Recommend me a Dobro?

[gags]

Hi there,

Want to get into slide,

Anyone recommend a Dobro?


Been looking at this..

EPIPHONE DOBRO BISCUIT

http://images7.thomann.de/pics/bdb/187743/942184_800.jpg

[zombywoof]

I know a few folks who really like that Epi. It ain't gonna sound as good as a 1936 Dobro but they preferred it to the Johnsons and Rogues.

Ya might check out Republic Guitars. Not sure if they make a wood body resonator but their metal body resonators although made offshore are inspected and setup in the U.S.

[wezajammin]

I have owned the Epiphone as well as a Regal. I am now playing a Republic, which is still a fairly small company, and for the money, it is hard to find something that sounds better. Mine blows both the Epiphone and the Regal out of the water without the common cone and nut modifications that are made to lower end resonators.

Here is the website, they are definitely worth a look.

http://www.republicguitars.com/

There are plenty of video's on youtube as well if you want to hear what they sound like.

Best of luck and happy slidin'.

-Dave

[Roman]

If you get a chance to try a Gold Tone, I think you'll be impressed for the price.

[Acoustic Rick]

Thats a pretty nice guitar. I just within the last couple of months picked up Dobro. I'm lovin learning how to play it. What a blast! I bought a Gibson made Dobro brand Phil Leadbetter signature edition. It's a pretty nice guitar but a bit pricey. Good luck getting a nice one and have fun you're in for a treat.

[Wade Hampton]

Gags, you asked about the Epiphone Biscuit, but posted a picture of a Dobro.

Up until maybe ten years ago, the word "Dobro" was used generically to describe any resonator guitar. But nowadays it's used mostly to describe Dobro brand instruments, or, more broadly, resonator guitars with Dobro-style resonators in them.

The Epiphone Biscuit meets neither of those qualifications. It's got a National-style cone in it, which has its bridge mounted directly on the cone (and is called a "biscuit bridge," hence the model name.)

Spider bridge cones are distinctive to the Dobro and Dobro-style guitars, and these give a different sound and response than the biscuit bridge instruments.

You might want to spend a little time playing and listening to both types of resonator guitars before you purchase anything, just to make certain you're getting the style of resonator instrument most suited to your playing style.

Broadly speaking, spider cone Dobros and Dobro copies are most widely used and appreciated in bluegrass and country music circles. They tend to sound "sweeter" and "woodier" than the National-style biscuit bridge resonator guitars.

Biscuit bridge resonators are the favorite of blues players, and of course there's a lot of crossover into rock music, as well.

Naturally, all sorts of exceptions exist, and you shouldn't let your imagination be reined in by what other musicians have done with these two types of reso guitars. But it's a good idea to understand the differences before you buy.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Taylorplayer]

Are you looking for a square neck or round?

What kind of music will you use it for?
Country
Blues
Bluegrass
Jazz (?) -- that might be a first!

I ask because there are wood bodies, steel bodies, brass, laminates ....

As previously mentioned the term "DOBRO" has become somewhat generic.

[mmapags]

Taylorplayer,

Jazz on a reso would not nessesarily be a first. Check out some of the work Jerry Douglas has done, especially working with Bella Fleck. I know it sounds crazy to think of jazz played by dobro and banjo but these guys will make a believer out of you!

Mike

[Jeff M]

Beard Gold Tone.
Excellent bargain.
Made in Asia by Gold Tone to Beard's specifications.
The ones that Elderly receives go through Beards shop for final set up.

[gags]

Thanks for the replies.

I took that picture from a website that states it is a Epiphone http://www.thomann.de/gb/epiphone_dobro_bisquit.htm


I will be using it for blues and I think now my best option will be to look for a steel body.

I think I will be looking at at a round neck.

Thanks

[Taylorplayer]

Taylorplayer,

Jazz on a reso would not nessesarily be a first. Check out some of the work Jerry Douglas has done, especially working with Bella Fleck. I know it sounds crazy to think of jazz played by dobro and banjo but these guys will make a believer out of you!

Mike

Hi Mike:

I am familiar with Jerry Douglas and Bella Fleck. You are certainly right -- if anyone could do Jazz via a reso guitar and a banjo it would be them!

