The Steel Guitar Forum Store 

Post new topic Dobro Simulator
Reply to topic
Author Topic:  Dobro Simulator
Al Risbeck


From:
Iowa, USA
Post  Posted 21 Jan 2019 8:20 am    
Reply with quote

What is the most effective dobro simulator for pedal steel ?
_________________
Mullen Discovery, GK mb200 with Eminence EPS-15C, Fender steel King with Eminence EPS-15C,Nashville 400 amp, with EPS-15C,Evans FET500 with Peavey 1501 BW Goodrich L10K V.P.(2),Goodrich L120, Bose L1 PA with ToneMatch 4 Mic control board
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Jack Stanton


From:
Somewhere in the swamps of Jersey
Post  Posted 21 Jan 2019 8:24 am    
Reply with quote

Having owned and used them all, my opinion, for whatever it's worth is the Goodrich Matchbro is the most realistic. Tom Bradshaw's MXR simulator runs a close second. Boss and Dan electro EQ pedals do a more than respectable job for the two times a night you're going to use it
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

George Kimery

 

From:
Limestone, TN, USA
Post  Posted 21 Jan 2019 9:57 am     Dobro simulator
Reply with quote

I would like to make a pretty useless comment, but if you have the time to read such things, then proceed.

I was at Scotty's convention at the Goodrich booth when they were showing the prototype of the Match Bro. At the end of the convention I went over to their booth and told them I wanted to buy the proto-type. They said, look, it's got paper stickers labeling the controls, don't you want to wait until they are in production with the lettering screened on. I said the paper sticker didn't bother me. I said I wanted to be the first one to own one. They said I was 2nd, that Buddy Emmons had the first proto-type.

I liked it just fine. You do need the special plastic bar to get the dobro sound. I only sold it because I was expecting to play the same things dobro players played and to sound exactly like them. I was pretty new to steel at the time and didn't realize I couldn't do that without having the same tuning as a dobro, so I sold it. If I only had known then what I know now, I would never have sold it.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 21 Jan 2019 10:54 am     Re: Dobro simulator
Reply with quote

George Kimery wrote:
If I only had known then what I know now, I would never have...

...left my "Babe Ruth" autographed baseball within reach of my two little brothers.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Jack Stoner


From:
Kansas City, MO
Post  Posted 21 Jan 2019 11:56 am    
Reply with quote

I have an original model MatchBro and a Bradshaw model. They are both good but I give the edge to the original model MatchBro. If my MatchBro dies (again) I will start using the Bradshaw model. But, you have to think "Dobro" when using them, not just use it as another effect.

I've got some short samples. E-mail me and I'll send them to you. Tom Bradshaw has the samples and is going to put them on his web site.
_________________
GFI Ultra Keyless S-10 with pad (Black of course) TB202 amp, Hilton VP, Steelers Choice sidekick seat, SIT Strings
Cakewalk by Bandlab and Studio One V4.6 pro DAWs, MOTU Ultralite MK5 recording interface unit
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Michael Hartz

 

From:
Decorah, Iowa, USA
Post  Posted 29 Jan 2019 7:19 pm    
Reply with quote

Al, find an inexpensive Boss GE- 7 graphic Eq pedal and stagger all the sliders and use a plastic bar. This will give you a great dobro tone. That's all Bobbe Seymour's $200 Bo-bro pedal was, he just set the sliders, cut them off and put a decal over the whole thing. Nothing more- I can't remember if you start with the lowest frequency slider (all the way left) all the way down and the next one all the way up and so on. If that doesn't sound right then try it all the way up and the next all the way down etc...
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

John Macy

 

From:
Rockport TX/Denver CO
Post  Posted 29 Jan 2019 7:41 pm    
Reply with quote

I own them all, but the built in simulator in the Telonics amp is my favorite...
_________________
John Macy
Rockport, TX
Engineer/Producer/Steel Guitar
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Alex Cattaneo


From:
Quebec, Canada
Post  Posted 30 Jan 2019 4:22 pm    
Reply with quote

The Fishman Aura Jerry Douglas is meant to be a preamp pedal for dobro, and it's fantastic for that, but it also works amazingly well as a dobro simulator. I use it all the time on steel and also lap steel. You have 14 different presets, or emulations, and they all come from different studio microphones used on an actual dobro. Just put the blend knob to max and voilà! You could put a ukulele in there and it would still sound like a dobro. It's not cheap, but if you play actual dobro live from time to time, it's a solid investment.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Jon Light


From:
Saugerties, NY
Post  Posted 31 Jan 2019 4:15 am    
Reply with quote

Alex Cattaneo wrote:
The Fishman Aura Jerry Douglas is meant to be a preamp pedal for dobro, and it's fantastic for that, but it also works amazingly well as a dobro simulator. I use it all the time on steel and also lap steel.....


