Michael T. Hermsmeyer
From:
Branson, Missouri, USA
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Posted 6 Mar 2003 1:59 am |
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I have had several forumites write to me wondering how my comparisons of the Old McIntyre and the new Fishman Reso pickups are going.
I have only had the Fishman for about 3 weeks in my Dobro F-60, so any results I have right now could be considered premature and bias, but basically what I have determined is that the new Fishman resophonic pickup just doesn't quite cut it, (sorry Larry). Like I said, I am still experimenting with different preamps and configurations. However, the old McIntyre in my Dobro 60D has surpassed the new Fishman in every test. I just cant get rid of the midrange in the new one. The McIntyre is just very much more natural sounding right out of the box. Problem is, Carl doesn't make them anymore. In fact he told me his supplier doesn't make the crystals anymore. He (of course) doesn't like the new Fishman either, but still swears by the Feather, which I have heard more bad than good, (sorry Carl). Therefore I have been searching the country for old McIntyres. I think that the few I now have should last me a lifetime. I am considering selling either the Fishman pickup or the F-60 with it installed, I haven't decided yet. I think my experiments would only be complete if I gave the F-60 a chance with one of my other McIntyres, so who knows. I should also give the Fishman a little longer and continue experimenting through more systems, just for research purposes.
To explain better my personal sound situation, and I realize this is not everyone's typical setup:
My rig consists of amplifying a pedal steel, dobro, fiddle, tele, mandolin and banjo through a two channel Fender Dual Showman Reverb amplifier (Twin with a 15"). This is complicated, but after years of trial and error, this is the closest I have ever gotten to a compact, reliable, good sounding system.:
The pedal steel goes through a Boss RV-3 (delay only) into the vibrato channel of the Showman and utilizes the amp's reverb. Nothing else uses this channel so I have total control over the steel's tone at the amp.
Everything else goes into a 6 channel Behringer MX802A mixer. Each instrument has it's own channel with 3 band EQ, level, effect send, etc... These are the best small mixers I have ever used. This mixer plugs into the Normal channel of the amp. Since there is no reverb for this channel, I also connect an Alesis nanoverb 1/2 rack space reverb unit to the mixer. Aux B is my effect send and I return the reverb into the 6th channel. (actually 5-6 and 7-8 are stereo channels, they claim this to be an 8 channel mixer, but it is in all reality only 6.) Anyway, by bringing the reverb back into a channel, I have even more tonal control. If you try this, be sure not to raise the aux B level in channels 7-8, or the verb will feedback into itself. The limitations I have found is that there is not enough + - db level of the lows, mids and highs. I have trouble getting rid of the dobro's low end, even with the mixer's low cut feature. I have been trying several preamps in line with the dobro signal. Some helped a little, but the Fishman just doesn't want to cooperate. Of course, I have not yet tried a "Fishman" preamp.
With both dobros and pickups, I have tried:
The channel alone with no preamp, a Baggs Para Acoustic DI (also can be used as a preamp), a Baggs Deluxe Acoustic Preamp (removed from one of my acoustic guitars), an old Passac EC-100 preamp, and an older Passac EC-1.
The best combinations I found so far, was the 60-D with the McIntyre through the Baggs Para Acoustic DI, and the F-60 with the Fishman through the older Passac EC-1. I believe that a Fishman preamp would be worth trying, but I lost that ebay auction and will have to wait for another. LOL.
In conclusion, for my money, the old McIntyre wins hands down, with or without the preamp. I sure do hope that Carl could find the right parts and reissue this item. I'll keep searching for the old ones, but I can't buy them all.
Good luck with your own experiments, and I would like to know your findings as well.
Thanks, God Bless,
Michael T.
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UTILITY MAN PRODUCTIONS
'73 EMMONS D10 FATBACK, '92 EMMONS D10 LASHLEY LEGRANDE,
'85 DOBRO 60DS, '95 DOBRO F60S,
'95 MELOBAR CUSTOM, 1955 FENDER TRIPLE NECK STRINGMASTER. EVANS, FENDER, PEAVEY,
and MESA BOOGIE Amps.
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