4001 -- New model of the week!

[jps]

John, is the horseshoe pickup original? I thought they were gone by '69?

[Lost Coyotes]

Nice, John!
What do you have there?

1969 4001 LH, Mike.

I affectionately call it, 'mine'.

The name fits it perfectly!
Congratulations! Absolutely a beauty, a lefty, and all yours!
And it must be rare among the rare, too. I don't recall seeing or hearing of many '69s

[leftybass]

John, is the horseshoe pickup original? I thought they were gone by '69?

No Jeff....You are right in that they were gone by '69---at least the evidence points to that. I am pretty certain it would have had an early high-gain there from the factory. It has a mid to late-80s h/s now....I am just as interested in why it's there and how long....IMO a while....probably bought new in the 80s for the bass.

[jps]

It looks good there; I would just keep it on the bass.

[wints]

So i'm a *^%#*@$%, am i Wints? in that case, i want my money back .

*^%#*@$%, = Great Guy!

My Feb 69 has it's original horseshoes, and I mean original, not from a lapsteel, but the Dec 68 has a hi gain. As ever YMMV...

It's all good...

[johnallg]

Andy, is there a difference between original and lap shoes from the same period? Shape?

[wints]

They are exactly the same John, which is why you can drop them straight into a bass from a lap steel.

[rickfan60]

They are exactly the same John, which is why you can drop them straight into a bass from a lap steel.

+1

[rickfan60]

I did a project thread on how to build you own horseshoe pickup back in about 2004 but it apparently did not make the trip to the new forum program. Here is a picture of the nearly finished pickup.

[johnallg]

Thanks Andy and Ted. The two sets I've got from laps are more flattened from the pic Ted showed, and are both even in height above the coil. I was curious and asked because I wondered if the bass ones had the rise on top and not flatter.

One of my sets is from my '62 lap steel, and the other set from a homemade lap I bought that was made from Rick parts. Unfortunately that one had a coil that was open so I'd have to rewind the 8 pole coil to use it.

Also, in case anyone is concerned about raping my '62, I put a bass higain magnet under the pickup coil and a bass chrome plastic cover on the lap and it sounds amazingly like the horsey magnets did. Now if I was any good at playing it....

[Lost Coyotes]

I did a project thread on how to build you own horseshoe pickup back in about 2004 but it apparently did not make the trip to the new forum program. Here is a picture of the nearly finished pickup.

assembly-wo-sm.jpg

Aww, man!
I'd sure like to read that, Ted, and I'm sure many others would. Any chance you could re-do the highlights for the new forum?

[rickfan60]

Sure. At the risk of angering the ghost of Jerry Byrd I can repost the pics and some instructions. I made two of those pickups and sold them both. A while later I was asked by the purchaser of the first one to make another. I had the materials but was reluctant to do it. The thought of vandalizing another 50's vintage lap steel just did not appeal. In the end I really regretted it because the one he wanted required me to disassemble a transition high gain (ouch). After all was said and done he claimed the pickup did not work properly and has bad-rapped me here about it ever since. But that is another story.

John - In my project thread I strongly suggested using the leftover magnet from the bass to make the lap steel work again. I am glad you did that. While not period correct it does prevent an otherwise fine instrument from being useless.

[johnallg]

John - In my project thread I strongly suggested using the leftover magnet from the bass to make the lap steel work again. I am glad you did that. While not period correct it does prevent an otherwise fine instrument from being useless.

Ted, I had very strong qualms against taking shoes off a lap. It all started after I had listened to David Crosby's "If I Could Only Remember My Name" again and I've always loved both the album and the steel work on it. I found a '62 Electro lap auction and when it did not sell, contacted the owner and made a deal for his asking price shipped. Then reality set in when I tried to learn to make it sing. It sat for a couple weeks and then the devil took me and I pulled the shoes and made a horsey for my '91 4003MG BT bass I never really bonded with. After that change and putting in a '73 neck higain this bass is now one I both love the tone of and the feel. Since I still wanted to play the lap, putting a bridge higain magnet under its coil seemed the natural thing to do. More than satisfactory. and assuaged most all the guilt.

[leftybass]

So i'm a *^%#*@$%, am i Wints? in that case, i want my money back .

*^%#*@$%, = Great Guy!

My Feb 69 has it's original horseshoes, and I mean original, not from a lapsteel, but the Dec 68 has a hi gain. As ever YMMV...

It's all good...

I guess that this could mean that my '69 (April) could have had a horseshoe in it rather than a high-gain, but I have no way of knowing really.....ymmv a lot...there aren't any new screw holes for the surround....

[rickfan60]

Didn't Jeff Rath's '68 have a horseshoe with a high gain style surround?