little bit.

[J Fletcher]

A 500kohm trim pot , configured as a volume control for the hot pickup , might be the answer.
Jerry

[Mike Auman]

Tom, J Fletcher got it right, you need a volume control for the hotter pickup (also called a voltage divider.) You can use two resistors to make one, like this. For R2 use 500k ohms to 750k ohms or thereabouts, and adjust R1 until you get the volume you want. I'd start R1 around 50k to 100k, then swap it out for a smaller value (less ohms) for more volume, or a larger value for less volume. When you get the two pickups balanced, solder in those resistors and forget about it. I don't know how your two pickups are wired, but put these resistors between the hotter pickup and where it joins to the colder pickup. If you put them between the colder pickup and the output, it will reduce the volume on that one too.

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[J Fletcher]

Well the advantages of using a trim pot over fixed resistors , easily and infinetly variable with just turn of the trimmer , no subbing in of resistors to find the right value . Tidier as there is only one component . If you want to make further changes later , you just adjust the trimmer . They are inexpensive , less than a dollar , though you can spend more depending on the package style and manufacturer . It seems a lot less hassle and more flexible to me.
Bear in mind that there might be some high end roll off , depending on where you set the trimmer . May or may not be noticeable .
As I don't know what the pickups are , or whether there are volume and tone controls , or if there is a pickup selector switch , or if perhaps the pickups could be balanced by adjusting their heights , this is a solution that comes to mind with the information given . Jerry

[Tom Wolverton]

Thank you all for the tips. What I have is 2 necks. One is a Stringmaster configuration, the other is a Supro string-thru. The Supro is the super hot pickup. The hot wires from each neck go to a selector switch (tele style), then to the tone and vol pots, then to the output jack. I’m thinking the trimmer pot could go on the Supro hotwire upstream from the selector switch. The Supro pickup is a Lollar. The SM pickups are Cavalier.

[Tom Wolverton]

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[Dave Grafe]

You can't do this by adjusting pickup height?

[Tom Wolverton]

No. It doesn’t get me there.