National single-cone pickups comparison *** UPDATED ***

[snakehips]

Hi there ! **** UPDATED POST ****

Testing the pickups installed in 6 of my vintage National guitars.



In order of appearance :

1. Polychrome Triolian (1930) - Highlander pickup system with it's internal preamp
2. Duolian (1934) - Highlander pickup system with it's internal preamp
3. Style N (1932) - wasn't working - the Highlander pickup wire to phono plug solder joint has failed/shorted (it wasn't the preamp, as I expected !)
4. Style O (1930, all-steel) - Highlander pickup - with an external, in-line Phantom-Powered preamp (Triton "BigAmp Piezo")
5. Style O (early 1930, all German Silver) - Headway "National Steel" pickup & internal preamp - but a custom-order version
6. Duolian (1935) - Headway "National Steel" pickup & internal preamp - but a custom-order version

If you can get to the end of the video without being bored stiff, tell me what you think of the guitar pickup sounds !
Best listened through quality speakers or quality headphones.

The Highlander pickup company made the best resonator piezo/transducer pickup system - but they have closed their business (due to retirement).
I have been looking for a suitable replacement pickup system for some of my Nationals.
From this video, can you tell which ones have Highlander pickups installed, and which ones have the new "mystery" (Headway "National Steel") pickup in this video ?

Unfortunately, while testing, one guitar's pickup wouldn't work. (Guitar 4 - National Style N)

I can tell you though, that two guitars have Highlanders, two have the new pickup system, and the other has another slight surprise.

I will identify which pickup uses what pickup system at some point, in the "Comments" section of the YouTube.

I'm hoping you think ALL the guitar pickups sound good - but which ones do you like the best ?
I play some bass runs, chords, up the neck, and play some bottleneck/slide to try and show a range of what the guitar needs to do.
Do any of them sound harsh, or have that horrible piezo quack ?

For recording this video :

Guitars are plugged into a Bose Tonematch mixer, in their own separate channel, all with flat EQ, and into a "generic" in-house PA system in the rehearsal studio I was using (not expensive !). Actually, two guitars had a bit too much bass just before I started recording the video - so I turned down the bass EQ on those guitar channels. In hindsight, I think I had the guitars too loud, which over-emphasised the bass. I should have turned the volume down a little, instead of the bass. As a result, two guitars seem to lack a bit bass - as I ended up turning down the volume a little on both guitars !

Recorded with a ribbon mic (Viking BM9) in the room, into a UA Volt preamp, then into my iPhone SE (v2).
I was trying to record what the guitars sound like through a "standard" PA system - using a pair of powered PA speakers (15" + a horn)

Tell me what you think !

[snakehips]

Here are the guitars, including the troublesome pickup wiring in my 1932 Style N (the one with the strings off) :

Attachments:

[pete1951]

As someone who has lost some hearing ( mainly treble) I can only say that each one sounds great.
Pete

One possible change to the recording set up would help me make my mind up . I would have liked a stereo version. One channel with the unamped guitar sound, one through the amp, I could then pan between the signals and hear the difference.


A lot work has been done to get 6 Nationals ( ok 5 ) fitted and tested full marks to Snakehips for his dedication to the search for (louder) tone.

[snakehips]

Hi Pete,

I faced the guitars away from the ribon mic, that was behind my right shoulder, and further back, and higher in the room.
The PA speakers were a fair bit in front of me (behind the iphone camera), pointing towards me (and the ribbon mic).
This was to try and limit how much the mic picked up my guitars acoustically (and why my speaking was too quiet in the video).

I think the Highlander preamp in my Style N died during sound-checking the guitars for similar volumes, JUST before I recorded this video.
I nearly recorded a Highlander preamp die in real-time, on video. It worked fine early that morning, at home !!
It did the thing all the others did - be intermittant, then lots of crackling, then a fizz that gradually reduces in volume, until no sound at all.
So, there's no time like the present, to be looking for new pickup systems !!!

[gordon]

That was cool ! Like Pete said, bravo for the work you're putting in.
After one listen with a bluetooth speaker, I'd say I liked how they all sound but I think I prefer the first three, the last two sounded a little weaker, thinner in the trebles but the bass was still good. No noticeable piezo quack, but something missing in the high end to my ear. Obviously each guitar sounds different anyway...
I don't currently have a Highlander in a resonator guitar but I remember when I did I liked the sound but sometimes found it too dry.
Whatever the answers are, you manage to get them all sounding good.

[snakehips]

And the guitars just acoustically :

[leeophonic]

Another tip of the hat for drawing comparisons, it is rare that they are all under the same roof and that you can give them a good thrashing to give illustration to the tone and attack of the different variants helps those to aim for their ideal guitar (resonator).

