Which Dobro Pickup?
I'm going to have a pickup installed in my Dobro and I would like to know which one you think would be the best pickup, the Fishman or the McIntyre Feather? ~ Posted by Myron (USA)
Dobro pickups have long been a quandary. While the latest transducers, i.e. McIntyre/Fishman, seem to give the best results overall, Feedback has always been the enemy of the Resophonic Guitar by nature.
With EmmyLou's Nash Ramblers, I used a one piece Baggs guitar pickup mounted in the Spider, in place of the normal bridge pieces. Along with it, I placed a Countryman Isomax 2 microhone on the underneath side of the Cover Plate, pointed to the center of the Cone. The only problem was that the pickup sounded too electric and the sound man, too afraid of Feedback, would always use more of the Baggs in concert, since our stage volume with drums was pretty high.
I thought the older McIntyre, which stuck onto the Spider like the old Buffalo Nickel mandolin pickup, was a little better than the new Feather. I prefer nothing touching the active area of the Cone itself.
I'm using the Fishman currently, and I like it pretty well. I always adjust my Tension Screw on the loose side, or just snug, so as to generate as much Low Frequencies as possible. The Nut uses a friction washer type surface that should keep it in place, so it shouldn't be necessary to overtighten. It's never worked loose on mine.
As with all Transducers, you'll find they are low output and very thin sounding. You can eliminate this by using a Fishman or Baggs Preamp to fatten and boost the signal. There are several other good preamps available also.
What gauge of strings to you favor?
Monel (Nickel) Lights on Guitar, Std Monel Sets on Pedal Steel, Dobro (and Lap steel).