Another Music123 bargain - Dobro Hound Dog $350

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 21 Sep 2007 9:21 pm

Brad wrote that when he was still under the impression that these were the Nashville-built Hound Dogs for a bargain price.

Loni Specter · Post by **Loni Specter** » 25 Sep 2007 3:43 pm

As you know, I was anoyed with my hounddog not having the advertised pickup and sent it back. Today I just recieved my replacement Houndog. I just opened it up with great expectation and low and behold, it HAS NO PICKUP!
This is a complete joke and I am furious. I'm on hold as we type, with customer service.

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 25 Sep 2007 5:10 pm

Sounds like they owe you a free guitar, Loni.

Loni Specter · Post by **Loni Specter** » 25 Sep 2007 5:32 pm

Ron Whitfield wrote:Sounds like they owe you a free guitar, Loni.

a free guitar would be sweet, but I did get them to give me a $75.00 credit towards my next purchase.
I also admonished them on false advertiseing and they are supposed to change the text so as not to misslead people about the Fischman pickup.
I suggest any other forum members due the same or just send the "dog" back.

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 25 Sep 2007 5:41 pm

This thing is beginning to fall under the heading of "a travesty!"

Loni Specter · Post by **Loni Specter** » 25 Sep 2007 7:02 pm

I can't believe they still haven't changed the text. They've known about the error for over two weeks! Isn't there a law against that?

http://www.music123.com/Dobro-Hound-Dog ... 0.Music123

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 25 Sep 2007 8:02 pm

I still thank Brad for bringing our attention to this instrument. Whether it has a pick up or not I think it's good value for money and I personally don't need a pick-up. We should be glad that a company is investing in building resonator guitars. For years no-one was prepared to do that. I'm still happy with my purchase.

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 25 Sep 2007 8:21 pm

I see the American made Hound Dog, the guitar about which Brad started the thread thinking these cheaper priced deals were one and the same, is selling on some of the online stores for $1299.

You would have to be either completely clueless, or out of your mind, to pay that kind of money for that instrument!

Chris Schlotzhauer · Post by **Chris Schlotzhauer** » 27 Sep 2007 5:15 am

I received mine yesterday. I has NO pickup in it. I won't send it back because they obviously are not shipping them out with pickups and the add is false. I will complain to someone and maybe get a credit. I will say this,the Dobro is well constructed and pretty. It was in tune when I opened it and it sounds great. It's worth 350.00 without the pickup.

Stuart Sawney · Post by **Stuart Sawney** » 27 Sep 2007 6:09 am

Hi, I purchased one of these in the USA used for $500-00 about a year ago. The reason I picked up on this thread is that I am looking to find out how to intonate the instrument. ?? Any ideas ??.... My Houndog has the ' Original Houndog 'decal. Roundneck. Serial number embossed into the end of the headstock @ D plus 7 digits. It has mini grover keys.... It is the electric version with 1/4 jack in strap button. Acoustically sounds loud, electric sounds weak and bad, hardly worth plugging in !!! Do you think this is USA or Asian made ?? Any help on this would be great , intonation is way off. Thanks STUART ( from UK )

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 28 Sep 2007 9:18 am

If the intonation is out, that means that the bridge is located wrong for the neck scale. The only way to correct that is to move the bridge and/or refret the fingerboard. In thirty years of adjusting instruments I've only come up with that problem on extremely cheap instruments. Are you sure this is the problem, because I I doubt it.

Loni Specter · Post by **Loni Specter** » 28 Sep 2007 5:15 pm

Yesterday they still had the missprint as an acoustic electric, but the now also have a chineese houndod advertised with the same text as costing $499.
BTW the 2nd guitar I recieved is a pretty good one and I'm happy with the tone and setup compared to the first guitar. They did credit my account $75.00 and I've already used that towards another item.
So if you want the Fishman equipt version of the Houndog (only a Dobro Decal on the headstock and no serial number) It will cost you $499.oo and ships free.

