
Jens’ two-microphone setup for resonator guitar and his Fender Super Reverb.
Our columnist recounts what he’s learned about getting the sound of a projection cone to an audience, and his ultimate solution: two mounted mics and his faithful Super Reverb.
In my July 2022 column, “Acoustic Guitars and Fender Amps,” I talked about using acoustic 6-strings with classic black-panel amps—particularly the bigger models with wide EQ possibilities. This month, let’s take it a step further and talk about Fender amps and resonator guitars. I will share what I have discovered by experimenting with various microphones, pedals, and more.
In a resonator, the metal cone underneath the front plate functions as a base for the bridge saddle and vibrates like a loudspeaker to project sound. Because of the instrument’s directional character and ease of feeding back, resonator guitars are difficult to use in live bands with loud stage volume. The goal is to get enough volume resonator onstage and in the room without feedback. Since it’s an important part of the instrument’s character, it’s necessary to capture some of that metal-cone voice within an overall balanced guitar tone that sits well in the mix. And you need to be able to achieve this in a way simple enough to reproduce the same tone night after night, and focus on your music, not technical problems.
The easiest way to mic a resonator guitar is to place a microphone on a stand about a foot in front of the guitar and run the signal into the mixer. But this pure acoustic route only works well in low volume situations—due to feedback—and requires you to play sitting down or standing still.
“Because of the instrument’s directional character and ease of feeding back, resonator guitars are difficult to use in live bands with loud stage volume.”
You can also use the type of clip-on microphone (often used for violin) made by Neumann and DPA, among others, to make you mobile, but if you get too close to the monitors or mains, feedback ensues. I recommend the microphones that come with a preamp and volume dial, to give you the most control. If you use one of these, point the mic directly toward the metal cone. Finding a nice tone will require some experimentation.
Another option is a piezo pickup. Some newer resonator guitars come with factory-installed piezos. It’s not very difficult to install a passive piezo yourself. You need to file and sand the bridge piece, detach the metal cone for wiring and soldering work, and, finally, drill a hole in the guitar where the jack plug goes in through the strap button. Getting the string tension correct over the entire length of the bridge saddle is the key to success. Lately, I have used hard oak as bridge material, which creates a smooth and mellow tone with bronze strings.
The author’s resonator “kit.”
Piezo pickups are less prone to feedback than acoustic microphones, so they are better for high-volume stage scenarios. But piezo pickups alone will not fully capture the tone of the resonator cone, so if you’re looking for more of that, add an acoustic clip-on microphone. That’s what I do. Both the piezo and the clip-on go to my Fender Super Reverb, and I use the normal channel for the feedback-sensitive acoustic microphone while the piezo goes to the vibrato channel with reverb. For dirty tones, I sometimes use an overdrive pedal for the piezo pickup. There are independent EQ and volume settings on both channels.
The third and last microphone technique I have experimented with is a humbucker. I bought one from 12 Bar Blues Pickups that is only 6 mm tall and built specifically for resonators. It fits nicely under the strings with enough clearance. The advantage with a passive magnetic pickup is obviously the simplicity. The installation process is easy if you simply tape or glue the pickup to your guitar and let the wire run externally on top of your resonator’s body. The kit I bought contains a small volume and tone box with jack input, and requires no battery. The result is, essentially, a hollow-body electric guitar suited for pedals and regular amps. It is also more resistant to feedback than both piezo and acoustic microphones. When I want to add some of the “bluegrass” flavor of the resonator cone, I add the acoustic microphone as mentioned earlier.
One drawback with conventional magnetic pickup technology is that bronze strings have a lower output, since bronze is less responsive to magnetic fields than nickel. I have kept the bronze strings on my resonators because of the great tone. To get even output on the bass strings, the bridge height measures a little higher on the bass side than the treble side.
So, there we have several different techniques for capturing modern resonator guitar tones, including a few options with guitar amps. Now, go experiment!
For the first time ever, two guitar greats, John 5 and Richie Kotzen will be heading out on the road this year. The tour will launch October 16 and run through November, hitting markets across the U.S.
Find the full tour itinerary right plus a link for tickets & VIP, including additional dates featuring John 5 only. Reserved seating tickets will go on sale Friday May 16 though a fan presale will begin today at noon local time and fans are strongly encouraged to buy early to get the best seats.
Meet and Greets for both artists will be available. For John 5 please go to: https://john5store.com/collections/vip.
Today, John 5 also announces more details of his anticipated new album. Called The Ghost, it will be released October 10 and is led by the new track “Fiend,” featuring Kenny Aronoff.
John 5 continues running public tours this month for his Knights In Satan’s Service Museum of KISS Memorabilia in Los Angeles, California. Guided tours are open to the public for one month only (with a possible expansion). Current dates available are May 12-16, May 19-23 and May 27-30. Each will be led by John 5 himself who will provide tons of rich detail and answer any questions. Secure your place HERE.
