Dobro Pickups

[big_teee]

I've been asked about making a thin drobro pickup.
Any thoughts and ideas on how to build one.
StewMac sells one made by Lace that is only 3/8 inch high, including the cover.
It is 4.1k dcr. I'm not sure how to build anything that thin?
Thanks,
Terry

[jonson]

Look at the Dearmond and Rowe threads as those pickups are only 1/4inch high with cover, and range from 3 to 15.5k.

[big_teee]

Look at the Dearmond and Rowe threads as those pickups are only 1/4inch high with cover, and range from 3 to 15.5k.

I looked around and don't see views of exposed bobbin or magnets.
I guess I could make some flatwork out of .062 forbon, and cut some Rod Magnets off short and make the mount on the bottom forbon.
The winding area between the flatwork would have to be short and wide.
The smallest wire I have is 43PE.
If I could get 4k Dcr, I guess that would beat nothing.
Any other suggestions?
Terry

[jonson]

Magnet approx 60mmx10mmx5mm magnetised through the 10mm faces. thinned down melamine laminate top and bottom or steel plate for bottom as Dearmond. This finished pickup is wound with 45awg and reads 12.4k and is only 6.5 mm high, but 43awg will give you a good result on a coil that size.

[big_teee]

Magnet approx 60mmx10mmx5mm magnetised through the 10mm faces. thinned down melamine laminate top and bottom or steel plate for bottom as Dearmond. This finished pickup is wound with 45awg and reads 12.4k and is only 6.5 mm high, but 43awg will give you a good result on a coil that size.

Is the 60x10x5mm magnet a bar magnet.
Where is the magnet? I presume inside the coil.
If so where is the north and south orintation of the magnet?
Ive never seen anything like that but looks quite interesting.
Terry

[jonson]

Bar magnet just like a short fat bucker mag. The magnet forms the core of the bobbin and the coil is wound onto the magnet. North and south of your choice runs top to bottom of the bobbin. Here's a blurry pic of one of mine and a better one I found on the net which should explain things.

[big_teee]

Bar magnet just like a short fat bucker mag. The magnet forms the core of the bobbin and the coil is wound onto the magnet. North and south of your choice runs top to bottom of the bobbin. Here's a blurry pic of one of mine and a better one I found on the net which should explain things.

Thank you Jonson for all your help.
It all looks doable except for the magnet dilema, don't know where to come up with that.
I think I could do the same thing with rod magnets, and thin flatwork.
Hypothetical? What would I get if I used thin steel for the bottom flatwork.
Drill holes for the rod magnets to fit in and make a piece of thin forbon for the top.
Have the magnets flush with the top forbon. I would have to come up with some short rod mags, or cut, or grind some to fit.
Hmm, still thinking?
Terry

[Mandopicker]

Not to throw you off track, but keep in mind that so much of the tone of a Dobro guitar comes from the cone/string interaction combined with the resonance provided by the body. From my experience, magnetic pickups alone tend to loose some of the sublties of tone that makes the Dobro such a special instrument. In design, just iimagine trying to capture the sound of the instrument that you hear when are standing back from it a bit.

Just so you know, capturing the tone of this instrument has been an enigma for many a pickup maker.

You'll get it though!

[big_teee]

Not to throw you off track, but keep in mind that so much of the tone of a Dobro guitar comes from the cone/string interaction combined with the resonance provided by the body. From my experience, magnetic pickups alone tend to loose some of the sublties of tone that makes the Dobro such a special instrument. In design, just iimagine trying to capture the sound of the instrument that you hear when are standing back from it a bit.

Just so you know, capturing the tone of this instrument has been an enigma for many a pickup maker.

You'll get it though!

Sounds like fun!
I think I need to stick to my Humbuckers, and Strat Single Coils!
Any Guidance to point me Straight and Narrow, would be appreciated.
Also where is the right placement on the instrument?
Terry

[StarryNight]

I've posted this idea before but it might be applicable here. You can use 1/8"x1/8" neo rods and insert them in the holes of a humbucker keeper bar. Then wind with or without a bobbin. It works.

[big_teee]

What Mandopicker said, has me worried now.
If you use a magnetic pickup on a dobro, is the amplified sound going to sound like a regular guitar or will you in fact amplify some of the ringing of the cone and sound chamber. Maybe a pickup of another type would be more suitable.
I don't want to commit to winding a pickup, and not sound like a dobro when we get done. Any thoughts and ideas, and has anyone wound a magnetic pickup for a dobro.
If anyone has it would probably be Mr. Lollar?
Thanks again for all the help and input.
Terry

[Peter Naglitsch]

There will be some if the character from the Dobro there but at the same time its like putting a magnetic pickup into an acoustic guitar; it will not sound like an acoustic guitar. It will sound like an acoustic guitar amplified using a magnetic pickup. On the other hand we still hear the difference between an all mahogany Les Paul studio vs a maple topped Les Paul standard (if everything else kept constant) so the fact that the magnetic pickup is used on a Dobro will for sure shine through. However the output will not be the true representation of the Dobro but that of a Dobro amplified using a magnetic pickup. For my resolectric guitars (one made, the second in the spray booth right now) I use a combination of a McIntyre Model # BRF-50 and a Lipstick pickup in the neck. For the first one I used a Armstrong lipstick and some odd preamp for the piezo. This time I'm going to try to wind the Lipstick myself and use a very neat sub miniature single tube preamp for the piezo. And a true stereo output so that the more electric sound can be routed for on stage monitoring or electrical amplifying and the acoustic sound can be routed directly to the house PA or a separate acoustic amp as per my customers requirement.

[jonson]

Well the Big Boy did ask for a thin pickup to go on a Dobro but yes you will lose a lot in the translation. Iv'e had a couple of metal bodied resonators with lipsticks and they have a sound of their own, "not Dobro". Best sounding one iv'e ever played had a small condenser mic fitted inside.

[big_teee]

Thanks, Gents.
That goes with what I was thinking also.
Regular Magnetic pickups is all I know a little about.
So I have a Ovation Deluxe guitar, with built in mic.
What type of pickup is in the ovation, is it just a mic, or a piezo, or what?
I'm learning a lot here.
Thanks,
Terry

[Mandopicker]

StarryNight... (not to change the subject)

Just noticed the guitar in your photo and it is another guitar that presents several problems with being amplified. Again, a guitar whos amplified tone has so much to do with the sum of its parts.

It appears to be a DG-300 in the image. My company and I worked very hard and closely with John Jorgenson to make that a fabulous Gypsy Jazz guitar guitar. In fact, we're upgrading it to have a walnut neck and revising the neck shape for 2011. Amplification was necessary for his usage.

I'd like to know how that pickup works out at the end of the fingerboard in the image when you complete it.

Remember the correct manouche strings for that type of guitar are silver-plated copper wrapped over steel so they may effect the over magnetic nature of that sort of pickup.

Simply and perhaps crudly, Jorgenson uses a small condenser mic inserted into a pc. of foam double-sticky taped to the top of the guitar just behind the bridge on the treble side and gets a great tone.

We had a concert at the Namm Show on Friday night and he really kicked butt...as always and the system functioned well.

Anyway...this is just another thought about how amplifying an instrument has a lot to do with the sound you are trying to achieve. If you want it to sound like its non-amplified tone...it can be difficult.

But these are the challenges that make this business fun.