The Hicken Jr Stomp - Pedabro

[hickenjr]

Hey Y'all,

A lot of people were asking for a further "Mic'ed Up" video of the Hudson Pedabro as per my unboxing video. Here's a little demo to an old tune of mine showing the sound both mic'ed up and with the resonator pickup.



I hope you enjoy!

[Ken Byng]

Well done Steven. You have definitely bought well there. If you compare the price that Jimmie Hudson knocks these guitars out for with the cost of a S/H Franklin Pedabro, it's no contest. I have tried playing my Emmons D10 through my TCA500 Telonics' dobro SIM, through the combo's DI output facility into my Jerry Douglas Dobro SIM box into my desk. I use the special plastic bar made by Telonics. It's really close to the sound of your pedal dobro.

My Hudsonator guitar's built in mic gives a very authentic resonator tone, and I tend to play it like a Dobro as opposed to a pedal steel. I'm close to getting my studio completed and once done I'll do a clip of my guitar for comparison running the built in mic into the JD SIM box into the desk for comparison.

[hickenjr]

Well done Steven. You have definitely bought well there. If you compare the price that Jimmie Hudson knocks these guitars out for with the cost of a S/H Franklin Pedabro, it's no contest. I have tried playing my Emmons D10 through my Telonics combo's DI output facility into my Jerry Douglas Dobro SIM into my desk. It's really close to your pedal dobro.

My Hudsonator guitar's built in mic gives a very authentic resonator tone, and I tend to play it like a Dobro as opposed to a pedal steel. I'm close to getting my studio completed and once done I'll do a clip of my guitar for comparison running the built in mic into the JD SIM box into the desk for comparison.

Thanks Ken! I was pretty impressed with the pickup into the mixing desk. Pretty authentic and I'm sure it will sound even better with a JD Box. I love the mic'ed tone though and the guitar is a lot louder than what I was expecting. I'm going to put Bronze Phosphor strings on at some point to improve the tone further. I believe Piezo pickups work best with Bronze strings too but I could be wrong. I think the Bronze strings is the secret ingredient. Paul Franklin mentioned this on a historic SGF post. He said his tone was much better on Forever and Ever Amen using Bronze strings but after struggling to find them, he had to revert to steel strings on the Keith Whitley stuff.

The logical and definitely most cost effective route would have been to buy a simulator for my Show Pro but...I am me. The sims are getting very close these days but throw in bronze strings and that's where using sims would fall down because you wouldn't want bronze in Hughey Land on Look At Us!

I'm not going to slander brands but I think the tone of the Hudson is much nicer than the SK's Zane King was playing. Could be to do with the tuning (E vs D) but the woods/cones used could have something to do with it too.

As for playing styles, I'm going to learn some proper dobro riffs but at the same time I'm very much open to playing it as a reso sounding pedal steel. I have had the Resocasters album on repeat and some of the stuff Hal Rugg does is magical. The lead break to Evangelina is sheer class. Also on repeat is some great Paul Franklin work on a stripped back Dan Seals album. God Must Be A Cowboy is my personal favorite. The uniqueness of the Pedabro is that it is a Pedabro. Especially in this country.

[Ken Byng]

I don't know how long bronze strings would last on a pedal guitar Steven. I use bronze on my acoustic resonator guitars, and they certainly give out a lot of volume.

Talking to Mikey Johnson one time I got the impression that he doesn't use his Pedabro much these days on sessions. With my own Hudsonator, I think that I'd use the pedals more to change the tuning rather than make it sound like a pedal steel with a dobro sound. Anyway mate, with a Show Pro and a pedal resonator, you've got two of the top instruments that money can buy. Way better than I had when I was your age.

[hickenjr]

I don't know how long bronze strings would last on a pedal guitar Steven. I use bronze on my acoustic resonator guitars, and they certainly give out a lot of volume.

Talking to Mikey Johnson one time I got the impression that he doesn't use his Pedabro much these days on sessions. With my own Hudsonator, I think that I'd use the pedals more to change the tuning rather than make it sound like a pedal steel with a dobro sound. Anyway mate, with a Show Pro and a pedal resonator, you've got two of the top instruments that money can buy. Way better than I had when I was your age.

I agree Ken, I had the same thoughts of "will they snap after two minutes". I will experiment though. If one good thing lock-down has give me it's the realization I have much more time than I realize.

Sad to hear that but I can imagine that has a lot to do with musical trends. Pedabro was the in thing in the 80s and 90s, in the states, but started to dwindle during the pop face, as well as other acoustic instruments. As we all know though, what goes around comes around. I'm happy to say the Bro country phase is pretty much dead and buried. Unfortunately now we have Simp country coming along which is still pop but at least its less misogynistic and filthy. Over here though...well after my video last night I've already had a call from a big session drumming mate saying that he's working with a singer who would be perfect for it. The Pedabro novelty never really wore off here because the novelty never really got going. I'm not a pro musician so decent calls are rare for me and it's refreshing to be asked.

You're right again Ken, sometimes I've got to remind myself I'm blessed when I start to forget. The Show Pro is sounding phenomenal. I'm hoping to get it up to Scotland for some copedent additions as mentioned to you privately. I've just bought a little Vox MV50 as a recording amp too and I love it.

[Danny Mitchell]

Very interesting Steven,
Personally speaking I'd be inclined to back the mic off a tad, it sounds like your picks are getting picked up a little. A blend of both sources would be nice to hear, and if you throw in a Jerry Douglas simulator thingy, you've got a whole day's worth of options to be playing with.
Thanks for taking the time to let us hear this and I hope you get to use it in anger before too long.

[hickenjr]

Thanks mate, that's definitely a fair shout. I don't have any experience of recording resonator instruments so I'm still learning. Will definitely be working on mic position. The blend option seems cool too but for me, there's no beating the mic in the studio. Electronics have been trying to replicate mics for years. They have got very close, recently. Definitely a get out of jail on stage if there's too much feedback.

[GuitarMathew]

Love it Brother!
It's good to see that you are progressing fast on the PSG/Pedabro.

[hickenjr]

Thanks Mathew, appreciate it.