JOHN 5 continues to tour with Mötley Crüe including an upcoming residency in Las Vegas in 2025.RICHIE KOTZEN &
JOHN 5 FALL 2025 TOUR
October 16 El Cajon, CA @ Magnolia
October 17 Riverside, CA @ Fox Performing Arts
October 18 Roseville, CA @ Goldfield Trading Post
October 19 San Jose, CA @ The Ritz
October 21 Phoenix, AZ @ Celebrity Theatre
October 22 Albuquerque, NM @ KiMo Theatre
October 24 Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
October 25 Leander, TX @ The Haute Spot
October 27 New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
October 28 Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall
October 29 Nashville, TN @ Fogg Street Lawn Club
October 30 Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
October 31 Orlando, FL @ House of Blues
November 1 Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room
November 2 Clearwater, FL @ Capitol Theatre
November 4 Richmond, VA @ The National
November 5 Leesburg, VA @ Tally Ho Theater
November 6 Patchogue, NY @ Patchogue Theatre
November 11 Glenside, PA @ Keswick Theatre
November 12 Derry, NH @ Tupelo Music Hall
November 13 Foxborough, MA @ Six String Grill & Stage
November 14 Stroudsburg, PA @ Sherman Theater
November 15 Lorain, OH @ Lorain Palace Theatre
November 16 Columbus, OH @ The King Of Clubs
November 17 Warrendale, PA @ Jergels
November 19 Wyandotte, MI @ District 142
November 20 Flint, MI @ The Machine Shop
November 21 Fort Wayne, IN @ Piere’s
November 22 St. Charles, IL @ Arcada Theatre
November 23 Belvidere, IL @ Apollo Theatre
November 25 Denver, CO @ Oriental Theater
November 29 Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet's*
*John 5 only
PRS Guitars celebrates 40 years with the limited edition McCarty SC56. Featuring vintage-inspired design and modern innovations, this single-cutaway guitar pays tribute to Ted McCarty and his impact on the industry. With only 400 pieces available, this instrument is a must-have for collectors and performers alike.
PRS Guitars today announced the 40th Anniversary McCarty SC56 Limited Edition. With a classic PRS single-cutaway body shape and carefully chosen specifications, the McCarty SC56 is both a tribute to tradition and a reliable tool for the modern performer. Only 400 pieces will be made.
“The SC56, signifying Singlecut and 1956, model is our most recent tribute to my late mentor Ted McCarty and his impact on the guitar industry. We started with our take on a classic late ‘50s singlecut body. 1956 marks the year that Ted first had guitars made with his newly coined 'humbucker' pickups. It also happens to be the year I was born. Bringing vintage design into the modern era, we loaded this model with our McCarty III pickups, meticulously designed to deliver warm, clear, vintage tone with exceptional note separation and dynamics,” said PRS Guitars Founder & Managing General Partner, Paul Reed Smith.
Anchored by a maple top and mahogany back, the 24.594” scale length and 22-fret Pattern Vintage neck work with Phase III non-locking tuners and PRS two-piece bridge to promote its musical sustain. The PRS McCarty III pickups are controlled by a simple layout — two volume controls, two tone controls, and a three-way toggle on the upper bout.
Single-cutaway guitars are known to be heavier than their double-cutaway counterparts. The McCarty SC56 Limited Edition design incorporates weight-relief, decreasing the weight of the guitar by about 2/3 of a pound, while maintaining several points of attachment between the guitar top and back to eliminate the “hollow” sound of the cavities and promote tone transfer.
With appointments like binding on the fretboard, classic bird inlays, and a vintage-inspired nitrocellulose finish, the 40th Anniversary McCarty SC56 Limited Edition blends heritage and innovation into a timeless instrument.
PRS Guitars continues its schedule of launching new products each month in 2025.
For more information, please visit prsguitars.com.
40th Anniversary McCarty SC56 Limited Edition | Demo | PRS Guitars - YouTube
The Future Impact V4 is an incredibly versatile pedal with an exceptional range of sounds. In addition to producing synthesizer sounds such as basses, leads and pads, it can function as an octaver, chorus, flanger, phaser, distortion, envelope filter, traditional wah-wah, tremolo, reverb, etc., and even has a built-in tuner. It can potentially replace an entire pedalboard of dedicated single-effect pedals.
The very powerful signal processor of the Future Impact V4 is able to replicate the various oscillator, filter, amplifier and envelope generator blocks found in classic synthesizers. In addition, it contains signal processing blocks more traditionally used for processing the sound of an instrument such as a harmonizer block and audio effects such as chorus, distortion and EQ. These architectures complement each other in a very flexible way.
Setting the standard for the bass guitar synth pedals since 2015, together with an enthusiastic community and long line of great artists, the Future Impact V4 is the guitar synth platform for the next decade.
Belltone Guitars has partnered Brickhouse Toneworks to create a one-of-a-kind, truly noiseless Strat/Tele-tone pickup in a standard Filter’Tron size format: the Single-Bell pickup.
The Single-Bell by Brickhouse Toneworks delivers bonafide single-coil Strat and Tele tones with the power of a P-90 and no 60-cycle hum. Unlike typical stacked hum-cancelling designs, Brickhouse Toneworks uses a proprietary ‘sidewind’ approach that cancels the 60-cycle hum without sacrificing any of the dynamics or top-end sparkle of a Fender-style single coil.
Get the best of both worlds with clear bell-like tones on the neck pickup, signature quack when combining the neck and bridge pickups, and pristine twang in the bridge position backed with the fullness and power of a P-90. Push these into overdrive and experience the hallmark blues tone with plenty of grit and harmonic sustain — all with completely noiseless performance.
Key Features of the Single-Bell:
- Cast Alnico 5 Magnet, designed to be used with 500k pots
- Voiced to capture that signature Fender-style single coil tone without the 60-cycle hum
- Lightly potted to minimize squeal
- Made in the USA with premium quality materials
The retail price for a Bridge and Neck matching set is $340.00 and they’re available directly and exclusively through Belltone® Guitars / Brickhouse Toneworks at belltoneguitars.com.