Artist wants pedal steel to sound like dobro

Jim Lill · Post by **Jim Lill** » 3 Mar 2022 1:31 pm

I had a rehearsal last night and on a couple songs the artist asked if I could make my steel sound like a dobro. I have a Line 6 HX Stomp with a bunch of different EQs in it, so to save time I loaded the 10 band graphic EQ and cut 100Hz, boosted 500Hz and 1k, and cut 2k and 4k. The artist seemed happy with that, but I'd like to get it a little closer if I can.

I've heard that Goodrich made something called a "Match Bro" that was designed to do this kind of thing. Does anyone know what that's doing to the signal that I could copy with the HX Stomp EQs?

I'm playing through a '90s Twin RI with stock Fender Eminence speakers. It's a scooped mids sound with plenty of bass.

If you have any experience with this area in general, I'd love to hear from you. Thanks!

Marty Broussard · Post by **Marty Broussard** » 3 Mar 2022 2:25 pm

Jim,
My 2 cents, I had a couple of songs I needed to have the dobro sound on and after trying all kinds of things the best I found for functionality(fooling the audience and satisfying the artist without feedback) and biggest bang for the buck was using a Boss GE-7 equalizer pedal with each adjacent slider positioned opposite of each other. Start on the left and place the slider completely down; move the next slider to the right completely up, etc then you can adjust the gain as needed. Notice in the pic below that the sliders that should be positioned forward have a black mark on the pedal. Now, the sound you get is very similar to what you’d obtain from the Bradshaw Dunlop pedal, the Goodrich devices, and the Bo-Bro, plus you can use the pedal for other eq needs. With your HX that you described you could look at a pic of a Boss GE-7, document the frequencies, and program your HX like you would the Boss pedal. Since you have 10 bands you could try manipulating the “extra” bands but I didn’t hear enough when I did it with the MXR 10-band that I had so I sold it and kept the smaller Boss pedal. Also, fyi, the stock GE-7 Boss pedal is noisy which requires a mod to eliminate it, so I feel you should try as much as possible to get the results from your HX before spending more money. If you do chose to go with the GE-7 you may want to order it from the Keeley pedal company with the mod already installed.
I hope that is clear and works for you. I spent money and time on that quest to wind up with the Boss pedal and Tracy liked it allot. I’ve heard a more realistic faux sound , but the guy worked his tail off doing sampling, etc and I just didn’t have the time for it.

Take care
MB

Bob Tuttle · Post by **Bob Tuttle** » 3 Mar 2022 7:15 pm

I did a show a couple of years ago that required dobro on several songs. I used the Boss GE-7 and a plastic dobro-simulator bar and got a pretty acceptable dobro sound. Here's a photo of the EQ settings and a photo of the bar I used.

Ben Thomas · Post by **Ben Thomas** » 4 Mar 2022 4:23 am

David Spires might be the player that Marty is referring to. I don’t believe what he did is something that can be replicated, unless he could add some detail here. Although it’s probably not helpful to the question at hand, here’s a video demonstration from David just for reference:

https://youtu.be/0o1Y0IFG2uc

Has anyone tried the GE-7 into the Jerry Douglas Aura pedal?

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 4 Mar 2022 9:09 am

I’ve tried it with a 10-band eq modeler, it’s passable but not as believable as the Boss GE-7 pedal trick. For my GeorgeL humbucker, I nudge that 200 slider about halfway down to 0 because it gets a little boomy. I use a ceramic bar to kill some of the sustain, and avoid using the high G# string on the E9 neck.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 4 Mar 2022 9:11 am

I have used a Match-Bro and Bo-Bro in the past. The Bo-Bro is nothing more than a GE7 that had the sliders set as in Bob Tuttle's pic, had the sliders broken off, and a piece of plastic covering them. I think the center frequencies are the key. I have switched to a Danelectro Fish and chips that has the same center frequencies as the GE7. I have tried my Source Audio 7 band EQ, but with different center frequencies, couldn't get anywhere close. I tried on an MXR 10 band, and the same problem.

Jay Coover · Post by **Jay Coover** » 4 Mar 2022 9:58 am

Ben Thomas wrote:David Spires might be the player that Marty is referring to. I don’t believe what he did is something that can be replicated, unless he could add some detail here. Although it’s probably not helpful to the question at hand, here’s a video demonstration from David just for reference:

https://youtu.be/0o1Y0IFG2uc

Has anyone tried the GE-7 into the Jerry Douglas Aura pedal?

Yes, I have. I'll try to put something together to listen to. Patience, I'm a novice.

Karl Paulsen · Post by **Karl Paulsen** » 4 Mar 2022 10:21 am

I do the Boss GE7 trick, but with a Danlectro Fish and Chips. Then I play with a lightweight glass bottle from Hobby Lobby.

https://www.hobbylobby.com/Beads-Jewelr ... p/80839941

The Dano pedal came very well reviewed here, doesn't seem to be noisy like some GE7, and with the pack of bottles, I'm only in for about 50 bucks.

