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Permalink Reply by Scott on October 23, 2015 at 11:54am

After seeing where this ended up I fear it was posted in the wrong discussion. I apologize.

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on October 23, 2015 at 12:03pm

contrary to  popular  belief  ,  a  mag   pup  does  pick up   more than  just  the strings, especially  if  it's monophonic    or  vintage .  if you  doubt it ,,,  just  yell  into a  pickup  on a guitar  and see  for yourself .

this  is also  why  some    hollow bodies   have  pups and soundholes  / f-holes  .  the combo would make no sense otherwise  . 

that being  said  ,  even  faux resonator  guitars  (with no  cone  )  were the   rage  in  the  60s  . it did not  reso  like a reso  ,  but added   some twang ,  mass  , and  a cool  look.

in actuality  ,  a reso guitar  should not  need any    amplification  , save  for a  mic.   that  is actually  what it  was  designed  as  , a non  electrically amped acoustic.

   so ,  yes  ,  they  do  make a difference  ,  just   not as   drastic    of   one  . 

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Permalink Reply by Scott on October 23, 2015 at 12:53pm

Well ok, I'll give you that but still, for my ears, I'll take a simple piezo under the bridge or somewhere in the reso. For my money you just can't beat that raw hollow with a slide sound!

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on October 23, 2015 at 5:04pm

Not going to open the huge can of worms about mag pickups. Will say this. Some mags are designed to be microphonic. They not only give a good sound. But pick up the sound of the instrument as well. Cheaper mags will pick up everything. Unfortunately some cheaply made mags are better off used for wall hangers. Guitars made as art and not meant to be played. A piezo would sound better and have less feedback. 

Guess in the end it depends if the builder has done research. The right pickup will give you that cool sound of the res threw an amp. Put a $90+ Seymour Duncan and the res becomes nothing more than a decoration. Total waste of build. So I do totally agree with you. If it's a good mag there should be a piezo to bring out the cool sound of the resonator. 

I use quality mags because my music depends a lot on fuzz, distortion and overdrive. Love the sound of piezos. Unfortunately with heavy fuzz piezos sound like Godzilla before puberty. 

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Permalink Reply by Scott on October 24, 2015 at 12:44am

I agree, no can of worms here, was not my intention. I just needed some explanation from more learned souls than I. One prolific builder who sells online who I shall not name, has several videos of his creations and they just sound like a standard electric guitar. Although very pretty to look at, like you said, waste of a build. I went so far of asking him if he uses an under bridge piezo and his response was a single flat "no". Well ok then.

I appreciate the honest responses. Now, since I don't have a resonator in my collection, I'll have to make a decision whether to build one myself or purchase one from a builder. I have listened to several samples of Schmied intsruments...quite an authentic sound. We'll see.

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Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on October 24, 2015 at 1:39am

Electrifying reso's is not all that simple,many personal tastes come in to play,i've done it with mags on body,[pointless],mags on the cone/resonator,[better],discs inside,[best],and rods in saddle/bridge[good],i've found to my ear ,the closest to a reso sound is the disc if mounted well,which in turn leads me to think a good microphone set up well is probably best for reso's rather than internal amping

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Permalink Reply by Scott on October 24, 2015 at 1:50am

BTW, what would be a good example of a monophonic pickup? I would assume a humbucker is not monophonic? 

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on October 24, 2015 at 8:22am

Any pickup that has been well potted. ( a process of using wax or wax like chemicals to eliminate all except magnetic induced energy) wont work. Single or double coil. A good replica of of an unpotted pickup would work. Not sure where you would find information on which one would be best to use. You may find answers on acoustic guitar building forums. Or even large forms like ultimate Guitar. 

Perhaps an easier and less expensive option would be to use a combination. 

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