The Steel Guitar Forum

The tone I get on my National Tricone resonator (tuned in C6) does not sound as mellow as Jerry Byrd's on this video.
I'm in C6th. https://youtu.be/nudiAFnbYg0
I can get it to sound mellower by picking more toward the fretboard and staying in the middle of the string length. But it still sounds very nasally and "Sponge Bob-ish".
I've noticed Barney Isaacs sounds good too on his acoustic album with his Dobro and Tricone. I doubt it's the guitar!
Yeah, those guys have expert touch....is that mainly what it is?

Wondering if I should get heavier strings and tune to G6 or some other that would allow heavier strings and give a mellower tone.

I'd like to stay in the same "X6th" tuning shape instead of learning a whole new chord.

I think an all wood instrument would help. I'm going to get a raised nut and compare on one of my roundneck guitars just for comparison sake.

The dobro sound on Barney Isaac's album and the early Jerry Byrd/Marty Robbins videos are exactly the tone I'd like to have. But again it may be the player, not the material that the guitar is made of.

Would enjoy some feedback and recommendations.

You tune it to low to high EBDGBD like Greg Booth does, and get some great stuff.

gary pierce wrote:You tune it to low to high EBDGBD like Greg Booth does, and get some great stuff.

Thanks Gary, but I think Steve wants to stay in his familiar tuning and play Jerry Byrd sounds. My drop E tuning is a whole different animal and doesn't behave like a normal 6th tuning.

I think it's like Steve suggests, JB's tone is the result of the master's touch.

Hello Steve,

Don't forget that these recordings you listened to were EQed by sound engineers to make it sound good and can remove the brightness of a Tricone. Plugins that they use can also alter the original sound vastly.

I would try experimenting with a different bar; maybe bakelite, instead of a metal bar. And try different brands of strings.

To follow up Derrick Mau's point, I find the acoustic sound I hear coming up from the dobro in front of me is quite different from any recording of that sound or the sound coming back through a monitor. Generally, the close-in tone seems harsher to me. Especially when practicing under a low ceiling behind a music stand. So be sure to listen to a good recording of your playing before trying a bunch of new stuff.

Using heavier strings with G6 would be offset by the lower tuning--that is, the relative tension should be about the same if the gauges are correct for the two different tunings. So there shouldn't be much difference in the tone.

Try this: slow your practice tempo down initially, and try to dig in a bit more. You might play a little harder and you might try to push the string DOWN just a little as you move it sideways. This should result in a fatter, mellower sound. Eventually you should be able to get back to the original speed but with the bigger sound.

Thank you all for your replies!

I'll try all of the above.

I agree, that the recordings can be EQ'd, and the mic placement, room, etc.

I'll try a few of your suggestions.

I even have a baritone round neck tricone that I'm going to try a raised nut on. If it has a pleasing sound I may swap the next to a square neck baritone as I'm not using the round neck much.

I'd like to try the G6 tuning on the old standard tricone too.

I have a bar from Basil. I'm going to try plastic finger picks as well, instead of my metal finger picks.

I've listened to some of the Weissenborn recordings, not sure I like that hollow shimmering sound. I hear a lot of overtones or wound string noise on the tone of most of the Weissenborn recordings I've heard.

I bet the wood bodied National M1 tricone with a baritone square neck would sound awesome.

Hello Steve, how does this sound, its not Jerry, but then neither am I. My preference is to make my own sound and compose my own material.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhuDtZUn2SY

JK.

The lower G6 tuning with heavier strings will give the guitar a more "robust" voice. The mass of the heavier strings will drive the cones harder.

The G6 tuning will be "less bright" than C6.

Beyond that..It's in the hands.

h

I always use plastic fingerpicks on my tricone. I never take it out of high-bass A tuning, and I use about as heavy a string as I dare get away with.

I would also like to try a 6th tuning, so this topic of discussion is of great interest. My ideal 6th tuning, like Jerry's C6, would have the root on the bottom and the third on the top. Seems the relatively wimpy gauges for C6, especially on the lower strings, would not adequately drive the cones.

Has anyone experimented with A6 or G6 on their tricone, with the same intervals as C6, only with heavier strings? Comments?

I'm interested in general comments on this too. I've been playing with G6 low to high GBDEGB and I agree the tone is not as bright as C6.