Running tricone through a guitar amp

[Timo]

Hello!

I'm going to buy a National Tricone guitar and I'll probably order it
with a Highlander Magnophonic X pick up. Mostly I'm going to play it
without any amplification or through a P.A. system, but I was
wondering how does it sound through a guitar amp. Has anyone tried it?
I have two Fender Deluxe Reveb amps from the 70's and they sound so
good with electric guitars. They give so nice sound with higher
volumes, because of the overdrive. Is it possible to do this with a
resonator guitar or is the feedback too big of a problem? Any
comments?

Thanks,
Timo

[Mike Dotson]

It will work with a bit of tweaking, but not the best sound. Feedback can be a
problem too with an open cabinet amp like a Fender.

Mike
http://www.MaricopaGuitarCo.com

[Bill Hoff]

I've got one of those Lace Dobro pickups on both my Style 0 and my
Style 2 Tricone. Works really well. I'm into Chris Whitley, so I run
my Nationals into a Fender Super Champ for some grind. It kicks ass,
and talk about controlled feedback. You can vary it by moving as
little as an inch or two.

[foldedpath]

Post by Timo
Hello!
I'm going to buy a National Tricone guitar and I'll probably order it
with a Highlander Magnophonic X pick up. Mostly I'm going to play it
without any amplification or through a P.A. system, but I was
wondering how does it sound through a guitar amp. Has anyone tried it?
I have two Fender Deluxe Reveb amps from the 70's and they sound so
good with electric guitars. They give so nice sound with higher
volumes, because of the overdrive. Is it possible to do this with a
resonator guitar or is the feedback too big of a problem? Any
comments?

An electric guitar amp will knock the highs off your tricone's sound, which
could be a good or a bad thing, depending on the sound you're going for. If
you want a more acoustic sound with all the janglies and upper frequency
"air" intact, then I recommend avoiding electric guitar amps. You'll want
either an acoustic guitar amp (which will include a second transducer for
the highs), or a compact PA system.

However, for some styles where you want a darker tone, an electric amp can
be great. I went to a David Lindely concert recently where he rocked the
house with an old Weissenborn and a magnetic pickup (probably a Sunrise),
running through a Roland Jazz Chorus electric guitar amp. The amp was mic'd
to the house PA. It was a great sound for what he was doing.... sort of a
blues/reggae/world fusion thing.

I have a Rivera Sedona tube amp, which can run as either an electric guitar
amp or an acoustic amp (with a tweeter kicked in). When I've used it in the
past with my resonators, I've always left the tweeter off, so it's only
pushing the single 12" speaer. It just sounds smoother that way. Someone
else might prefer the more open sound with more high frequencies. You
already have those Deluxe Reverb amps, so go ahead and see what they sound
like. You might like it.

As for feedback, that can be a problem no matter what amp you're using, if
the volume is high enough. A good solution would be to put an additional
preamp preamp with a parametric EQ or notch filter (same thing, basically)
to filter out the main feedback frequencies, ahead of your guitar amp. The
Baggs PADI or their Feedback Master box is a cheap solution for this, and
you can wait to buy it until you see if you really have any serious
problems with feedback:

http://www.lrbaggs.com/html/products/products_preamps.shtml

[Timo]

Thanks to you all for your answers. I really appreciate it. Now I know
what to expect.

Timo