Fishman Resophonic Guitar Pickup
Submitted at: 11:27, 11/25/2004
Product Info
Pickup features: Passive pickup
Impedence or other specs:
Price Paid: US $125.00
Purchased from: Tim Scheerhorn
Instrument
Model of guitar or bass: Scheerhorn L-Body Curly Maple Resonator Guitar
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: McIntyre
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Jerry Douglas
You musical style(s): Bluegrass and associated acoustic roots music
Reason for pickup change: McIntyre pickup had good tone, but picked up noise from my right hand fingerpicks and did not get enough strength of signal for my liking
Sound
Perceived output level: Resonator guitars are extremely difficult to amplify. Big difference between plugged in sound and using a microphone; this is the most pleasing sounding pickup I have used since I started playing squareneck resophonic guitar (a.k.a. Dobro)
Tone: This pickup works great, but absolutely requires e.q. to sound good. Way too much high-end treble without e.q.
Sonic evaluation: I have this pickup in 2 different guitars-Scheerhorn L=Body curly maple and Mahogany/Spruce R-Body. I run the pickup into a Baggs Para-Acoutic D.I. and run the effects loop from the Baggs into a Raven Labs True Blue E.Q. From there I run into an A.E.R. Acousticube (which is the best plugged in sound I have ever heard out of any equipment!) or into a Boss DD-3 Digital Delay and into my P.A. system.
I used to run out of the Baggs directly into whatever P.A. system where I was playing but the pickup always had too much treble to me..the Raven Labs really makes a huge difference in tone control
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Wide variety of acoustic roots music-bluegrasss, blues, folk, etc
Overall Rating
Comments: My current rig gives me the best tone I have ever had in my 15 years of playing various resophonic guitars. I feel strongly this (and any other) pickup needs some kind of signal processing to add warmth and color. I am completely satisfied with the sound I get out of the A.E.R Acousticube; I can play in a band situation with a drummer, bass, keys and other guitars and cut throught just fine.
Resonator guitar has got to be one of the most challenging instruments to amplify. My rig sounds even better when I add a microphone (I use a Shure KSM-32) to the mix-the microphone adds a more natural sound; the pickup run through the A.E.R. gives me the spaciousness that I like, especially when I am playing behind a singer and/or rock/blues music. I normally use just the microphone when I play bluegrass.
I was told (and believe) that it is best to have this pickup professionally installed. The installation and the tension of the screw on the pickup has a critcal influence on its sound. Besides, unless you know what you are doing it is easy to screw up the re-assembly of your resonator guitar and be prone to buzzing, etc.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 8
Submitted by: RobA <dobro_rob@yahoo.com>