Live dobro sound

Ben Hoare · From: NSW Australia

Hey guys my dobro is fitted with a fishman pick up and I use a baggs parra di.I have played live for many years on a few instruments and for one reason or another a few years ago with respect to dobro I started doing shows that were mostly country rock,Ive not had much problem when playing with acoustic instruments to do with my sound but I ve found in the rockier enviroment that the cone seems to pick up all the bass frequencies and guitar and you have to pull all of the good frequencies out of your instrument and keep volume at a minimum which has led to me now not attempting to play dobro in this enviroment anymore as the show is often harder work than needs be.I have spoken to other dobro players who just say dont bother but there must be a way to do it .I have watched bigger artists do it such as jerry douglas but they usually have a highly skilled audio engineer ,a couple of mikes and a pick up.Has anyone mastered the art of doing this when you are working on a smaller scale and with out all of those advantages without making your dobro sound really horrid and without body.Id really like to not be afraid of playing in this enviroment,Cheers Ben

Carroll Hale · From: EastTexas, USA

same song ........2nd verse.....
I have had the same problem...tried many setups of mics....stick on pickups.....etc......all have advantges/disadvantages.........like ben.....would appreciate any help and/or suggestions for getting a better...life like..true dobro sound..
thanks in advance.
ch

Mark Eaton · Posted 29 May 2008 7:13 am

Check out this thread from a couple months ago:

http://tinyurl.com/6zxdeh

And the latest on the new Fishman Aura under-the-saddle pickup is that the head "guinea pig," Jerry Douglas, is no longer using it in conjunction with a microphone, he is using it on its own.
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Mark

Ben Hoare · From: NSW Australia

Thanks for the response guys.If I could just re afirm for my part, theres lots of info about whats the best sounding pick up etc about.My question is relating more to how do we fight the fact the cone picks up all that bass and if your playing alongside a guitarist with a kranked way rock sound and a loud stage fold back and yet keep a true tone,I really only have trouble in that instance.Just to sound stupid for a moment,worst case scenario if Metallica asked you to play with them how would you handle your live sound.

Orville Johnson · From: Seattle, Washington, USA

I would bring my lap steel. Amplifying a dobro in that circumstance just isn't going to sound like a) a dobro or b) any good. They just haven't come up with a pick up that will handle that situation IMHO.

Steve Norman · From: Seattle Washington, USA

Ive been hearing good things about the shertler (spelling)
I use a lace with steel strings,,which turns the dobro pretty much into a lapsteel. Its more dobro than lap steel still,,

I think the trick is to use your pickup in the monitor or and amp so you can hear, and mic the dobro so the audiance hears the instrument not the pickup.

JD uses 3,000$ mics that can pick him up with some distance, the rest of us need to be right up on the mic
shure 57 is good
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GFI D10, Fender Steel King, Hilton Vpedal,BoBro, National D dobro, Marrs RGS

Steve Norman · From: Seattle Washington, USA

oh yeah,,I use a marrs cat can for real loud stuff. Pflueger? I cant remember who is making them now,, but they sound pretty doro like from some sound clips I heard .

I want to say the name is FloydPlueger or something like that..Someone else will know. They sound like dobros, and are LOUD
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GFI D10, Fender Steel King, Hilton Vpedal,BoBro, National D dobro, Marrs RGS

Clyde Mattocks · From: Kinston, North Carolina, USA

Yes, Ben defined the problem in his first post. In a loud sitution, the electric bass and drums will be
exciting the cone more that your picking, so no
matter how good the acoustic pickup, that's what it will be amplifying. Most of the magnetic pickups I
hear make a dobro sound like an acoustic guitar with gut strings. There are quite a few previous posts
discussing this problem and occasionally someone
promoting a solution. There are quite a few good sounding set ups for quieter bands, but a dobro
(that sounds like a dobro) in a rock band hasn't
arrived yet. IMO.
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LeGrande II, Nash. 112, Fender Twin Tone Master, Session 400, Harlow Dobro, R.Q.Jones Dobro

