Dobro D-33 resonator with an added Johnny Eleca SH-3 Single Coil Magnetic Soundboard Slimline Pickup Resonator Guitar, (Used)

The Dobro D-33 resonator with an added Johnny Eleca SH-3 Single Coil Magnetic Soundboard Slimline Pickup is a metal-body resonator guitar based on the Dobro Model 33 design, a round-neck instrument associated with post-war and later Dobro production. It typically features a steel body with chrome or nickel-style plating, a wooden neck, and a single-cone resonator system mounted beneath a perforated coverplate. The instrument uses standard guitar tuning and a full-scale neck layout, combining acoustic projection from the cone with the metallic construction characteristic of this Dobro series.

The added Johnny Eleca SH-3 pickup is a surface-mounted magnetic single-coil unit designed to attach to the soundboard area near the strings, converting string vibration into an amplified signal independently of the resonator cone. This type of pickup captures the strings in a similar manner to an electric guitar pickup rather than relying on piezo or microphone-based cone sensing. As a result, the modified instrument can blend traditional resonator acoustics when played unplugged with a more direct magnetic pickup response when connected to an amplifier.

Hardware on the Dobro D-33 commonly includes a trapeze tailpiece, slotted or enclosed tuners depending on production year, and a biscuit or spider-style bridge assembly depending variant and era. The addition of the SH-3 pickup generally requires routing its cable to an output jack or external lead, creating an amplified resonator setup without replacing the original cone assembly. Overall, this configuration combines classic Dobro resonator construction with an aftermarket magnetic pickup solution intended for stage or recording use.