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Post by bryanbradfield on May 3, 2017 14:54:51 GMT
Edzen - That reso is identical to mine. It has no logo on the headstock. The cone is original, although I don't recall the 4 screws in the bridge biscuit. In addition, as I recall, my bridge saddle was made from sheet metal. I moved my cone to another collector several years ago after I retrofitted a dobro cone into mine. Yes, the sound of the original left something to be desired, but was still "resophonic-sounding". I don't recall what my original nut was made from.
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Post by bryanbradfield on Apr 28, 2017 1:24:56 GMT
Michael Messer makes some good points about being flexible in your amplification efforts. I recently did a show in a new-to-me room where I wasn't sure what I would be up against as far as sound system and room dynamics, and in which I suspected that I would be asked later to join in with the amplified headlining group. I took a reso guitar in which I could switch between a piezo and a humbucker. For my prepared solo performance I ran acoustically through the provided SM57. I left my reso and a cord just off of the stage. When asked to join the headliners I plugged in the humbucker. I don't think that the majority of the audience cared about the difference in my sounds. I know that the headliners were pleased that I did not introduce feedback problems to my short time with them and that I was instantly ready to go. The sound man was good at rapidly adjusting to me. Be prepared.
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Post by bryanbradfield on Apr 23, 2017 16:04:13 GMT
deuce - good tip for string(s) that are too hot. It's easier than playing around with string gauges and compositions. I was curious how you found enough clearance under the cover plate to avoid the Artec pickup from resting on the spider bridge, but as I revisit that photo it appears to me that you've placed a 10-1/2" cover plate over a 9 or so inch biscuit bridge cone. Tell us the rest of the story on this mongrel.
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Post by bryanbradfield on Apr 22, 2017 23:12:12 GMT
How did you affix the pickup to the cover plate of the "rusty" guitar? Also on that same guitar, is a that a pick de-clicker on the treble side of the cover plate? Tell us about it.
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Post by bryanbradfield on Apr 22, 2017 18:58:18 GMT
Here is the Barcus-Berry.
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Post by bryanbradfield on Apr 22, 2017 18:32:31 GMT
Those Barcus-Berry pickups seem to have been unavailable for some time, so I am not ever going to get rid of the one I have. In more recent years, I've been using Artec humbuckers on my Harmony Stella Hawaiian guitars. I remove the fretboard arms with a grinder bit on a Dremel moto tool and then use double sided carpet tape to affix to the guitar, in this case to the end of the fretboard after removal of the last 2 frets. . Attachments:
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Post by bryanbradfield on Apr 21, 2017 20:30:10 GMT
deuce: One year ago in thread called “This is a good read..”, I said: As a traditional bluegrass dobro player for many years, I've recently shed the compulsion to maintain a traditional acoustic sound while amplified, which meant using either a microphone or a difficult to manage and control internal piezo. Sasha, the dobro player in the Acoustic Guitar article, at the beginning of his clip, overcame the brief feed-back issue, and then when the band came in behind him, I felt that the dobro sound was thin and weak. I believe he was using the latest and greatest amplification equipment for that instrument, and also a superior instrument, but for ensemble work it just didn't cut it for me. Slap a humbucker on there and move to the front of the class! Read more: michaelmesser.proboards.com/thread/8947/good-read#ixzz4euxWO2g3
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Post by bryanbradfield on Apr 21, 2017 20:16:02 GMT
erky32:
No to the ty-wrap idea. Piezo discs are delicate. For starters use a very small amount of the usually provided putty. I do that on acoustic guitars in order to move the disc around on the exterior until I find the sweet spot. Then I use a wood glue like Tite-Bond to affix the peizo to the inside of the guitar directly opposite the exterior sweet spot. I have a friend who used putty to affix a piezo inside, and the putty eventually failed onstage due to outdoor festival use I think, causing piezo to fall off and create all sorts of weird sounds during the drop and shake, and then nothing through the sound system of course. I used epoxy on my spider once I determined I liked the sound because I did not expect to ever want to remove it, and I have not had the urge to remove it in the last 25 years or so. I think that using the putty would be OK for awhile. I would use the smallest amount of putty possible. My bad feeling about putty aside from future failure of the bond is that a thick pile of goop between piezo and musical device is going to be a sound barrier rather than a sound producer.
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Post by bryanbradfield on Apr 21, 2017 16:14:45 GMT
deuce: I have a BB HI-Tek, which you mention as being rare as a hens' tooth. Is there anything particularly desirable about them in your ears beyond rarity?
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Post by bryanbradfield on Apr 21, 2017 3:05:25 GMT
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Post by bryanbradfield on Apr 21, 2017 0:30:50 GMT
I agree with creolian with respect to trying things out over and over and over again. I no longer use the piezos that are installed in my resos. I use a humbucker pickup instead. I decided that a clear, strong signal was preferable to fighting feedback. That’s my personal choice. My reso no longer sounds like a reso to my ears; however, the audience refers to what they hear as “dobro”, mainly as a result of the style of playing I believe.
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Post by bryanbradfield on Apr 20, 2017 20:40:14 GMT
In about 1990 I epoxied a small round (one inch?) basic piezo transducer to the bottom of a filed flat spider web arm on each of my 2 resos. I feed it into an early Fishman Pro EQ buffer preamp. Without a preamp the sound is horrible. The sound with the preamp is quite reso-like, but feed-back is always on the horizon. Concerning adhesive, I always felt that gummy stuff is not a very good transmitter of sound waves.
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Post by bryanbradfield on Mar 30, 2017 14:51:59 GMT
Manotickmike - I continue to be amazed at what is showing up.
Linkous - My instrument had a galvanized sheet metal saddle inserted into a round wood biscuit. In looking at the Folkway photos it appears to me that there is a galvanized sheet metal saddle inserted into a small rectangular wooden base which is resting on flat metal biscuit.
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Post by bryanbradfield on Mar 29, 2017 23:30:39 GMT
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Post by bryanbradfield on Mar 23, 2017 23:35:59 GMT
By progressively covering holes with gaffer tape, one gets an appreciation for what happens in closing off the cover plate openings. The opposite end of the test is to play with the cover plate off of the instrument, giving the opposite extreme end of a test of creating more openings in the cover plate.
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