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Post new topic Amplified Dobro
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Author Topic:  Amplified Dobro
Tony Davis


From:
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Post  Posted 15 Jul 2005 3:18 am    
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Yesterday I was in guitar shop here...saw three resonators....one Biscuit one round neck low action and one square neck...raised strings...all tuned to G....I tried out the round neck and the square neck just using their bar and no picks...very impresed with the sound...and aso impressed that the square neck had a built in pick up............so today I took my bar and picks and plugged it in...the volume unplugged was a bit more than most dobros I have played and a true Dobro sound...and plugged in it still sounded the same only louder !!!! same sound and tone........so I bought it...was about $500 Aus...which is about $350 US....I managed to get him to throw in a stand for that price to.
It is a Martinez brand..never heard of it...prob Chinese built...but it is nice woodwork nice cone etc...........bu the main thing is that the pick up is mounted just at the end of the neck and is a Dan Electro Lipstick....apparently they are still made by other companies............but the sound is just solid Dobro only louder
Tony
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Charlie McDonald


From:
out of the blue
Post  Posted 15 Jul 2005 7:46 am    
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All right! Now they're starting to get the pickup right.
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Tim Tweedale

 

From:
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Post  Posted 16 Jul 2005 8:44 am    
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Can you post a soundclip of the pickup direct into your computer?

-Tim
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Roy Ayres


From:
Riverview, Florida, USA, R.I.P.
Post  Posted 16 Jul 2005 9:50 am    
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Tony,

My first real steel guitar was a Dobro-style with some unknown name. I played it awhile by "pooching" my belly out in front of a microphone. When I started playing night clubs in a noisy environment I found that I must find some means of amplification. I took the cover plate off, attached an old carbon telephone mouthpiece mike directly to the cone, ran the wire to a jack I installed in the side of the guitar, and replaced the cover plate. You would not believe what an authentic Dobro sound it produced when plugged into an amplifier. That would be a cheap arrangement for you to try out. You can use the carbon mike from an old telephone, which you can often find cheap at a flea market. For experimental purposes you can run the wire out through one of the holes in the cover plate. It is a crude way to accomplish amplification -- but (at least in my case) it worked well.

------------------

Visit my Web Site at RoysFootprints.com
Browse my Photo Album and be sure to sign my Guest Book.

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Tony Davis


From:
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Post  Posted 16 Jul 2005 8:18 pm    
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Tim...I dont have a Mic for this computer or he know how.....but believe me....it is the best I have ever heard.
Roy...I might try that on my other dobro sometime...would you believe I chuckd an old telephone away two weeks ago !!!!
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Tony Davis


From:
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Post  Posted 19 Jul 2005 3:55 am    
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Hey Roy!!!..I just casually aquired an old telephone today..wont say how......have pulled out the Mics.....will mess with them when I get time over the next few days.....willlet you know the result
Thanks
Tony
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Chuck Fisher

 

From:
Santa Cruz, California, USA * R.I.P.
Post  Posted 19 Jul 2005 10:08 am    
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hmmmmmmm, did you add a battery in series to the carbon phone mic? It shouldn't work , otherwise. Perhaps you used the earphone as a mic, (this would work although who knows how well)?

Interesting on the lipstick pup, btw!

'gardz,
CF geek at large
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Tony Davis


From:
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Post  Posted 20 Jul 2005 2:41 am    
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OK Chuck.....I have both earphone and mouthpiece mics out of an old phone......as soon as I get time...bit busy at the moment.....I will put a socket on them.....drop them inside a couple of my acoustic guitars and see iff they work....and if so may stick one on to the resonator of my old dobro...see what it sounds like.....as it is early 30's model I dont want to go drilling into the
wood...maybe attach socket through hole in cover plate...will post results
Tony
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Erv Niehaus


From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
Post  Posted 20 Jul 2005 6:38 am    
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As a kid, I would take a pair of old headphones and instead of listening through them, I would clamp them around an acoustic instrument, plug it into my amp and it would act like a pickup. I assume it would be akin to a telephone headset.
Erv
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db

 

From:
Bethlehem, PA 18015 USA
Post  Posted 21 Jul 2005 5:47 pm    
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I bought a McIntyre "Feather" pick-up that gets stuck to the cone.
I haven't installed it yet.
I'll let you know once mounted.
------------------
Dan Balde
U-12/8&5, S-7/D 3&1, S-6/E,A & G3

[This message was edited by db on 21 July 2005 at 08:40 PM.]

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Mac Lloyd

 

From:
St. George, Utah
Post  Posted 26 Jul 2005 5:40 pm    
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Hey Mate-

Sorry I didn't catch your notes earlier. Phantastique ideas. What a nice idea with the Danelectro stuff. Until I can get a couple more gigs under my belt this month I'm giving fair warning,(Don't know if its the same as fair dinkum) that no antique telephone is safe in town.

I'm not giving away my secrets, but if you yell scary things in the phone, the older ones generally start weeping, you can find them from that point on.
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