From - Tue Jan 21 14:40:11 1997 From: lasnin@earthlink.net (Lee Asnin) Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic Subject: Re: Pickup for Dobro? Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 00:46:49 GMT Linda Berris wrote: >Does anyone have a good suggestion for a pickup for a Dobro? I have a >new 'Hula Girl' model that I'd like to plug in for gigs. Any ideas on >installing a pickup versus just miking the beast? > >Thanks, >Linda Berris Linda: I just recently had a McIntyre pickup installed on my 1932 National Style N. I'm very happy with the sound. The pickup attaches under the cone, below the biscuit. The output jack easily attaches through the "F" hole. No holes in the guitar needed! (8^). I believe that Alvin Hart uses a McIntyre in conjunction with a magnetic pickup on his polychrome. He blends the two signals. I may give that a try later to see what improvement, if any, is achieved. Be aware, there are two McIntyre styles. One is for Dobros with spider type cones, and one is for resophonics with biscuit bridges. Your guitar is a biscuit bridge type. Hope dat helps! Lee (8^) ------------------------------------------------------ Lee Asnin lasnin@earthlink.net Arvada, CO "The seats on the train of progress all face backwards: you can see the past but only guess about the future." E. G. Boring ------------------------------------------------------- =============================================== From - Mon Jan 27 15:41:27 1997 From: lasnin@earthlink.net (Lee Asnin) Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic Subject: Re: How amplify a Dobro Metal body guitar? Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 14:54:47 GMT Organization: Earthlink Network, Inc. stevel@johnsonpress.com (Steve Leigh) wrote: >I have a Dobro metal body acoustic that I want to use on stage and >want to somehow amplify. I've invested in a mini-flex internal pickup >and a Fishman preamp with tonal control capability. > >But, I'm not yet satisfied with the sound I'm getting. Have tried >running it through both a guitar amp and our PA system. Neither are >giving me the results I had hoped for. > >Anyone have any experience with this or ideas I could try? > >--Steve Steve: Check out the McIntyre pickups. There's one type for Dobros with spider type assemblies, and there's one for National style guitars with biscuit/cone assemblies. I recently put one on my '32 National Style N and I'm quite happy with the sound. Hope that helps, Lee ------------------------------------------------------ Lee Asnin lasnin@earthlink.net Arvada, CO "The seats on the train of progress all face backwards: you can see the past but only guess about the future." E. G. Boring ------------------------------------------------------- ===================================================== From - Mon Jan 27 15:41:49 1997 From: Leonard Watkins Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic Subject: Re: How amplify a Dobro Metal body guitar? Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 09:53:34 -0600 Organization: University of Alabama at Birmingham Steve Leigh wrote: > > I have a Dobro metal body acoustic that I want to use on stage and > want to somehow amplify. I've invested in a mini-flex internal pickup > and a Fishman preamp with tonal control capability. > I play and perform with a National Duolian (solo) I went through all this. I finally took the advice of many folks and mic'ed it with a Shure 57, problems are over. I am 100% satisfied, I play delta blues and I sit down to play. It does limit my movements, but I never dance while I play anyway :-)....I also mic my Gibson L-00 with the same setup and I'm 100% satisfied with it. I highly recommend the 57 it works great on the national and the regular acoustic..... Leonard ======================================================== From - Mon Apr 14 19:34:39 1997 From: Leonard Watkins Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic Subject: Re: Amplifying National Duolian Date: Fri, 11 Apr 1997 08:21:28 -0600 Organization: University of Alabama at Birmingham Kay-Uwe Graw wrote: > > Does anyone has some experience and/or a recommendation for a > setup for amplifying a National Duolian for Solo-acts? > I am a solo act and I use a '32 Duolian. I tried everything and all kinds of pu's (except the Highlander) and far and away the best thing for MY TONE is mic'ing it with a Shure 57. IMHO mic'ing a resonator guitar is the only way to keep the resonating tone intact. A pu made mine sound like an electric guitar, the National tone was lost. In talking with Johnny Nicholas he said if you put a pick up in/on then you might as well play a Strat. He also said that if 'they' can't hear a mic'd National, then they aren't listening anyway. I play out and use a 57 and I'm satisfied with the sound. Sure it limits my movements, but I don't do much dancing while I play... You can check out my Duolian and the sound at my web page, which has files that are too large, but I'm working on it. www.dpo.uab.edu/~ldw/index.html Leonard Watkins =========================================================== From - Mon Apr 14 19:34:54 1997 From: rocksteady.no@spam.wport.com (rocksteady) Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic Subject: Re: Amplifying National Duolian Date: Sat, 12 Apr 1997 05:08:23 GMT