I've always felt that answers about this exact application have been evasive. I totally get that the unit was designed to be used with a reso-guit with a dedicated, properly installed pickup. But I've never seen a good answer to the question of how well it will work without that pickup, with a different input. The answer is always "it won't give you the excellent results it was designed to produce".
So this is good to know. I am a fan of the Goodrich MatchBro but now I know that this is an option.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Jay Coover

 

From:
Seattle, WA, USA
Post  Posted 31 Jan 2019 6:45 pm    
Reply with quote

Here's a recording I did a while back of my poor beginner playing through a Boss GE-7 with the staggered slider trick into the Jerry Douglas Aura both of which I had for other applications.

I found later that the GE-7 was more or less superfluous and you do not want to cut the highest band. In fact, PSG generally doesn't product much above 5k or so, while a dobro while go all the way up to 20k hertz. There's no real way around that and the Aura pedal doesn't really add it back in. Maybe some sort of exciter then to the Aura pedal. It would be an interesting experiment. This is what it is, but I'm sure it could be made better.

Carter Starter > Boss GE-7 > Fishman Aura Jerry Douglas

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nhls2ep22g9cv75/Fauxbro.mp3?dl=0
_________________
GFI Expo S-10 3x5
Goodrich 120
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Erv Niehaus


From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
Post  Posted 1 Feb 2019 8:31 am    
Reply with quote

How can a dobro produce higher frequencies than a pedal steel? The tuning isn't that much different along with the scale lengths. Rolling Eyes
Erv
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Tony Glassman


From:
The Great Northwest
Post  Posted 1 Feb 2019 9:30 am    
Reply with quote

I agree with John Macy. The best dobro simulator I’ve ever used is the Telonics amp built-in one. I broke it out on a recent gig and it turned the heads of my bandmates. They couldn’t figure out where the dobro sound was coming for a few seconds.
View user's profile Send private message

Jay Coover

 

From:
Seattle, WA, USA
Post  Posted 1 Feb 2019 12:51 pm    
Reply with quote

Erv Niehaus wrote:
How can a dobro produce higher frequencies than a pedal steel? The tuning isn't that much different along with the scale lengths. Rolling Eyes
Erv


Just the way magnetic pickups work I guess. I've compared the frequency graph of both. Electric guitars don't get much above 5k either. A little but not as much as a real acoustic instrument through a quality mic. While they can produce pretty much the same notes, the frequency content is different. Harmonic overtones, whatever you want to call them.

I didn't make it up. I measured with software. Pretty easy to do.

You won't find many brighter pickups than this one. This isn't my measurement.

_________________
GFI Expo S-10 3x5
Goodrich 120


Last edited by Jay Coover on 1 Feb 2019 10:13 pm; edited 2 times in total
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Erv Niehaus


From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
Post  Posted 1 Feb 2019 12:59 pm    
Reply with quote

You mean frequencies only a dog can hear. Rolling Eyes
Erv
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Jay Coover

 

From:
Seattle, WA, USA
Post  Posted 1 Feb 2019 1:01 pm    
Reply with quote

No, those dogs-only frequencies for guys our age are well above 10-12k and you're right they don't matter as much. Between 5k and 12k though is the sparkle of your dobro, acoustic guitar, human voice, etc. It's damned important for getting those types of instruments to sit above the rhythm section (bass, drums, electric guitar) in a mix.

For instruments with magnetic pickups this is the ice pick in the ear range. That might be why it's rolled off. It's not just the pickups that help roll off, but guitar amps and speakers typically roll off around 5k too. Not sure with PSG amps as I don't actually own one.
_________________
GFI Expo S-10 3x5
Goodrich 120


Last edited by Jay Coover on 4 Feb 2019 9:38 am; edited 5 times in total
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Jay Coover

 

From:
Seattle, WA, USA
Post  Posted 1 Feb 2019 1:07 pm    
Reply with quote

This is Jerry Douglas, solo. As far as the notching, you can see that you need one at about 400 Hz and it's also safe to have a notch at around 100. The Boss GE-7 isn't capable of the right kind of notching up higher I think, but I do know you don't want to drop that top slider on that pedal when you stagger them. In the sound clip I linked to above, I made that mistake. In reality though, that top slider is at 8k and actually doesn't make as much difference up or down as you would think, just because there is little frequency content there to boost or cut from your PSG.


