Silver Hawaiian Pickup setup

Exploring the beauty and tone of Rickenbacker Lap Steels

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big_mike

Silver Hawaiian Pickup setup

Post by big_mike »

just bought an early Silver Hawaiian serial number D270 and there were no strings on it and all of the pickup mounting screws were loose. Which way does the pickup go? on one side the "pole" pieces are higher than the other. It is a gradual rise. I turned it so that the raised pieces are on the treble side but now I wonder if this is backwards, both the "nut" and "bridge" are plated brass. There is only a volume control and no tone control so I assume by previous posts I have read that would make this pre 1936. The body is plated steel (I thought these were brass) were the early ones steel like the early plated Nationals? It is hard to get the pickup adjusted so the low string does not buzz on the magnet. Is there some horse shoe pickup setup reccomendations somewhere on the net?
rshatz
RRF Consultant
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Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 11:31 am

Post by rshatz »

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond to this question. I have been away from my collection for several months and couldn't check the setups on my Silver Hawaiian and other instruments with similar pickups until very recently.

All my prewar Rick lap steel guitars(10)with adjustable height horseshoe pickups have the pole pieces set at equal height nearly flush with the spool. This makes sense in that the pickup height adjustment can be raised or lowered on either side. If it were me, I would try to push the pole pieces in so they are all even and almost flush.

The serial number is probably meaningless. The Silver Hawaiian was introduced in 1937 and had only a volume control until 1939. Your instrument was made during this era. They were usually chrome plated brass, but steel was also used.
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