Organization: humanity Leonard Watkins wrote: >Kay-Uwe Graw wrote: >> >> Does anyone has some experience and/or a recommendation for a >> setup for amplifying a National Duolian for Solo-acts? >> > > >I am a solo act and I use a '32 Duolian. I tried everything and all >kinds of pu's (except the Highlander) and far and away the best thing >for MY TONE is mic'ing it with a Shure 57. IMHO mic'ing a resonator >guitar is the only way to keep the resonating tone intact. A pu made >mine sound like an electric guitar, the National tone was lost. In >talking with Johnny Nicholas he said if you put a pick up in/on then >you might as well play a Strat. He also said that if 'they' can't hear >a mic'd National, then they aren't listening anyway. I play out and use >a 57 and I'm satisfied with the sound. Sure it limits my movements, but >I don't do much dancing while I play... Miking Nationals works a lot better than miking conventional acoustic guitars, since they are loud and the sound is very directional. Also you can vary the tone quite a bit depending on where you put the mike. Al ===================================================== From - Mon Apr 14 19:35:31 1997 Kay-Uwe Graw wrote: >Does anyone has some experience and/or a recommendation for a >setup for amplifying a National Duolian for Solo-acts? > >Kay I have a '34 Duolian and a '32 Style N. I initially was happy with the McIntrye pickup system. It provides a very "hot" signal. However, through more playing and listening with the McIntrye while "not plugged in," I felt that the pickup was affecting the tone of the Nationals. The pickup attaches with a gum-like adhesive to the bottom of the resonator cone, just beneath the biscuit. In my opinion, this attachement affected the tone too much for me. I felt the acoustic sound was deadened, I lost the "crisp" sound. I've removed both McIntyres from my Nationals. I recently have seen and heard both Corey Harris and Steve James in concert. They both play Nationals, Steve's vintage and Corey's a newer model, the "Islander." In talking with them, both Steve and Corey use the Highlander pickup system for resonators. Both Corey and Steve get great sound from their guitars with the Highlander. I'll probably be shipping one of my Nationals back to National Reso-Phonic Guitars to let them install a Highlander. You definetely want someone who knows what they're doing for this install! I believe the choices are; be like John Hammond and play with a quality mike set-up, or if you want a pickup go with Highlander. Highlander does have their own web page with lots of info. Hope that helps and happy resonating! Lee (8^), ' >-- >****************************************************************** >$ __ __ NOTHIN' Kay-Uwe Graw O $ >$ / `-' / BUT ,,, Institute of Computergraphics /|\ $ >$ |[====|||||||||||[:::} University of Rostock -"=o) $ >$ \__.-._\ THE ``` Tel. (+49) 381 4983417 / \ $ >$ BLUES kugraw@informatik.uni-rostock.de $ >****************************************************************** ------------------------------------------------------ Lee Asnin lasnin@earthlink.net Arvada, CO "The seats on the train of progress all face backwards: you can see the past but only guess about the future." E. G. Boring ------------------------------------------------------- ========================================================= Subject: Re: mike for dobro? Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 15:22:55 GMT From: hparker@fred.net (Howard Parker) Organization: FredNet - Frederick, Md. Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic References: 1 On Mon, 09 Jun 1997 22:17:39 +0000, sharon scott wrote: >this may have come up before. is there a best way to mike a dobro? my >brother plays and has considerable trouble getting decent volume no >matter where he holds the instrument in relation to the mike. is there a >mike that maybe attatches to the instrument itself? >thanks in advance. >dan in tn I believe that the Shure SM-94 (or is it 91) is a clamp condenser used by several players. About $350. HP ====================== From - Mon Jun 16 00:42:57 1997 From: WHOMEsshank@execpc.com (Scott R. Shank) Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic Subject: Re: mike for dobro? Date: 14 Jun 1997 01:59:46 GMT In article <339C80FF.38E4@highland.net>, shscott@highland.net says... > >(snip) is there a best way to mike a dobro? Short answer - no. But there are some mic choices that make more sense than others. If you are doing this with an all acoustic, no-one-plugs-in type band, I *strongly* reccomend the AKG C1000S. Tone for days, pretty decent gain-before-feedback. About $300US. Also good and considerably durable, the Shure SM57 and (better still) Beta 57. These don't have anywhere near the tone of the AKG, but are cheaper, extremely durable and very versitile (sp?) - if you get a gig with a rock band, you can always sing into it... If you're looking to put a mic *on* the instrument, the more-or-less standard is the Shure SM91 - this is what a lot of the custom builders and big-timers use. A preamp, like the Rane AP13 or the Fishman (model?) preamp will help alot in shaping sound. The Audio Technica 831 is also pretty functional in this application. It requires phantom power (both the Rane and Fishman preamps can do this for you too) Various