The Steel Guitar Forum

I posted about this on the Jerry Douglas Bulletin Board and also at Reso-Nation.

From the "well I'll be a monkey's uncle" department: Jerry Douglas playing a plugged-in Gretsch last Sunday evening at a JD Band concert in Connecticut. You can buy 15 of these for the price of one Beard JD Limited guitar. As reported on the JDBB, he's not yet sure if he's going to keep it, hence the Minnie Pearl hat-like price tag still on the guitar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnuE4y3CKzg

Later, Jerry wrote about trying out the new Gretsch on his forum. I don't think he'll mind if I post it here:

Here's the story on the Gretch.......I was in to see my friend James Pennebaker at Fender the other day just go gab for a second about amps and the Strat they built for me. I had seen the Gretches hanging there one time before and didn't give them much time, but this time thought, "I think I'll just see what everyone's talking about and take it home and check it out". It has my pickup in it after all.

What I was really curious about was how the pickup could make any piece of guitar sound. Well, the answer is it really works and makes any guitar sound fabulous. That statement is a tribute to the pickup more than it is to the guitar. The little $400 guitar is something to hold a great sounding pickup, the same as if you put a resonator cone and spider into a Silvertone guitar. You would a get a dobro sounding guitar. But not to the extreme that the pickup has elevated this Gretch box. Amazing though, really light and fun to play. They did a great job setting them,or at least this one, up. I Highly recommend it for an entry level slide guitar, square neck or round!

I found a very good case for the Gretsch. It's a GUARDIAN CG-035-SQ ARCHTOP TWEED SQUARENECK CASE. The company makes plain black, too, I'm just partial to tweed. It fits very well and wasn't very expensive. Ebay seller Clevelandpawn was selling for $129 I'm reluctant to use a soft gig bag because I don't wanna collapse the bridge and cone.

These resos sound like a million bucks beside the Gretsch lap steels that have been on the market this past half decade. They are wretched little beasts with a nasty, tinny sound.

IMO...

Sorry to drag this up again, just wanted to update. I picked up a Fishman Aura pedal (Jerry Douglas model) This "cheap little entry level" resonator absolutely came to life. I thought it sounded very good before, but this pedal and the installed Fishman Nashville pick up really pairs well together. The 16 presets all sound great, I really think you can just spin the dial and be pleased with any one it lands on. Playing it out tonight, can't wait

Now, I'm considering sending my Wechter-Scheerhorn to Beard for a pick up installation.

I have heard nothing but good things about those Aura pedals! It may be time to take the plunge... if I could just stop spending money on the instruments I am building right now.

I found a hot deal on a new Fishman Aura JD pedal on eBay last week from Andy's Guitars in Tallahassee, Florida. It was $225.55, delivered to Calif.

I just checked again and that deal is apparently over, no sign of it on eBay. Andy's does have these things for $250, and the going rate from most places is $280-$290.

It just came yesterday and I haven't had the time to fool with it yet. I have the less-than-optimum setup for it at this point: the Fishman "donut" pickup in my Clinesmith. Finance-wise I have to do these things incrementally: it will be either the Fishman Nashville p'up installed in the Clinesmith, most likely with the Schoonover modular spider, or it could be a guitar like the el cheapo Gretsch with with the pickup included, and leave the 'smith alone.

Since I'm spoiled by playing nice higher end dobros, I'm having my doubts about going with the Gretsch. It might be a little like a pedal steel player going from a high quality modern guitar back to something like a Maverick.

The litmus test will be for me to take the new JD Aura pedal down to the local music store where I test-drove the Gretsch awhile back where I ran the pickup straight into a 60 watt Roland acoustic amp as I wrote about earlier in the post with the quote in gray that I originally submitted on Reso-Nation.

When I did that test drive at the music store, they did not have the JD Aura pedal in stock for me to try the complete package.

Maybe I'll bring my Clinemsith down there as well to see just how poorly the donut pickup compares to the Nashville, also being run through the Aura pedal before the amp.

good to read about the assessments of the Gretsch Squarenecks ... I really like mine and the pickup sounds really good ... now I'm thinking about this Aura pedal to make it even better ...

I really don't think you'd be dissapointed with it, Mark. I'm used to high quality instruments, as well. The Gretsch isn't a typical dime store guitar. It sounds VERY good, especially thru the JD Aura.

I use my Gretsch for playing out in a kinda loud band environment. If I had a Clinesmith similarly equipped, I don't think I'd take it out. If my Gretschy gets damaged, not that big a deal, now if it had been a Clinesmith, high end Beard or a Scheerhorn... well, I don't even wanna think about it.

I've had the bobtail model for about a month, and it seems ok except the tuning machines seem very tight, and I've had some problem with an echo when played plugged in straight to the amp. What do you think could be causing this echo? Do you think running it through a volume pedal would help? I play I'm church, so extraneous noises are "frowned upon." As for the machines, should I lube them a little bit? I think the strings might be "catching" somewhere as well. Has anyone experienced any of these problems? If so, what did you do to remedy it? I welcome all tips or suggestions.

L. A. Wunder wrote:I've had the bobtail model for about a month, and it seems ok except the tuning machines seem very tight, and I've had some problem with an echo when played plugged in straight to the amp. What do you think could be causing this echo?

Perhaps I am misunderstanding you but...this sounds like an issue with the venue itself. I play in church from time to time and they are generally echoey places. Adjust your amp so there is no reverb at all (if your amp has that option) and try turning your amp backwards away from the congregation. Then remix until you get the sound you want. Having someone in the audience area giving you feedback is super helpful. Keep in mind that when the church fills up there will be less echo and definition from your sound, so maybe mix it with a bit more edge for definition.

PS> It could also be an issue with a pickup placement on the body of your guitar...