Scottyʻs Prototype#2 : Real Horseshoe pickup??

[Robert Franklin]

Howdy, folks. I recently bought this odd steel guitar,the infamous Scottyʻs prototype,

IMG_1648.jpeg

and my question is, is this a for-real horseshoe pickup or just a fancy cover for looks? How do I tell? Should the horseshoe be magnetically attractive? I tried sticking small objects to it , to no avail..... Looking forward to your replies!

[Rick Aiello]

I remember those … It was not magnetic …

[Robert Franklin]

so, itʻs really not a horseshoe pickup?

[Mark Evans]

Deluxe palm rest?

[Michael Kiese]

so, itʻs really not a horseshoe pickup?

Aloha Robert,

Well, that’s a loaded question. lol. It is a horseshoe by appearance, but not function. That doesn’t mean that your steel doesn’t sound good, because beauty is in the eye/ear of the beholder.

The horseshoe steel surround in your steel are not magnets. They’re there for looks, and are acting as a faraday cage for the internal magnetized bobbin.

Normally the horse shoes are 2 magnets that are oriented to oppose and push against each other, which creates a magnetic cloud, and the copper coil is a bobbin within the magnet with iron nails as polepieces. Very ingenious and clever design which surrounds the coil in a focused magnetic cloud. What a cool design for the very first electric guitar pickup. I don’t think they had alnico available at that time in the 1920s when it was being designed.

So to sum up, your pickup looks like a horseshoe, but doesn’t function like one.

But if it sounds good, it sounds good.

Enjoy!

[Robert Franklin]

Mike,
Thanks for this helpful post. Although Iʻm disappointed that I was misled by the seller, I still really enjoy the sound of this frypan lookalike. There is a pretty noticeable single-coil hum which reduces when I place my hand on the "cage"....The tuners are nice, It has tons of sustain, looks cool and has a pro-quality case. I would be interested in any comments on the history of this unique instrument......