Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello steel people.
I came accross this lovely Electro Lap Steel at Mansons in Exeter.
I was actually looking at basses but couldnt resist!
The serial number is EK442 and its all original and in excellent condition with its original case.

Its got a good range of tones and its for our guitarist to use onstage although I
am learning a few licks on it just for my own enjoyment.
The only potential snag is that he HS pup is really microphonic at volume which may be a problem when
its used in anger onstage.
I would be happy to replace the pickup with something thats relatively quiet and keep the HS tucked away so that I could
return it to its original state if need be.
Could anyone suggest a suitable (pref Ric) replacement that I could drop in without altering a lovely vintage lap?

Very cool. Put the HS PU in yeour bass!

The issue with a replacement PU is the string spacing (total width) so you will need to find one that accommodates that. As much as I'd hate to recommend him for ovbious reasons, Jason Lollar is supposed to have some proper sized pickups like this one for steels such as MSA, Sho-Bud, etc. that may fit with minor modification.

Thanks to John Hall I think I might have a Ric soloution.
When I get around to it I will go for a toaster on a mount that fits the current Hs pup mount and tuck the Hs away safely
incase I ever want to return it to original spec.
A smilar or the same one that guys use on their 4003 basses to install a toaster in place of the treble pickup.

Incidentally, does anyone know what guage strings Steve Howe uses on his Stringmaster?
I notice that he has another 4th string instead of low E according to the backstage video he did recently.