The Steel Guitar Forum

I'm gettin' pretty tired of lugging a mike and stand around...any suggestions for an add-on pickup for my metal bodied Dobro? I play mostly country blues on this particular instrument and want to keep the "metal" sound. I'd compromise a bit on sound in order not to drill into the instrument.....but will if I have to.
Thanks in advance,
Pete Hunt

I would recommend the "Schatten" (Shatten?) pickup. It preserves the acoustic tone of the guitar very well and mounts to the bottom of the cone so no drilling is necessary (unless an endpin jack is desired.) Mounting hardware is provided for both biscuit and cone type resonators.

The Schatten is a very good pickup, also you might want to take a look at the K&K sound pickup as well.

I've got a McIntyre pickup on mine, with the jack coming out one of the existing holes on the front of the body. Also an Audio Technica ATM350 works real good. Small condensor mic with a mini gooseneck that clips right on the resonator cover so you don't have to worry about a stand. Both work great.

Pete, I mounted a Shure Beta 98/S mic directly into the coverplate on my reso. It required drilling one hole. I believe that using a mic gives a more accurate acoustic sound than using a pickup. Just MHO, YMMV. You can find some pics here:

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=150983

If you don't want to alter a vintage guitar, you could always pick up another coverplate to modify and set aside the original.

HTH.

I installed a Schertler "Basik Reso" in wooden body 8 string dobro, and am quite pleased with the natural sound of the amplified signal. They are a little pricy, but it comes with an external pre amp (with volume control). I found Rob Ickes to be the lowest price for this PU. Best of luck, this can be a vexing problem