What pickup is in my Dobro?

[Dave Stagner]

I recently picked up a 1990 squareneck Hound Dog Deluxe Dobro that has what appears to be a factory pickup in it. Does anyone know what they used? It has a very weak signal - the preamps I usually use for passive guitar pickups (a Red-Eye and a Q\Strip) aren’t making it a lot better. It’s a wimpy sound, either using the Red-Eye into a PA, or using the Q\Strip into my Milkman steel amp.

I’d really like to get it to where I can put it on an A/B box and use it through the same amp I’m using for pedal steel. I do a lot of low/moderate volume brewery gigs where I don’t use the PA, and just rely on the magic of a great amp through a JBL. I’m sure the amp can make the dobro sound great if I can give it a solid signal!

Open to alternative suggestions for dobro pickups, too.

[Robert Allen]

The ads I've seen list Fishman as the factory installed pickup.

Contact Fishman by Telephone
Business hours: 9 AM – 5 PM EST, M-F
Product support inquiries: 888-680-3507

[Howard Parker]

1990? It MIGHT be the old Fishman "donut". It might have lost adjustment.

Don't bother calling Fishman. They won't know which pickup is installed.

You'll need to disassemble the guitar for a real identification and go from there.

h

[Dave Stagner]

After some disassembly, I have confirmed that it's a Fishman donut, that it's poorly adjusted... and also that the spider was very poorly cast (uneven leg lengths due to flashing), the cone is in bad shape, there were stray wood chips inside, and the routing for the resonator pocket had never even heard of sandpaper. It's not pretty in there. The nut also needed some repair.

I've ordered a new Scheerhorn cone and Replogle spider. I reassembled it for now (mostly to make sure no parts went astray). Once the new parts arrive, I'll sand the interior as needed, fit it carefully, put the Fishman pickup on the new cone (for now), and hopefully it'll sound a lot better!

[Mark Eaton]

Cleaning things up inside and installing the new cone and spider will likely make for a dramatic improvement.

As for the Fishman donut, if for the sake of curiosity you want to see how it sounds, good luck. Terrible pickup - I fought with one for years. Poor tone and a feedback monster. Frankly I’m amazed they still offer the thing for sale, and at a price of $170.

[Dave Stagner]

So I got my new spider and cone, but it’s been frustration so far. The cone needed a fair bit of sanding to fit the not-very-round cutout. The new spider, while far better made than the original, is more arched. This caused a couple of problems. One is that there’s not enough screw length left to re-install the donut pickup. No big loss, I ordered a Nojak from Stew-Mac to patch the hole, and eventually I’ll get a Krivo pickup.

More frustratingly, the higher arch means the bridge saddles are too high, so the cover won’t fit. I’m going to have to trim them by at least 1/4”, probably more. A task for mañana. A beautiful word, one that probably means Heaven, as Jack Kerouac said.

Part of owning vintage instruments is being responsible for their maintenance.

[Howard Parker]

Did you check the setup when tuned and under tension? The cone settles/sinks slightly when at pitch.

Yes... Spiders should be arched and the common approach is to order new inserts and sand the insert bottoms to adjust height under the palm rest and break angle over the insert. All measured while the guitar is at pitch and under tension and before any attempt is made to attach the cover plate.

Good luck

h

[Dave Stagner]

Did you check the setup when tuned and under tension? The cone settles/sinks slightly when at pitch.

Yes... Spiders should be arched and the common approach is to order new inserts and sand the insert bottoms to adjust height under the palm rest and break angle over the insert. All measured while the guitar is at pitch and under tension and before any attempt is made to attach the cover plate.

Good luck

h

Right now, the cover plate doesn’t even make it to the top of the guitar with no strings on. It was pretty tight with the original spider, but not like this. So sanding down those inserts is definitely in order!

[Howard Parker]

Yes....Normal!!

Neither can I on any of my guitars.

Segments of THIS VIDEO may be useful.

h

[Dave Stagner]

I went ahead and tried putting the cover back on with the strings up to tension. All strings are clear but the low G. Sigh. The strings that aren’t muffled do sound a lot better, though!

[Fred Treece]

Regarding wimpy output of the Fishman donut-
I run my donut-equipped dobro into a year-2000-ish Aura Blender with a pretty decent sounding Scheerhorn resonator image. From there into the mic input of a Roland AC-60 with the mic switch on. Plenty of signal, and it sounds like a Dobro. Highs and lows need much attention in both the Aura and the AC. Definitely not plug n play. I use a regular guitar cable from the Aura to the AC, but I could go XLR too.