_________________
GFI Expo S-10 3x5
Goodrich 120
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Mike Perlowin


From:
Los Angeles CA
Post  Posted 1 Feb 2019 2:19 pm    
Reply with quote

I use a Dunlop Q zone pedal. Dunlop,no longer makes these, but there are always a few for sale on E-bay.

Mine is hard-wired into the powered effects loop in my Steelaire.


_________________
Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Francesco Porcu


From:
Italy
Post  Posted 27 Mar 2023 6:00 am     Pedabro Effect pedal 2023
Reply with quote

Jay Coover wrote:
Here's a recording I did a while back of my poor beginner playing through a Boss GE-7 with the staggered slider trick into the Jerry Douglas Aura both of which I had for other applications.

I found later that the GE-7 was more or less superfluous and you do not want to cut the highest band. In fact, PSG generally doesn't product much above 5k or so, while a dobro while go all the way up to 20k hertz. There's no real way around that and the Aura pedal doesn't really add it back in. Maybe some sort of exciter then to the Aura pedal. It would be an interesting experiment. This is what it is, but I'm sure it could be made better.

Carter Starter > Boss GE-7 > Fishman Aura Jerry Douglas

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nhls2ep22g9cv75/Fauxbro.mp3?dl=0


Hi Jay I'm only now reading this post, I too have the Fishman JD and wanted to use it with the PSG, but I was curious to listen to your file where you test it together with the Boss G7, but the link no longer exists it tells me it's empty, if could you please send it to my email I would be so grateful. Thanks for this Francesco
email: buxter1973@libero.it
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Steve Lipsey


From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 27 Mar 2023 9:58 am    
Reply with quote

Years ago this was discussed...and people (including me) found that, on PSG, instead of the somewhat pricey GE-7, just use the Danelectro Fish & Chips EQ pedal....cheaper, and actually sounds more dobro-like when you offset the sliders...I guess lower quality sometimes pays off....

And in another version of this hack, using a bar made from a 1" cheap wood dowel, and not pressing down very hard, makes a dobro sound just like a banjo...once again, perfect for the few times you want to use it. Maybe that plastic bar that was mentioned here would sound similar...

I got tired of carrying so many instruments to the gig....I now have only a custom CooderNator, a thinline dobro with a Fishman and string-through pickup, for both dobro and lap steel, plus my banjo bar...one light case with three instruments in it...
_________________
www.facebook.com/swingaliband & a few more....
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Ken Byng


From:
Southampton, England
Post  Posted 27 Mar 2023 11:12 am    
Reply with quote

John Macy wrote:
I own them all, but the built in simulator in the Telonics amp is my favorite...


Me too John!
_________________
Show Pro D10 - amber (8+6), MSA D10 Legend XL Signature - redburst (9+6), Sho-Bud Pro 111 Custom (8+6), Emmons black Push-Pull D10 (8+5), Zum D10 (8x8), Hudson pedal resonator. Telonics TCA-500, Webb 614-E,
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Bob Snelgrove


From:
san jose, ca
Post  Posted 29 Mar 2023 9:01 am    
Reply with quote

Ken Byng wrote:
John Macy wrote:
I own them all, but the built in simulator in the Telonics amp is my favorite...


Me too John!


Sound demos, please?
_________________
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRwye98siA4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZlAdlrRYj0

http://www.reverbnation.com/bobsnelgrove

1978 Crawford Emmons P/P
1976 Tommy White P/P
1986 Franklin D-10
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail


All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Jump to:  

Our Online Catalog
Strings, CDs, instruction,
steel guitars & accessories

www.SteelGuitarShopper.com

Please review our Forum Rules and Policies

Steel Guitar Forum LLC
PO Box 237
Mount Horeb, WI 53572 USA


Click Here to Send a Donation

Email admin@steelguitarforum.com for technical support.


BIAB Styles
Ray Price Shuffles for
Band-in-a-Box

by Jim Baron
HTTP