The Steel Guitar Forum

Hey guys I am not a dobro player but I have a question by a friend that plays dobro he is wanting to know what is the best way to amplify a dobro through and amp or sound system he had a rather cheap stick on pick up on his guitar but had no success with it at all so I said I would consult with the pros on this matter for him

Well, there surely are experts here, but there also is a Forum specifically for dobro:
https://www.resohangout.com/pages/forum/

...and there are a number of answers to your question, depending on how loud his band is, how much he wants to spend, how important it is to get ultimate fidelity (will his audience know or care?), and how invasive a method he wants.

A simple answer is:

Invasive - install a Fishman reso pickup (with insert) and get an Aura pedal.
http://www.resophonicoutfitters.com/product/JDFPUP.html
http://www.resophonicoutfitters.com/product/JDAura.html

Non-invasive - slap a Krivo reso pickup on the top and plug in and go...
(what I did, and works great)
https://www.krivopickups.com/store/p2/K ... tars..html

Steve thanks so much for those links. I never new about them my self. I will pass them on to him

Tonedexter

Oh...I didn't answer your actual question....a PA has a full-range sound, while an amp doesn't have the range of a PA. But either would probably work fine; I use both, depending on the situation.

What is the venue for him that he will play in?

Steve. he just does local jam sessions small halls nothing big just a small group that's into Blue Grass.

I have the Fishman pickup and run the signal straight into a Roland AC60 acoustic guitar amp, no Aura pedal. It may not be the Jerry Douglas sound, but the tone is very sweet and it is more than passable when playing in a bluegrass style.

Ah...so maybe just a DI for the pickup he already has on it? Or they might even have those at the jam session?

Steve Lipsey wrote:Ah...so maybe just a DI for the pickup he already has on it? Or they might even have those at the jam session?

You can do it that way, although it sounds like he’s got a Frap or something like it stuck on the top. I suppose it’s possible to get a good tone from them, but I never had any luck.

I played a gig a couple weeks ago with my setup and the sound guy took the signal from the Direct Out on the amp, which bypasses the preamp tone controls. The sound was acceptable, but a bit thin and harsh. Mic’ing probably would have been better.

Ideally, I think there should be a preamp somewhere between the pickup and the board so the player can contour the tone. If my Aura pedal still worked I would be using it with the Roland amp, and then the Direct Out would be more useful. I was only suggesting my signal path as a possible alternative.

*PS*
Steve, I suppose I have you to thank for this, but after I posted this I pulled my old Aura AST unit out of the closet and found out it still works. I used it on my guitar at a gig tonight and it sounded great! I have a patch in it for the dobro too. Thanks for inspiring me to get off my lazy butt and get some oldie but goodie stuff working 🤠👍

I've been using Gold Tone's ABS pickup system. It comes with a nice pre-amp which adds to its versatility. It clips on the tail piece. It can be a little feedback sensitive but once you figure out placement, it's a really nice set up. I also play plectrum banjo and it is designed to clip on the brackets as well.

It’s good that Gold Tone came up with a preamp for that unit. The one I had about 5 years ago was great for tone, but as Jim says, cranking any kind of volume from PA monitors was a futile exercise.

Has anyone tried the Myers "pickups" (just a mic, like the Goldtone). Jimmy Hefferen has a sample, and it sounds really good to me:

https://youtu.be/JL8KE5sxyM4

Douglas,

I have the Myers mic and like it a lot. Using it with my Gold Tone Beard Deluxe mahogany resonator. Plugged in to the Fishman Loudbox Mini amp, it works quite well. I use a right angle plug secured under my strap to minimize the wiggle of a straight 1/4" connector. The Myers is held on by a suction cup. Seems to hold OK.

Bill

Having the right pickup and preamp is half the equation (I prefer the Schertler Basik active pickup with a Baggs Venue Preamp).

But the amp or sound system is absolutely critical. "Guitar amplifiers" are horrible for resophonic instruments (note - "Dobro" is a BRAND name - the instruments are resophonic, or resonator guitars, mandolins, ukuleles etc)

A good acoustic amplifier WITH a resophonic preamp in front of it - and adjusted carefully in each location it's used - is the best stand alone system. And settings can''t be just set in one place and used everywhere else. Resophonic amplification systems (everything from pickup through amplifier) are very sensitive to a room's configuration, floor type, stage height, ceiling height and type and crowd size - settings will change in just about every venue.

And if it's run direct into a sound system it takes an experienced, trained sound engineer to eq and mix the instrument properly. Resophonic instruments, banjos and drums are probably the three ,most difficult common instruments to mix well.

Unfortunately most venues seem to put people on mixing boards based on their ownership of a soldering iron or willingness to volunteer. Most gigging resophonic players I know have learned the ins and outs of sound support and have to tell "mixers" how to set things - and then to leave them alone!!

Jim Spliff - You are, indeed, correct that Dobro is a brand name. However, I grew up in NC in the 60's and 70's, and listened to a lot of bluegrass at festivals and college bars. If you had called one a "resonator" back then, they would have given you a perplexed look. So, for me, Dobro is the brand, but dobro is just another name for a resonator (or TIFKAD - The Instrument Formerly Known As Dobro). And when I sneeze, I will ask for a "kleenex", not a tissue!

I have not lived in NC in many years. Where I live now (the Philippines) it would probably be called a "SLG" (as in, what's that strange-looking guitar?). But I suspect, up in the mountains of North Carolina and East Tennessee, most people would still call it a dobro.

And I hope you take my comments with the humor that they are written in - not a criticism at all!