Amplified Dobro

Tony Davis · Post by **Tony Davis** » 15 Jul 2005 3:18 am

Yesterday I was in guitar shop here...saw three resonators....one Biscuit one round neck low action and one square neck...raised strings...all tuned to G....I tried out the round neck and the square neck just using their bar and no picks...very impresed with the sound...and aso impressed that the square neck had a built in pick up............so today I took my bar and picks and plugged it in...the volume unplugged was a bit more than most dobros I have played and a true Dobro sound...and plugged in it still sounded the same only louder !!!! same sound and tone........so I bought it...was about $500 Aus...which is about $350 US....I managed to get him to throw in a stand for that price to.
It is a Martinez brand..never heard of it...prob Chinese built...but it is nice woodwork nice cone etc...........bu the main thing is that the pick up is mounted just at the end of the neck and is a Dan Electro Lipstick....apparently they are still made by other companies............but the sound is just solid Dobro only louder
Tony

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 15 Jul 2005 7:46 am

All right! Now they're starting to get the pickup right.

Tim Tweedale · Post by **Tim Tweedale** » 16 Jul 2005 8:44 am

Can you post a soundclip of the pickup direct into your computer?

-Tim

Roy Ayres · Post by **Roy Ayres** » 16 Jul 2005 9:50 am

Tony,

My first real steel guitar was a Dobro-style with some unknown name. I played it awhile by "pooching" my belly out in front of a microphone. When I started playing night clubs in a noisy environment I found that I must find some means of amplification. I took the cover plate off, attached an old carbon telephone mouthpiece mike directly to the cone, ran the wire to a jack I installed in the side of the guitar, and replaced the cover plate. You would not believe what an authentic Dobro sound it produced when plugged into an amplifier. That would be a cheap arrangement for you to try out. You can use the carbon mike from an old telephone, which you can often find cheap at a flea market. For experimental purposes you can run the wire out through one of the holes in the cover plate. It is a crude way to accomplish amplification -- but (at least in my case) it worked well.

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Tony Davis · Post by **Tony Davis** » 16 Jul 2005 8:18 pm

Tim...I dont have a Mic for this computer or he know how.....but believe me....it is the best I have ever heard.
Roy...I might try that on my other dobro sometime...would you believe I chuckd an old telephone away two weeks ago !!!!

Tony Davis · Post by **Tony Davis** » 19 Jul 2005 3:55 am

Hey Roy!!!..I just casually aquired an old telephone today..wont say how......have pulled out the Mics.....will mess with them when I get time over the next few days.....willlet you know the result
Thanks
Tony

Chuck Fisher · Post by **Chuck Fisher** » 19 Jul 2005 10:08 am

hmmmmmmm, did you add a battery in series to the carbon phone mic? It shouldn't work , otherwise. Perhaps you used the earphone as a mic, (this would work although who knows how well)?

Interesting on the lipstick pup, btw!

'gardz,
CF geek at large

Tony Davis · Post by **Tony Davis** » 20 Jul 2005 2:41 am

OK Chuck.....I have both earphone and mouthpiece mics out of an old phone......as soon as I get time...bit busy at the moment.....I will put a socket on them.....drop them inside a couple of my acoustic guitars and see iff they work....and if so may stick one on to the resonator of my old dobro...see what it sounds like.....as it is early 30's model I dont want to go drilling into the
wood...maybe attach socket through hole in cover plate...will post results
Tony

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 20 Jul 2005 6:38 am

As a kid, I would take a pair of old headphones and instead of listening through them, I would clamp them around an acoustic instrument, plug it into my amp and it would act like a pickup. I assume it would be akin to a telephone headset.
Erv

db · Post by db » 21 Jul 2005 5:47 pm

I bought a McIntyre "Feather" pick-up that gets stuck to the cone.
I haven't installed it yet.
I'll let you know once mounted.
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Dan Balde
U-12/8&5, S-7/D 3&1, S-6/E,A & G3

[This message was edited by db on 21 July 2005 at 08:40 PM.]

Mac Lloyd · Post by **Mac Lloyd** » 26 Jul 2005 5:40 pm

Hey Mate-

Sorry I didn't catch your notes earlier. Phantastique ideas. What a nice idea with the Danelectro stuff. Until I can get a couple more gigs under my belt this month I'm giving fair warning,(Don't know if its the same as fair dinkum) that no antique telephone is safe in town.

I'm not giving away my secrets, but if you yell scary things in the phone, the older ones generally start weeping, you can find them from that point on.