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Author
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Topic: Dobro Pickup Thoughts
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Tim Tweedale
Member From: Vancouver, B.C., Canada
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posted 29 August 2004 10:12 AM
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I was in Calgary over the last week, and I stopped in at the Long & McQuade guitar shop there. After inquiring about pedal steels I was directed to the guitar tech there, Tim Griffin. We got to talking about pedal steel, and he played me a really cool Jeff Bradshaw recording and showed me a couple of really crazy steel guitars he had in his shop (more on that later. Pictures also). But he also mentioned that he had built a dobro with a Fishman pickup in it. He let me play it, and it was a really good sounding instrument - dreadnought shaped body which I think gave it a really long sustain (big shoulders on that instrument). But I was really interested to hear the sound of the fishman pickup. So we took it to the acoustic room and plugged it into a yorkville acoustic amp.
It is very very live. Anywhere you tap on the body translates into sound; knock on the headstock and you hear it. If you are playing with a bass player and drummer, I would imagine this becomes a feedback monster. The sound is clear, which is good. It is not muddy and indistinct like I found the McIntyre to be. I'm still shaking my head over that pickup, asking myself "was it me? Did I do something wrong? Could it have been placed better?" But here's the real question: does the fishman pickup make a dobro sound like a dobro? And the answer is no. It sounds pretty much like a regular guitar with a piezo pickup, and if that's the sound you want, why not use that? In some ways it would be better for sound reinforcement than the Lace pickup because it is a little bit less harsh sounding, and would blend in with the miked tone better. In fact, I'd really like to hear a recording of that.
Having done a solid week of performances with my dobro, I am very happy with my setup - about 70% mic and 30% Lace. The mic, a Shure Beta 98/Super Cardioid mini condenser on a gooseneck that clips onto my dobro, has a really good polarity that rejects feedback very well. And the ART tube preamp warms up the tone nicely and allows me to boost or cut the level when I need to.
I'd like to hear about the Schatten pickup and also the Highlander, from people who use those. The banjo player in the band we were opening for had a really good sounding Schatten pickup in his banjo. I wonder how their technology works for dobro.
Anyways, that's all for now. -Tim |
Chuck McGill
Member From: Jackson, Tn
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posted 29 August 2004 11:29 AM
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Tim I have the schatten in my 60D and I love
the sound. I sell all their pickups and they
all have a natural sound. The dobro sound is
full and rich. Not just the honk. I highly
recomend the whole line. |
Tim Tweedale
Member From: Vancouver, B.C., Canada
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posted 29 August 2004 01:01 PM
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Seriously? I would love to hear that. Is there any way you can make a quick recording of that using your computer? Anything you can do to that end would be hugely appreciated. -Tim |
Bill Blacklock
Member From: Powell River, British Columbia, Canada
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posted 31 August 2004 10:08 AM
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Tim, I've been fighting with a McIntyre pickup in my dobro for about five months now. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for drilling a hole in my "Tut Taylor" dobro for that thing. Schatten pickups have a 30 day money back guarantee and no holes required, how can you loose. Im going to try the Schatten/dualie in my soon to be buit baritone weissenborn, Im hoping it will add less colour to the sound then the Sunrise. Good luck,Bill |
Jim Simon
Member From: Athol, Idaho, USA
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posted 03 September 2004 04:52 PM
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My 2 cents. Hope it helps. I called Mike Aldridge of Seldom Scene after hearing his Old Train album. His sound was 10+. Mike said that it takes a combination of magnetic, transducer and mic to capture the sound and be able to compete in a live situation. I used the floating neck pickup from a Gibson Johnny Smith and tried various transducers. Never did sound like Mike. Could it be the picks I used? |
Craig Prior
Member From: National City, California, USA
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posted 05 September 2004 08:41 AM
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quote:
Schatten pickups have a 30 day money back guarantee and no holes required...
Bill, that's true about the no holes required. But without the holes, it means running a wire out of a screen hole and down the front of the instrument. I drilled out the end pin hole and set the jack in there - actually, a bit heavier duty jack than the one that came standard with the Schatten (I got one through AllParts). I'm quite happy with the Schatten because it sounds exactly as I expected: like a pickup. A pickup/mic combo is probably the best strategy for getting a true resonator sound, but in a live situation with bass and drums, that's got "feedback" written all over it. Craig. |
Tim Tweedale
Member From: Vancouver, B.C., Canada
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posted 06 September 2004 11:51 PM
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I've been able to get my dobro pretty loud with no feedback, playing with a loud drummer and bass player. I go about 70% Shure Beta98s/c (super-cardioid) on a gooseneck attached to the coverplate and 30% lace sensor. That's the mix in the mains. On stage, most of what I hear of my dobro comes from the lace sensor pickup going through my amp. That way I don't have to battle feedback from my mic through the monitors.
As I recall, that's what Kevin Post (Terri Clark's dobro player) uses too (different mic, same idea).
Mic reinforced with Lace is the way to go! -Tim |
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