There's only one song I use it for at this point, but it's alot of fun and does get the dobro vibe.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 5 Mar 2022 5:06 am

Fred Treece wrote:I’ve tried it with a 10-band eq modeler, it’s passable but not as believable as the Boss GE-7 pedal trick. For my GeorgeL humbucker, I nudge that 200 slider about halfway down to 0 because it gets a little boomy. I use a ceramic bar to kill some of the sustain, and avoid using the high G# string on the E9 neck.

I also nudge down the 200 slider to just over half way. Same reason.

Bob Cox · Post by **Bob Cox** » 6 Mar 2022 8:26 am

I have used a M&M tube container as a bar and cranked the volume. This has a unique tone which somewhat sounds like a dobro. It also doubles as a good bar protector.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 6 Mar 2022 11:29 am

I actually just use my regular bar. My real dobro has some sustain, so I don't want to eliminate the sustain when simulating a dobro. If I don't want sustain, I just block the strings

Dave Hopping · Post by **Dave Hopping** » 6 Mar 2022 4:53 pm

Tried the sliders bit with a truly ancient DOD FX40B 7 band.
Worked OK.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 6 Mar 2022 5:05 pm

As a couple others have said, using a lighter bar (glass or ceramic) really helps with the effect. But it will also help to make it more believable if you don't use the pedals or your volume pedal.

ajm · Post by **ajm** » 10 Mar 2022 8:36 am

Jim Lill: As a side note, I have enjoyed watching your channel and videos on Youtube.

Marty's GE-7 photo: If you haven't figured it out, those are NOT the settings for a dobro sound. I'm not sure why he posted it.

Back to the dobro-sim discussion...........

As stated, the Danelectro Fish and Chips will also work just fine.
It has the same frequency bands as the Boss GE-7.
However, if you want to ever mod it for some reason, good luck.
It uses the teeny tiny SMD parts that are impossible to deal with for the average Joe.

The settings: As posted by others, the standard for the GE-7 is:
All of the way down
All of the way up
etc etc etc left to right
Adjust volume as required.
I have seen some guys tweak the first two low frequency sliders to taste, so your ears may lead you that way.

Another possibility........
Use an acoustic electric guitar with the same settings.
I use a glass/pyrex/whatever slide and to my semi-unedumacated ears it also gets pretty close.

GE-7 noise mods: There are several mod kits available on the internet.
In my semi-unedumacated opinion however, most of them may be overkill. A lot of them replace caps and the LED and other stuff that have nothing to do with the actual noise problem.
In my limited experience, replacing the three main op amps should make a night and day difference in the noise.
This is easy to do if you have some average soldering skills.
If you're still reading this, and want more info, PM me.

Jay Jessup · Post by **Jay Jessup** » 10 Mar 2022 10:47 am

This is probably obvious but dobro's have fat strings relative to PSG so once you get the tone tweaks then figure out stuff you can play on the heavier strings.

John Sims · Post by **John Sims** » 10 Mar 2022 2:17 pm

Has anyone tried to simulate a resonator with the BEHRINGER EQ700?

Per Berner · Post by **Per Berner** » 10 Mar 2022 10:12 pm

The Behringer has exactly the same frequency bands as the BOSS, and looks like a clone of the latter, so the difference in performance should be minimal. But while the BOSS is built like a tank, I'm not so sure about Behringer's robustness.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 11 Mar 2022 4:21 am

Per Berner wrote:The Behringer has exactly the same frequency bands as the BOSS, and looks like a clone of the latter, so the difference in performance should be minimal. But while the BOSS is built like a tank, I'm not so sure about Behringer's robustness.

The Behringer pedal is made of plastic, as is the Danelectro Fish and Chips that I use. If you're the kind that stomps on a pedal (the reason they are called "stomp boxes"), plastic could possibly be an issue, but I think it would be reasonably durable. Typically, most of us steel players only use the dobro effect maybe 1 to maybe 5 times a gig (I use it on maybe 2, and we don't always play those songs), so the case really shouldn't be an issue. I have my EQ mounted on my pedal board that sits on top of my Nashville 400 head to my right within easy reach. And I turn pedals on/off with my hand.

John Sims · Post by **John Sims** » 11 Mar 2022 5:00 am

Thanks! I also have my stomp boxes on top of my amp and turn them on by hand.

David Mitchell · Post by **David Mitchell** » 11 Mar 2022 3:58 pm

That EQ with every other slider up is creating a comb filter effect. That's what studio builders try to avoid when designing acoustic spaces but it does work well for a dobro effect.

Marty Broussard · Post by **Marty Broussard** » 11 Mar 2022 9:36 pm

@ajm,
Read my post again; I thoroughly explained where the sliders should be positioned and that the black marks where relevant to those sliders. I posted the pick as a visual to help the OP, and I took for granted that anyone with an IQ that falls within the normal bell-curve would understand after comprehending all the information within my post.

David Mitchell · Post by **David Mitchell** » 12 Mar 2022 12:39 am

For the bar part, I just sawed the end off a wooden mop handle. It's the same dimensions as my regular BJS 7/8" bar and even rounded on the end just like one. It's wood and light weight which helps create that effect. I've used it since 1972 and still have it for gigs. I still use real resonator guitars for recording purposes.