Mojo lapsteel pickup

downbytheriver

I’ve wanted one of these for ages - arrived today....

Plan is that it goes in this...

Looking forward to making this work! 

WezV

Looking forward to seeing it, I have held off buying one myself 

paulnb57

Ive had two of these pickups one that had a Strat shaped backplate which I sold on (nothing wrong with it) and I still have one of the rectangular ones that used  to be in a Tele Coodercaster, it sits in the parts box waiting for me to do something with it. Nice pickups, but Im crap with a slide….the way they are made makes it difficult to mix with other pickups, but Mojo have a diagram to help you out, you need a superswitch too…I might just do an Esquire Tele with it…

downbytheriver

Maybe a new body would be the way to go here - I can reuse the neck and gold foil from the existing tele (which has various build issues, as usual for my builds!) I’ve a feeling an esquire approach might render benefits. Head scratching. 

paulnb57

You could fit it to the Tele you already have, mod the scratchplate to fit and change the control plate for a chrome one….

downbytheriver

paulnb57 said:

You could fit it to the Tele you already have, mod the scratchplate to fit and change the control plate for a chrome one….

Which to be honest was my original intention! 

I’ve got a new plan - let’s see how it plays out. A couple of mock ups coming up I think

paulnb57

Watching with interest…

paulnb57

@downbytheriver …..this is all your fault!

Guess what Im doing this afternoon?

Luckily I have a blank scratchplate…the knobs are not right but Ill have something in the parts stash….

downbytheriver

I’m liking it already! 

CasperCaster

They are interesting pickups but are a pain to use (location on the instrument; compatibility with other pickups) given the vagaries of their construction. @paulnb57 I'd be tempted to move the pickup closer to the bridge than where you have shown it on your mockup above - given that the bass and treble coils are electrically out of phase with each other (but not magnetically) you may encounter volume issues if you bend heavily with the 'D' or 'g' strings. 

downbytheriver

Sorry. Life’s been a bit busy… mock-ups…

1st - the Tele like object- excuse the finish, I had started stripping it. 

2nd - rough cut Strat shaped object… it’s quite thin…. 

3rd - same piece of mahogany, thinlined with a maple top… again rough cut



I also have another Tele blank glued up from pieces of pine - I would also thinline that… 

and finally I have another alternative but I’ll keep that up my sleeve for a little while … I think it might be the best of them all! Patience!!

downbytheriver

CasperCaster said:

They are interesting pickups but are a pain to use (location on the instrument; compatibility with other pickups) given the vagaries of their construction. @paulnb57 I'd be tempted to move the pickup closer to the bridge than where you have shown it on your mockup above - given that the bass and treble coils are electrically out of phase with each other (but not magnetically) you may encounter volume issues if you bend heavily with the 'D' or 'g' strings. 

Cautions noted but it was never going to be straightforward! Mock-ups will keep us straight, probably

paulnb57

Dont wish to mess up this thread but heres progress on mine so far

downbytheriver

Looking good @paulnb57 ;

downbytheriver

Final option - a bit disappointing… 

lovely Tele master white limba body from Booboo- but the pickup/bridge overlaps with the control plate - I think this is my favourite but I’m scratching my head

downbytheriver

I’m thinking raise the bridge/pickup so it overlaps the control plate… or possibly the other way round might be better. It’s that or start metalworking which is far from my strength! The perfect solution would be a combined bridge/control plate of course! And yes I will be getting a chrome control plate - in fact I’ve probably got one somewhere. A wooden control plate might be a good solution - either cut down to fit or similarly cut down as a spacer under the chrome plate….

Winny_Pooh

Get a chrome tele plate and file in a half moon cutaway to make space for the pickup. The switch and pot will have enough metal left to grip on. 

WezV

yeah, i would just file the cheaper part to fit

paulnb57

If you raise the bridge plate chances are youll have to shim the neck…..file the chrome plate to fit..

downbytheriver

paulnb57 said:

If you raise the bridge plate chances are youll have to shim the neck…..file the chrome plate to fit..

Yeah I pretty much agree with that - but I could raise the control plate… no I think you guys are right, file time