Thanks,
Taylorplayer

[Taylorplayer]

Beard Gold Tone.
Excellent bargain.
Made in Asia by Gold Tone to Beard's specifications.
The ones that Elderly receives go through Beards shop for final set up.


Go for that one - to be sure!

Anything that goes through Elderly has the benefit of an excellent set-up. I purchased a couple of "pac-rim" guitars from them. I'm convinced that the reason mine were so nice is because of the extra attention given at their shop.

[gags]

I'm based in the UK

[bohemian]

Metal body means biscuit or tri cone

I don't recall a spider metal body

Lot's of choices from cheap to National to Beltona..

I can only reccomend that you consider higher quality cones and a proper set up.. that's if you can't see your way to a National.

I prefer tri cones for round necks... but I am not a hard core blues player.

For wood bodies no question Beard Gold Tone for the best bang for the buck.
Friend got his through Greg Boyd.. squareshooter, good deal, good guitar..

TIFKAD is the newly accepted term for anything not branded DOBRO

[gags]

I have owned the Epiphone as well as a Regal. I am now playing a Republic, which is still a fairly small company, and for the money, it is hard to find something that sounds better. Mine blows both the Epiphone and the Regal out of the water without the common cone and nut modifications that are made to lower end resonators.

Here is the website, they are definitely worth a look.

http://www.republicguitars.com/

There are plenty of video's on youtube as well if you want to hear what they sound like.

Best of luck and happy slidin'.

-Dave


Thanks for the link..It looks like with the value against the pound to the dollar I could get one of these imported to the UK...

Are these built in the US?

If you had to pick one on this page...http://www.republicguitars.com/singleconemodels.html

Which one would you go for that suits Blues?

[Wade Hampton]

Gags, at those prices none of those guitars will have been built in the US, even though they're based on American designs. They're probably Chinese-made, though they might be Korean.

All of them should serve equally well for playing blues music: they're all National-style biscuit bridge instruments.

Earlier in the thread Bohemian wrote that he couldn't recall metal-bodied guitars with spider bridge cones. Well, they're not common, but they do exist. Personally I think they're kind of nasty-sounding, but some folks must like them.

By the way, here's a picture of an Epiphone Biscuit:

http://thesoundodyssey.com/store/images/Epiphone%20Biscuit%20Resophonic%20Round%20Neck.jpg

If you look at the peghead, you'll see it's different and has a different logo on it than the Dobro you showed us.

The resonator guitar I have is a National M2:

http://www.gbase.com/files/store_images/924/1638325/thumb_030b6.jpg

And my National mandolin, which I play on a more or less constant basis and helped the company design, looks like this:

http://www.tangleweed.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/nationalRM1.jpg

There's a long, involved story behind that, but the short version is that I found an extremely rare pre-war woodbodied National mandolin in a remote Alaskan fishing town, had it restored, and when National's president Don Young found out what I had, he told me that they would like to see it once it was playable, since they were considering reintroducing a mandolin to the National product line. I ended up serving as a consultant on the project, since none of them play mandolin, and it was a happy collaboration all the way around.

Anyway, I'm a big fan of National instruments and National-style instruments. Because the bridge sits directly on the cone in this design, it's more efficient and thus louder than the spider bridge Dobro-style instruments.

Getting back to your initial question about the guitars on that page, I'd say choose the one that you think looks the coolest.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[wezajammin]

Thanks for the link..It looks like with the value against the pound to the dollar I could get one of these imported to the UK...

Are these built in the US?

If you had to pick one on this page...http://www.republicguitars.com/singleconemodels.html

Which one would you go for that suits Blues?

As Wade posted above me, the guitars are more than likely built in China or Korea, however they are of a much higher build quality than that of the Regals and Johnsons that are in the same price range. As for the guitars on the page that you are looking at, they should all give you the sound that you are looking for, I think you should just pick the one that appeals to you the most, personally, I like the 14 fret versions as opposed to the 12 fret...but that is just me. Hope this helps!

-Dave

[gags]

Looks like I have found a UK dealer and this is more than likely the one I will be getting.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k224/easyrider_01/IMG_2321a.jpg

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k224/easyrider_01/IMG_2342b.jpg

Its the same as a Republic but tweaked by a company in the UK.

Up to now he has been very helpful over email.

He knows Frank personally from Republic guitars.

[gags]

Wade thanks for all your input.

It seems that Epiphone was an error on their site!