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#1
04-03-2023, 11:46 AM
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Preamp for wood resonator
Hello,
I'm not sure if this should go in the "Other Instruments" section, but here goes... Over the weekend I picked up my first wood resonator guitar, a used Epiphone/Dobro Hound Dog Deluxe. I liked its tone and clarity, as well as its feel, and it seems to be a good starting point for me. It actually has a pickup in it, but no preamp...just plug the cable in to the guitar and go. Which leads me to the question of should I be looking for a preamp to better control volume and eq, or should I just use the amp's controls? If a preamp is appropriate, is a pedal the way to go, or something else altogether? Any particular recommendations? I certainly don't need anything elaborate, just basic. I'm not sure how often I'll even be plugged in at this point. So I'm not in a rush or anything, just doing some early research. Thanks everyone! 
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#2
04-03-2023, 12:14 PM
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Do you know anything about the pickup? If it's not a visible magnetic coil type I'll bet it's a passive piezoelectric transducer attached to the cone.
All passive piezo's benefit from matching the pickup's high output impedance to the (typically) low input impedance of the amp or PA it's getting plugged in to. IF you're plugging in to an acoustic amp with a HI Z (high impedance) setting you may not need a preamp or DI. If there's any plans for playing out where you may be plugging in to a house sound system, get a decent preamp. I really like the RedEye for simplicity and good sound quality. The K&K Pure has worked well for me too. Baggs also makes good stuff - I use my Mixpro on my archtop with dual outputs.
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#3
04-03-2023, 01:29 PM
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The only thing I've been able to ascertain is that the electronics are by Fishman. No idea what model or style. There is definitely nothing visible, and no controls. Oddly enough, I've not been able to find a company website...Dobro is owned by Gibson/Epiphone, but I can't find anything on their sites and I can't find a site specific to Dobro. Just product information on various retail sites, and nothing more than Fishman on those.
I've actually been thinking for a while about getting an acoustic amp, as I'm never totally crazy about the sound through a regular guitar amp. But for playing somewhere that I won't have my own amp, I assume one of those acoustic preamp pedals would be the way to go?
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#4
04-04-2023, 02:22 AM
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Quote:
1. Power supply - battery, wall wart, phantom power? Combo? 2. Complexity/features - just impedance match, eq, volume, boost, mute, tuner, effects loop.... 3. Size - mount on a belt clip for on the fly adjustment? Big footprint floor pedal? Something in between? 4. Cost - anywhere from around $100 USD to well over $500. 5. Output - 1/4" phone jack, balanced XLR, both? Again, I like the RedEye because it's small, lightweight, rugged, simple, runs off 9 volt battery or phantom power (newer ones also can plug in a 9 VDC power supply), balanced XLR output and doesn't alter the sound. Plus it works well with everything from ukulele, mandolun, fiddle, banjo, guitar and double bass. I like the K&K Pure because it's rugged, simple, clips to my belt, has easily adjustable volume and tone pots, doesn't change the sound. Only runs on battery, only has a 1/4" output. There are dozens of other options.
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#5
04-06-2023, 01:23 PM
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Resonators have some very demanding EQ requirements to pull out problem frequencies. One of the best I've found at doing that is the EMPRESS PARA EQ which they've recently improved.
I recently bought the Deluxe version and it's ridiculously good... https://www.sweetwater.com/c977--Com...B&gclsrc=aw.ds But, and this important, there's a learning curve to using Parametric EQs, and I've seen people give up on them because they couldn't grasp how they work.
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