Vorson LT-230-8 TR

[Tony Oresteen]

I was on a road trip to Amarillo TX and stumbled upon a Vorson LT-230-8 TR (Transparent Red) 8 string lap steel in like new condition in Erwin's Pawn Shop. After some negotiations I walked out the door with it for $175 cash with the gig bag.

https://www.americanmusical.com/vorson- ... T2308-LIST

It has active electronics driven by a 9v battery and two extra EQ knobs.


Here's the tuning it has on it from low to high:

Bb Eb Ab Bb Eb G Bb Eb

Anyone know what this tuning is?

Anyone using a Vorson?

Thanks!

[Nic Neufeld]

Maybe you could make the case it was:
5 1 4 5 1 3 5 1

Like an Eb but with a fourth/11th?

Honestly it probably just was detuned whether by time or somebody goofing with it. If that Ab was actually a G and the whole thing was down by a half step it would be a sort of open E tuning (more likely than Eb I'd think)

[Tommy Martin Young]

The Ultimate Jazz/Folk Chord!(?) I initially saw it as DADGAD with an F#!

Looks way bizarre until I mapped it out by scale degree and you see that if you detune the 6th string from G# to G you get a good ol' fashion Open Eb chord (lo to high 51351351)
Nic for the win!!!

[Tony Oresteen]

Thanks all!

At first I thought it had been de-tuned but 6 of the strings were flat by just a little, 1 was a bit sharp. I guessed on the 6th string as it was in-between G & G#.

I'll go with Open Eb. Most likely the previous owner was playing with a horn section or a guitar player tuned down 1/2 step.

I did find Vorson's web site. It's in China and has the lap steel info as of 2016:

http://www.lanyao.com/English-website.htm


EDIT (Dec 17, 2022): Their site has changed. Here's the correct link:

http://www.lanyao.com/product/Guitar/LT-230-8.html


And the company owner playing one on You Tube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE2Y2SbWGPE

[John Chadwick]

Hi Steel Folks,
I know this an old thread, but wondering if anyone can answer a question related to the topic of the 8-string Vorson.
I did in fact pick up a used one last summer after a random trip to a guitar store in upstate New York.
I know these cheap imports aren't for everyone, but I jumped at the chance to get an 8-string at an affordable price.
The instrument plays fine, and has decent tone.
The one thing that's weird is that it's not very loud. For example, say my amp volume is at a 2 or 3. I could turn the Vorson volume all the way up to 10 without hurting my 64-year-old ears. But I could never, ever do that with my Gretsch Electromatic. It would strip the paint off the walls.
I suspect this has something to do with the active electronics in the Vorson. But I want to note that even with a fresh 9v battery, the volume issue is the same.
I don't mind it all that much. I am a non-pro and am not in in any kind of a band situation at the moment.
But I would like to know why this is happening, and whether anybody would advise removing the active electronics and putting in a regular pickup.
Thank you and Happy New Year.

[Nic Neufeld]

I couldn't find any manuals online for it, but I gather the four knobs -may- be volume, tone(?), bass and treble. If the tone is a conventional passive tone roll-off, that's a little odd to have with an active EQ circuit. Do some of the knobs seem to have a center detent where motion stops? If so I'd assume that is the active bass and treble. Personally if it was me, I don't really love active electronics so I'd be tempted to swap them out but that is a very personal decision. I replaced a soapbar pickup in my SX with a Lace Alumitone bass bar and was happy with the results. But if you did go to a passive pickup you'd probably want to replace all of the electronics which would be a bit of a chore.

If it sounds good to you in general of course you can always keep it on. I would say try to figure out what each knob does exactly (if you take a pic of the electronics chamber with the back cover off, we -might- be able to understand it a bit more...also, maybe not ) and you could also test it without a battery...are you getting the same weak output with the battery completely out of the circuit? If so maybe something went bad with the electronics and you are just getting a weak passive signal from the pickup.

[John Chadwick]

I couldn't find any manuals online for it, but I gather the four knobs -may- be volume, tone(?), bass and treble. If the tone is a conventional passive tone roll-off, that's a little odd to have with an active EQ circuit. Do some of the knobs seem to have a center detent where motion stops? If so I'd assume that is the active bass and treble. Personally if it was me, I don't really love active electronics so I'd be tempted to swap them out but that is a very personal decision. I replaced a soapbar pickup in my SX with a Lace Alumitone bass bar and was happy with the results. But if you did go to a passive pickup you'd probably want to replace all of the electronics which would be a bit of a chore.

If it sounds good to you in general of course you can always keep it on. I would say try to figure out what each knob does exactly (if you take a pic of the electronics chamber with the back cover off, we -might- be able to understand it a bit more...also, maybe not ) and you could also test it without a battery...are you getting the same weak output with the battery completely out of the circuit? If so maybe something went bad with the electronics and you are just getting a weak passive signal from the pickup.

Thank you Nic for this very generous and thorough response. I appreciate it. You have a much better command of the electronics than I do, and some of your questions I will have to get back to you on. I can tell you that the 4 knobs include volume; plus an equalizer that doesn't do much and tone controls that also are a little baffling. Also note, with the battery out, there is no sound at all. One more question, and this probably shows my ignorance, but is it a big job to just dispense with the active electronics and put in a P90 pickup? I wouldn't do it myself but there's a great place nearby that works with all manner of lap instruments. Thank you! JC

[Nic Neufeld]

Thank you Nic for this very generous and thorough response. I appreciate it. You have a much better command of the electronics than I do, and some of your questions I will have to get back to you on. I can tell you that the 4 knobs include volume; plus an equalizer that doesn't do much and tone controls that also are a little baffling. Also note, with the battery out, there is no sound at all. One more question, and this probably shows my ignorance, but is it a big job to just dispense with the active electronics and put in a P90 pickup? I wouldn't do it myself but there's a great place nearby that works with all manner of lap instruments. Thank you! JC

It's probably not a big deal if you wanted to do that...any competent guitar shop should be able to do it. What you would likely need is 2 new potentiometers, one for volume, one for tone, a capacitor for the tone knob, and the pickup itself. Because your current wiring has 4 knobs you could just leave two of them in place with disconnected pots so you didn't have two empty holes. For the pickup itself, it might be tricky finding something to fit with the right string spacing. Ironically I have an 8 string P90 somewhere (came out of my SX but it doesn't sound great, hence why I removed it) but I don't know of where you can get those. A rail style 8 string pickup works pretty well because you don't have to have polepieces aligned (eg the alumitone ones). But if you have a local place that specializes in lap steels...maybe bring it in and chat with them? They may be able to advise you better since they can take a closer look at it...