Ben Hoare · From: NSW Australia

thanks Clyde,guys.I have thought of the conscept of a feedback buster on an acoustic guitar,the black rubber kind that fits in the sound hole and how to apply that consept to dobro but it would be to big or between the strings and cone which wouldnt work either.The theory I think works but not the practise lacks

Dave Harmonson · From: Seattle, Wa

As was noted we have had this discussion before. I have the Schertler Basik Reso pickup and it works. Simple as that. It sounds like a Dobro and you can get volume in an electric band. BTW, Orville I just used it Sunday with your old buddies Mark and Doug at Folklife plugged into the PA and let it rip. The new Fishman Aura I haven't heard, but it may well be a good choice also. It's taken a long time but there are some good options now. The previous Fishman reso pickup I got the same result as all the others. Thin sound and feedback.

Steve Norman · From: Seattle Washington, USA

That would kill the resonater effect. Think about the mic trick I posted,,your resonator will not cause the magnetic pickup to feed back, so you can get stage volume enough to hear
yourself, and the mic WILL pickup your instrument even though you have to stand in place next to it.

I sometimes use my lapsteel through a bobro pedal. For quite stuff I dont like it to well,, but you can use your dobro for that. In a loud situation it will make a magnetic pickup sound like a resonator. More delta blues than bluegrass in my opinion,, but that beats no reso sound at all!

I can tell you that the fishman is not going to cut it. By the time you get enough stage volume to hear it youll be feeding back beyond the help of an eliminator.
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GFI D10, Fender Steel King, Hilton Vpedal,BoBro, National D dobro, Marrs RGS

Brad Bechtel · From: San Francisco, CA

The Fluger/Marrs Resophonic Guitar Simulator seems to be the way to go if you're really playing at super loud volumes and want the sound of a resonator guitar.
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chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

what did rusty young do to amplify dobro in poco??

sounded like loud dobro to me!

Bob Hoffnar · From: Austin, Tx

I personally gave up. If there is a drummer and loud electric instruments I leave the dobro at home. My rule of thumb is that if I need to have the dobro in the monitors its just not worth the trouble.
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Bob

Mark Eaton · Posted 29 May 2008 12:11 pm

I reiterate, Jerry Douglas has gotten rid of the microphone with his own band.

Here he is at the Paul Simon tribute concert from several months back in D.C., on "The Boxer" with Alison Krauss and Shawn Colvin. Prototype of the new Fishman system, and no microphone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Lwx9F81Zs

I tried to find the version of "Graceland" from that concert, but it seems to have been deleted.

I have the older Fishman, which attaches to the bottom of the cone, and I had been fighting the same thing everyone else has - as was Jerry Douglas with his personal band when he uses the old Fishman, which at various times during the show features an electric guitar, electric bass, and a full drum kit - and Doug Belote, the drummer, can really pound those things - not the subtle, laid back percussion style Larry Atamaniuk employed in Union Station for several years.
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Mark

Steve Norman · From: Seattle Washington, USA

Rumor has it though that he used a magnetic pickup in the neck position under the wood in addition to the fishman back then. I wish he would come open about his gear.
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GFI D10, Fender Steel King, Hilton Vpedal,BoBro, National D dobro, Marrs RGS

Paddy Long · From: Christchurch, New Zealand

Ben I have a Fluger-Marrs Catcan 8-stringer which does the job nicely for those really loud gigs ..no issues with feedback at all, you can play as loud or louder than the Tele picker! They're worth having a look at.

Alvin Blaine · From: Picture Rocks, Arizona, USA

Alvin Blaine · From: Picture Rocks, Arizona, USA

Ben Hoare · From: NSW Australia

Where can I find some info on these instruments Paddy they have been mentioned a few times,I googled but didnt get much back.I have come to the same place as you Bob I these days will only play pedal steel instead, where electric instruments are involved.

Ben Hoare · From: NSW Australia

Alvin those Auras look like a good unit any idea on the price involved.

Alvin Blaine · From: Picture Rocks, Arizona, USA

Ben Hoare · From: NSW Australia

thanks Alvin I should probably read the thread.mmmm

Alvin Blaine · From: Picture Rocks, Arizona, USA

Lynn Oliver · From: Redmond, Washington USA * R.I.P.

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