pickups, such as the McIntyre and Highlander models, have their advocates as well. Some combination of mic/pickup is likely the best solution for a non-acoustic context. =========================================== From - Mon Jun 16 23:25:24 1997 From: Leonard Watkins Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic Subject: Re: mike for dobro? Date: Mon, 16 Jun 1997 15:25:17 -0600 > > brother plays and has considerable trouble getting decent volume no > > matter where he holds the instrument in relation to the mike. is there a > > mike that maybe attatches to the instrument itself? > > thanks in advance. > > dan in tn I play a national and use a Shure 57...I tried different pickups but none of them kept the National tone. The 57 has served me really well. In most cases if you are going to use a PU there is no reason to play a resonator guitar. The resonating tone comes from the cone and mic'ing the cone is the only way to capture the 'projected' tone. I place my mic at the bottom of the coverplate inbetween the handrest and edge of the coverplate..... Leonard ===================================== Subject: Resophonic Amplification...hmmm Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 08:30:46 -0600 From: Leonard Watkins Organization: University of Alabama at Birmingham Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic Remember ME. I am the one who swears by the Shure 57 and micing nationals. Well, well I recently had a Highlander intalled in my '32 Duoilian. A quick word, I put the jack in the lower F-hole so there was NO DRILLING. The results: Obviously there is NO pickup for a resophonic that will give the true resophonic tone. I tried out a new style O with a HL installed, too smooth for me, sounded real close to an acoustic guitar. On my Duolian it is REAL NASTY and that's what I like. The freedom from the mic (I always bump the mic) is one thing that made me decide the other was noisy clubs. I plan on using the 57 in conjunction with the Hihglander, just have the mic farther away than in the past. So since I was one who swore by mic'ing a National I just thought I would mention that I did break down and put in a Highlander. I am pleased with it, but don't expect to get THE TONE from it. It is HOT and will take some time to get used to. Paul Rischell recommended a Rick Turner pu, but I think he was referring to his Polychrome that he plays.... Leonard 'live and learn' Bob Tedrow from Homewood Music installed mine, he is the only National dealer around my area, maybe the only one in Alabama...I don't know He did a fine job ====================================== Subject: Re: Dobro Pickup Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 06:42:02 -0800 From: Allen Guitars Organization: All USENET -- http://www.Supernews.com To: stratman@mail.idt.net Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic References: 1 Hi Lee, As a custom builder of resophonic guitars, many of my clients that have had pickups installed have opted for the McIntyre pickup. This pickup installs on the spider bridge making installation fairly straight forward. Another pickup system is available from Rick Turner. This is an in the saddle type pickup, the installation requires that you replace the saddles. Another pickup that is available is one from Fishman, some are using their soundboard transducer pickup again installed on the spider bridge. I have heard good things about all of these, and all have professional players using them. I hope you will find this information helpful. You can visit my resophonic page at: http://www.allenguitar.com/dobro.htm You might also enjoy a shop tour once you are there. I have added a new page to this section recently. Best Regards, Randy.......... Allen Guitars PO Box 1883 Colfax, CA 95713 USA 530-346-6590 Luthier Supplies http://www.allenguitar.com/supply.htm mailto:allen@allenguitar.com =============================== From - Tue May 12 18:42:08 1998 From: Lee Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic Subject: McIntyre Pickup Problem Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 06:30:38 -0400 Organization: IDT I recently bought a McInyre transducer for a cheep Dobro I have.(actually not a bad sounding guitar) The pickup sounds great except I get a loud ringing overtone when I play the open 5th string or octave of that pitch . It was suggested by a Luthier that I move the pickup slightly to the bass side of the guitar to find the "spot" where that pitch dosent feedback the pickup. I had the pickup mounted by a professional and he did it according to directions ( mounted dead center on the cone). Any suggestions? The guitar dosen't have any rattles etc. when played acoustically. Cheers, LEE ================================= From - Tue May 12 18:42:15 1998 From: captbanjo@aol.com (Capt Banjo) Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic Subject: Re: McIntyre Pickup Problem I'm using a McIntrye in my Deneve dobro. I also get a loud ringing sound. The only way I've found to combat it is to tone it down with the Fishman preamp attachment on my belt. It has a bass and treble control. Also, do you play into a mic along with the pickup? I do this for the lead and then back off when backing up. I find I sometimes get some feedback when I approach the mic. Wayne ==========================