Any more video/film shorts of you and the guys playing hokum and blues

Regards

Lee

From the sunny south

[snakehips]

Hi Lee,

Hoping to be involved in another of Richard Rinn’s sessions at the end of this month - and even a wee pub gig with us all.

I’m not sure the guitars sound all that different on the video !!
Think they all sound good though

[snakehips]

Hi again !

OK, time to reveal the pickup brands - perhaps you won't be too surprised.
I'll update my first post too, so it's eeasier to see while watching the video.

1. Polychrome Triolian (1930) - Highlander pickup system with it's internal preamp
2. Duolian (1934) - Highlander pickup system with it's internal preamp
3. Style N (1932) - wasn't working - eventually found the pickup wire to phono plug solder joint has failed/shorted - will try & fix. (it wasn't the preamp, as I expected !)
4. Style O (1930, all-steel) - Highlander pickup - with an external, in-line Phantom-Powered preamp (Triton "BigAmp Piezo")
5. Style O (early 1930, all German Silver) - Headway "National Steel" pickup & internal preamp - but a custom-order version
6. Duolian (1935) - Headway "National Steel" pickup & internal preamp - but a custom-order version

The Headway pickup systems do have a different tone than Highlander pickups - perhaps a little more piezo quack in some parts of the audio spectrum.
Sustain is good though - especially with a slide - better than the Highlander, in my opinion - it might not show well in my video.
The bass notes have more clarity than with the Highlander pickup system, again in my own opinion.
I do believe the Headway pickup system is the closest/best pickup system for those that would have sought a Highlander pickup.
Unfortunately, their stock pickup system is not ideal for installing into resonator guitars with full length neck sticks BUT perhaps if you are interested in buying a system from them, you might request the same (or similar, to suit your guitar) "Custom version" that I had made for me.

The only other pickup system that I felt was professional enough, for a biscuit-bridge style resonator guitar, was the Fishman "Nashville Biscuit" pickup - as it had a strong pickup signal and good string balance. The tone unfortunately, was a bit harsh piezo, AND rather annoyingly, it sound much more like a nasal Dobro, than a National ! I bought one, installed it to try it out - and promptly sent it back for a refund. Nah ! Didn't like it AND it was v expensive.

If Highlander pickups were still available though - I would chose Highlander over a Headway pickup system.
Will be interesting to see how I feel about that in a few years though.

Unlike the Highlander, the one pickup system's internal preamp can be powered either with a 9V battery located somewhere inside the resonator guitar, or by shorting the 9V battery "clip" (that you normally connect onto the terminals of the battery), you can use external power.
I tried both my guitars first with 9V batteries inside the guitar (as per the video), but have since removed the batteries - and used my Highlander battery boxes with a stereo jack cable - and that works just as effectively.

By the way, I was very impressed with the Triton BigAmp Piezo preamp.
At just under £60, it is a high quality but relatively low-cost option to boost your passive pickup. Much cheaper than using a dedicated guitar preamp that has a small EQ section - that you will then feed into a PA system (that probably has more comprehensive EQ adjusting capabilities any way).
Triton also do one for magnetic pickups, for just under £45 - ideal for magnetic reso pickups if you plan to put them into a PA system. They are powered by the PA's Phantom Power.
Here are the two in-line preamps (you can plug the preamp directly into a PA channel's XLR imput, and plug the guitar's jack plug into the other end, or connect up via an XLR-to-XLR cable) :

www.gear4music.com/Recording-and-Computers/TritonAudio-BigAmp-In-Line-Preamp-for-Piezo-Transducers/3R9O
www.gear4music.com/Recording-and-Computers/TritonAudio-BigAmp-In-line-Instrument-Preamp/3R9N

(PS. I don't work for Gear4Music !)

Well, I hope some of that might be useful to someone.

[Michael Messer]

When it comes to plugging in a National or National-style guitar, nothing can touch Highlander pickups, whether it's the iP-1x single cone system, or the Magnophonic tricone system. They were the best when they were invented in the mid nineties and nearly thirty years later and they are not even in business, they are still the best. The only thing that is better than a Highlander is a microphone, and nothing, no matter how clever, can ever equal what a microphone can do because it is not stuck inside the guitar. Resonator guitars have too many overtones, harmonic resonances and just overall presence going on for an internal or magnetic-type pickup to ever do the job as well as an out-front microphone. It is much like the human voice, we can't stick something down our throats and plug directly into a PA system to amplify our voices, it could never sound like it does from a few centimetres or metres from our mouths.

Shine On
Michael