|
Author
|
Topic: Dobro Effects
|
Bill Simmons
Member From: Keller, Texas, USA
|
posted 25 November 2004 06:34 PM
profile
Are there any special tricks or ideas how to get a dobro type sound (close to it) on the steel guitar without using a Profex or Matchbro? Would a certain hard plastic material for the bar work?? Thanks. |
Bart Maloney
Member From: Houston, Texas (from Tomball, TX)
|
posted 27 November 2004 06:56 PM
profile
I think I heard that a piece of wood for the slide either gives you a banjo sound or a dobro sound. I am not sure which. If I play with a wood 'tone bar' on my dobro it sounds like a banjo. I am sure someone on here knows for sure. ------------------
"Keep on Keepin' on"
www.bartmaloney.iwarp.com |
Brian C Peters
Member From: Eagan Minnesota
|
posted 28 November 2004 06:22 AM
profile
Bill - Fellow formite Jerry Erickson aka "Muttonhead" showed me a trick of using an old MXR or Boss 6 band EQ pedal. This was years ago, but if I remember correctly, starting from left to right you would dip the first fader to the max, then increase the next fader it's max, ect... Maybe if Jerry reads this he could confirm this, or correct this. Brian |
Roger Kelly
Member From: Mount Carmel, TN. 37645
|
posted 28 November 2004 07:13 AM
profile
Saw off about 3 1/2" from a Broom Handle....that's what Billy Bowman used for his Dobro sound. Cheap and effective. |
Steve Howard
Member From: High Ridge, Missouri, USA
|
posted 30 November 2004 03:38 AM
profile
Brian,I tried this out on my Boss EQ pedal yesterday and it worked great. I would bet that the matchbro would be a better solution, but have to admit for already having the BOSS EQ pedal in the arsenal, sure is a easy tweak to make the PSG sound very much like a dobro. Great tip! |
Darvin Willhoite
Member From: Leander, Tx. USA
|
posted 30 November 2004 05:43 AM
profile
Bill, check with Mike Brown at Peavey. He sent me some graphic EQ settings several years ago that got pretty close to the Matchbro sound. I've still got them somewhere, but it may take a month to find them.------------------
Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording
|
Mike Brown
Member From: Meridian, Mississippi USA
|
posted 01 December 2004 12:15 PM
profile
Here are the settings that an engineer and I came up with when comparing a new DOBRO and emulating it on a 31 band equalizer;
Using the 12dB scale of the equalizer, adjust the 160Hz. band to plus 6
adjust the 200Hz. band to plus 3
adjust the 630Hz. band to plus 3
adjust the 800Hz. band to plus 4.5
adjust the 1kHz. band to plus 6
adjust all other bands to -12(cut)Again, this is not an exact duplication, but it's close. |
Steve Howard
Member From: High Ridge, Missouri, USA
|
posted 01 December 2004 01:25 PM
profile
Cool, so all I have to do is go out and buy a 31 band EQ huh  |
Bob Lawrence
Member From: Lwr Sackville, Nova Scotia, Canada
|
posted 01 December 2004 01:52 PM
profile
I have an article from "Steel Guitar In Germany" - Wolfgang Bednard. It shows a 11 band equalizer with 11 sliders that go from
0db (center) and slide down to minus 10db or slide up to plus 10db.The settings are only approximate, the photocopy is not all that great. I made up the scale to describe the diagram. 31hz = - 9%
62hz = -10%
125hz = -10%
250hz = -10%
500hz = - 9%
1khz = +9%
2khz = -10%
4khz = +8.5%
8khz = +10%
16kz = +9.8%
Level = 0% (middle) He used a Boss RGE-10 to get a excellent "Electric Dobro Sound". |
Jim Smith
Member From: Plano, TX, USA
|
posted 01 December 2004 03:13 PM
profile
Bob, are your numbers really percentages, as in -10% is 1/10 of the way from 0 to completely negative? It seems that you probably meant it to be completely negative.  |
Howard Tate
Member From: Leesville, Louisiana, USA
|
posted 01 December 2004 05:25 PM
profile
I remember when Gene O'Neal used to sit in with us he used a piece of wood. He also had a sitar bar. He made everything sound good.------------------
Howard, 'Les Paul Recording, Zum S12U, Vegas 400, Boss ME-5, Boss DM-3
http://www.Charmedmusic.com |
Joey Ace
Sysop From: Southern Ontario, Canada
|
posted 01 December 2004 05:53 PM
profile
Bob's numbers would have to be dB.A +-10% swing wouldn't produce the steep notch of a Reso. |
Alan Rudd
Member From: Franklin, Tennessee, USA
|
posted 03 December 2004 09:31 AM
profile
Has anyone heard of a pedabro? I'm not sure if it considered a fair sounding substitute for the dobro or if it is even available any more. I'm not even sure who made it. Was it Boss? |
David Spires
Member From: Nashville, TN USA
|
posted 03 December 2004 09:40 AM
profile
Alan,I think you really mean a MatchBro (made by Goodrich with Buddy Emmons), as an effect to make a steel sound like a Dobro. I use it all the time, and for getting Ped-a-Bro licks (the Ped-a-Bro is the actual pedal dobro instrument built by Paul Franklin Sr. - a work of art, more costly than a Pedal Steel, and another instrument to carry), it is the best way to get a Dobro sound out of a pedal steel - in my opinion. The MatchBro is not made anymore, but I keep asking Goodrich to get back at it. If mine ever quits, I'll be in a world of hurt! Sincerely, David Spires |
Erv Niehaus
Member From: Litchfield, MN, USA
|
posted 03 December 2004 10:50 AM
profile
Then there's the "Cat" can reso made by Duanne Marrs a few years ago.
Erv |
Jim Bob Sedgwick
Member From: Clinton, Missouri USA
|
posted 05 December 2004 02:12 PM
profile
Guys, if you want to emulate a dobro sound, here's a relatively cheap way. Buy a cheap cry baby wah pedal. You turn it and on mash the pedal to a certain place (you'll know it when you hear it). Take your foot off the pedal and play. It's real close to the Match Bro sound. I learned this trick from a standard guitar player. He used a Morley pedal, but the cheaper ones work also. |
Dave Boothroyd
Member From: The Malvern Hills
|
posted 06 December 2004 04:59 AM
profile
There are two aspects to think about if you are trying to emulate a resonator guitar.
The first is the acoustic filtering effect of the cones. That accounts for the "guitar down a tube" sound, and it is basically a comb filter where harmonic frequencies are boosted or cut. An EQ will copy that.
The second is the peculiar pitch envelope created by mounting the bridge on a moving component- the cone. Banjos play out of tune all the time for the same reason. As the skin flexes the pitch varies during the duration of the note.
You can get a similar effect with a bar which is so light that it does not damp out all vibration during the attack phase of the note so it allows the string to play partly out of tune for an instant- that's why the broomstick works.The Cat can design actually gets the floating bridge effect direct. The only other way to go is to use a modelling guitar or effects device which takes its pitch from the string, then shifts it up and down as the note plays to get the same result as you would from a floating bridge- and that would be able to copy the EQ settings as well.
I hope this explains why you are getting advice in two different directions, one to do with tone and the other to do with bar material and technique.
------------------
Cheers!
Dave
[This message was edited by Dave Boothroyd on 06 December 2004 at 08:36 AM.]
|
Alan Rudd
Member From: Franklin, Tennessee, USA
|
posted 07 December 2004 08:41 AM
profile
Yeah, I spoke with Mike Smith who told me what I was thinking was the Matchbro. It is what he uses. He also said he thought they might be in the process of making them again. |
The Steel Guitar Forum
