Coodercaster Guitars ..

[jono1uk]

Hi 


Does anyone know of any company in the UK that makes Coodercaster style Guitars? 

(I have GAS) 

Jon 

[leeophonic]

Mojo Pickups makes the pickups so maybe he can point you in the right direction.

Lee

[jono1uk]

Thanks Lee been looking at them for last hour ..considering getting a body and building one up ..

[Michael Messer]

I have never tried a Mojo lap steel pickup, but I would do a bit more research before getting one. Looking the part and actually being the part are two different things. From my experience, apart from Jason Lollar's copies and real old Supro pickups, none of them are worth looking at. So my advice would be to either buy an old lap steel that sounds great and remove its guts, or get a Lollar one.

Another route is to get a 1950s Supro Ozark and just plug it in.



My Telecaster that I have used on every recording and gig since 2000 has an original '50s Supro pickup that was in a guitar I had owned since the early '80s. Although I was obviously aware of what Ry Cooder was using, it was not really meant to be a Coodercaster as such, just a Telecaster with that pickup installed. It also has a repro Danelectro lipstick pickup, which wasn't part of the plan, it just happened to be around at the time. I wasn't really looking for an actual Coodercaster sound (that word didn't exist back then), just a lap steel sound on a good guitar. I was fed up with playing various Supro and Valco guitars that had great pickups and looked cooler than cool, but were not good instruments. The instrument was made by Dave King, it has a maple and mahogany body, a bird's eye maple neck (which is oiled, not lacquered) and has been my main electric guitar since the day I got it 21 years ago.








The brass enamelled Oahu badge is from the guitar I took the pickup from.

Shine On
Michael.

[bonzo]

S'pose it looks alright! Lol! 😎😋😋🎸🎸👍👍

[pete1951]

I have made something similar, but found my usual electric guitar technique was not possible because of the pickup cover. I do have a couple of lap steels , and of coarse resonators with covered pickups or hand rests and have no bother with them, maybe I should have tried harder ? Next time a donor guitar turns up I’ll have another go.
Pete

[Michael Messer]

Pete, it has never worried me. I think that is because I am so used to hand rests on resophonic guitars. I tuck my hand up into it and can dampen the strings easily.

I prefer it with the cover on because those pickups are quite sharp and not very comfortable. It is upside down because it didn't sit right the other way up. It hasn't been taken off since the day it was put there in 2000.

Shine On
Michael

[pete1951]

I seem to remember a recommendation that the covers on Supro style pickups should be left in the original orientation. The steel top plate gets a magnetic charge over time, and reversing it can weaken the magnetic power of the pickups. It may well be that Dave King also reversed the magnets when he built it , which would stop that effect.
Pete

[Michael Messer]

Mar 3, 2021 16:48:46 GMT pete1951 said:

I seem to remember a recommendation that the covers on Supro style pickups should be left in the original orientation. The steel top plate gets a magnetic charge over time, and reversing it can weaken the magnetic power of the pickups. It may well be that Dave King also reversed the magnets when he built it , which would stop that effect.
Pete

Pete, I haven't heard that before, but I think there is probably something in that theory. Whatever Dave did or didn't do all those years ago, this is a wonderful sounding instrument.

Shine On
Michael

[pete1951]

That’s good news, I’m sure Dave would have done the right thing.
The real pickup killer is having one of the magnets reversed, they are removable, and some people love to tinker!
Pete