resonator type sound

Jim Palmer · Post by **Jim Palmer** » 3 Aug 2002 11:50 am

Has anyone tried the BOSS GE-7 equalizer to get a resonator type sound,and if so,what were your settings. Thanks in advance,Jim.
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John Bechtel · Post by **John Bechtel** » 3 Aug 2002 1:13 pm

I have not tried it, however; I'm using an Alesis QuadraVerb with resonators and can't even get an acceptable resemblance to a Dobro sound!(even with the plastic Goodrich bar!) "Big John Bechtel P.S.I'm really not in to that effect anyway,but I guess it would be nice to have it available if I needed it!

Jim Palmer · Post by **Jim Palmer** » 3 Aug 2002 3:23 pm

Thanks John,I should have made myself more clear,I was refering to Pedalsteel,sorry bout that,try turning your mid on your amy up past half way and try that. Jim.

John Bechtel · Post by **John Bechtel** » 3 Aug 2002 3:59 pm

Jim; I'm playing pedal steel also(only seel guitar),and I've never been able to satisfy myself with the sound. I wouldn't go to the trouble of changing my tone settings on my amps just to play one tune, or even in the middle of a song for that matter! That would be next to impossible for me to do! Sorry, guess I'll stick to straight steel! John

Jerry Erickson · Post by **Jerry Erickson** » 3 Aug 2002 4:41 pm

Hey Jim,
Try cutting 100,400 etc. and boosting 200,800 etc. until you either find something that works for you or you go buy
a Matchbro.

Jerry

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 3 Aug 2002 4:43 pm

I get a rather good Dobro sound on pedal steel using a resonator patch with my IVL SteelRider.

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 4 Aug 2002 4:51 am

Buddy said he designed the Match-Bro by putting two Equalizers in series.

So to do it right you'd need to GE-7s.
They are a bit noisy, so I don't know how good it would work. Possibly a Noise Gate would also be needed.

I've thought of trying this with a stereo grapic equalizer that can be configured for mono.

I don't know the settings Buddy used.

I haven't actually tried it,because I have an original Match-Bro.

Please report back on any of your experiments.

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 4 Aug 2002 5:38 am

Back in the late 1970's, when he was on Joe Sun's band, Neil Flanz showed me his "dobro box." It was a metal box containing pot and capacitor out of a Dunlop CryBaby Wah-wah pedal. The pot was operated by a knob instead of a foot control, so that one sound could be dialed in and remained constant. It's been over 20 years since then, so I can't tell you how it compares to a Match-Bro (I own one), but I recall it sounded pretty darn good then.

Neil? How 'bout it?

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Neil Flanz · Post by **Neil Flanz** » 4 Aug 2002 6:04 am

Herb, I currently use a Match-Bro ll which gives me a much truer dobro sound than what I was using when I worked with Joe Sun, however back then by using the guts out of a Cry-Baby wah pedal and placing it in a box using an on and off toggle switch and setting the existing pot manually to get the timbre just right, I did get what could pass for a dobroish sound. It might not have sounded as realistic as my Match-Bro but it sure was a lot less expensive.[This message was edited by Neil Flanz on 04 August 2002 at 07:07 AM.][This message was edited by Neil Flanz on 04 August 2002 at 07:12 AM.]

Keith Hilton · Post by **Keith Hilton** » 4 Aug 2002 12:03 pm

There has been a number of attempts over the years to create a dobro sound. Duane Marrs even built a pickup in a "cat food can". Yes, you read it correctly--cat food can. To my knowledge, the only device to still be available is the Goodrich effect. From what people have told me, it is simply a frequency filter and you must still use a plastic bar to deaden sustain. I have no idea why there should be two frequency filters, since one filter should get the range of a dobro. I must say that resonance has as much to do with how the notes ring and last as it does with frequency range. Instead of attempting to get close to that sound with a plastic bar, I built a electronic resonator circuit, in addition to a frequency circuit. It creates the resonance of a dobro with a normal steel guitar steel bar. In other words you don't need a plastic bar. I have the device built and tested. Even did a electronics term paper on it at the university. I have not had time to bring a product to market yet, because of all my other irons in the fire.

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 4 Aug 2002 4:27 pm

I use a Guernsey model 690, built by Ivan Guernsey in 1993. It has an old style Carl McIntyre pickup in it, and with your eyes closed, you can't tell it's not a Dobro.

Keith Hilton · Post by **Keith Hilton** » 4 Aug 2002 9:15 pm

I got to thinking I had not made myself clear enough, so here goes again. To get the mid-range frequency of a dobro you need a frequency circuit that basically cuts highs and lows. A dobro has a metal resonator that gives a ring to the sound. This resonator effect can be created using a resistor, capacitor time factor cascaded back upon itself in several stages. A dobro does not have a lot of sustain hence the reason for the plastic or soft bar. You can kill sustain electronically even if you are using a standard metal steel guitar bar. This can be done with a voltage controlled op amp circuit. You can actually set the amount of decay you want, by controlling the feedback voltage to the voltage controlled op amp. Sorry I didn't explain this better in my first post. I have been a bit under the weather for 3 days, since being attacked by a swarm of bumble bees while on my tractor brush hogging. Quite an experience to get stung in the head several times by these very large bees, miles from any help. I watched one hum up and sting me on the eye brow. I still feel lucky I got out alive. One of my eyes was swollen shut today. Knocked off my eye glasses in the attack and the brush hog cut my $300.00 eye glasses to pieces.

Tom Ensink · Post by **Tom Ensink** » 9 Aug 2002 2:59 am

I've had a Matchbro I for years, and I never liked the sound of it. That is until I got my Melobar Teleratt lapsteel and ran it through the Matchbro. I use this combination on any gig now.

In fact, it sounds so good that I even considered calling Ted Smith of Melobar to cancel my Melobro order (which, very fortunately, I did not; the Melobro is fabulous).

When we play Heahter Miles' Mr Lonesome (which is our opening song), I play the verses with my teleratt on my lap and the chorus on my steel, switching from one to the other with a boss line selector. It really sounds neat and very realistic. When steelers in the audience see that it is a lap instead of a dobro, they are really surprised.

And I never use the plastic bar! The sustain of the steel bar does not bother me as typical "non-dobro". You automatically begin to play shorter notes anyway, because you hear the dobro sounds.

Frankly, I think a lot of the "dobro feeling" also has to do with the tuning and the notes you pick (and probably string gauges). Because the lap is in G tuning, you automatically get voicings which are typically dobro. It's just not the same as when you play PSG with a and b down, through a matchbro. You would seldom play like that on a dobro (too high).

The same issue arises when you play keyboard with e.g. a brass sound: only use notes which the original instrument plays, and the sound is much more realistic.

The only thing which I can't emulate on the lap, are the typical hammer sounds you get on a dobro (and my melobro!!!), but you just stick to sliding and no problem.

I just got my melobro, so I am gonna try it on stage with the fishman pick up. If I don't like it, I'll probably go back to the lap and the matchbro rather than using mics and coping with feed back etc.

Tom

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[This message was edited by Tom Ensink on 09 August 2002 at 04:08 AM.][This message was edited by Tom Ensink on 09 August 2002 at 04:12 AM.]

John Lacey · Post by **John Lacey** » 9 Aug 2002 5:32 am

That's ironic, Neil, that you got that sound that way. I borrowed Ollie Strong's Matchbro once and the bass player told me that it sounded like a Cry Baby held half-way down!