Stuart Sawney · Post by **Stuart Sawney** » 29 Sep 2007 4:35 am

Thanks Alan. The intonation on the instrument is particularly bad on the E A and D strings. By what you say there appears nothing I can do ??? No adjustment if I remove strings and take to bits ??......After plugging it in and comparing with Strat / Tele it sounds pretty good..... I actually like the instrument and it sounds better than the reissue Regal I had previously.Thanks for any help in advance.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 29 Sep 2007 5:56 pm

Stuart, it's difficult to suggest what to do without seeing the instrument. Do you have a high nut and only play with a steel, or do you play it as a regular guitar ? Do you put a lot of pressure on the strings with the bar ?

Take some measurements. The distance from the nut to the twelfth fret should be exactly half of the distance from the nut to the bridge, which should be equal to the distance from the 12th fret to the bridge. In other words, the 12th fret has to be exactly in the middle. Likewise, the 24th fret has to be exactly equidistant from the bridge and the 12th fret.

If you measure the distance from the bridge to the nut, and let me have that figure in millimetres, I can feed it into an Excel spreadsheet that I use for building fingerboards and calculate where all the frets should be. At that stage you can check them out and see if they're in the right place.

Stuart Sawney · Post by **Stuart Sawney** » 30 Sep 2007 4:44 am

Thanks Alan. I am aware of what is required to get the intonation right. My question would be.... when I take the off the cover plate is there any available movement in the bridge ??... By reading your reply , I am guessing there is not. Yes , I do play both fretted and slide on the guitar. The nut height is about right, high enough for slide and just about low enough for chords. Anyway not to worry. Thanks again for your input. regards STUART

Jerry Gleason · Post by **Jerry Gleason** » 30 Sep 2007 12:29 pm

All the different photos and descriptions of the Hound Dog Dobros on the retail web sites make it really confusing to see what you might actually get if you order.

Those who have received the new $350 Asian version; Does it have f-holes, or sound holes with screens? And is the $499 version the same guitar with a pickup, or a different style entirely?

I'm confused.

Loni Specter · Post by **Loni Specter** » 30 Sep 2007 12:49 pm

Hi Jerry. Yes, F holes, and the $499. (I hope) is the same guitar with the pickup)
the $349. guitar should NOT have been listed as having a pickup.
The person's writing the text are screwing up and confused.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 1 Oct 2007 6:50 pm

Stuart Sawney wrote:.... when I take the off the cover plate is there any available movement in the bridge ??...

There's not supposed to be, but if there is that might be the cause of your problem.

By the way, I've spent many a happy hour on High Wycomb station during steam days photographing trains, and, of course from Birmingham it used to be on the main line to Paddington.

Dave Sky · Post by **Dave Sky** » 3 Oct 2007 12:56 pm

For the next two days, Music 123 has a rebate on this dobro ( or other gear) so if you spend over $250 you get $40 off immediately. You must order online.
This makes the Dobro $309. I ordered one.

Dave

Fred Kinbom · Post by **Fred Kinbom** » 3 Oct 2007 2:41 pm

Do they ship to the UK? I am trying my best not to support the Chinese destruction of the environment but at this bargain price the urge to have a reso is strong.

Fred

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 3 Oct 2007 4:37 pm

Fred, does an importer bring Regal resos into the U.K.?

Because if they do, go that route, instead of paying for the shipping from the U.S. on this Hound Dog.

It's going to be pretty much the same guitar in that price range.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 6 Oct 2007 6:31 pm

Alan F. Brookes wrote:They haven't responded to my email yet.

They still haven't responded to my e-mails and I've sent three reminders. I think they're ignoring me...

Dave Sky · Post by **Dave Sky** » 6 Oct 2007 7:48 pm

Alan,
My expereince is that they respond to phone calls. I have not had any luck with emails to them.

I got $25 credit for the two month delay in shipping my metal resonator per phone calls. Each time I have called them and spoke to a superviser, things were taken care of.

Dave

Roman Sonnleitner · Post by **Roman Sonnleitner** » 7 Oct 2007 5:06 am

Fred Kinbom wrote:Do they ship to the UK? I am trying my best not to support the Chinese destruction of the environment but at this bargain price the urge to have a reso is strong.

Look here:

http://www.thomann.de/at/dobro_hound_do ... e_neck.htm

- a bit more than in the US, but if you figure in shipping and taxes when ordering from the US, it might still be less expensive to order from somewhere inside the EU.

Jerry Gleason · Post by **Jerry Gleason** » 10 Oct 2007 4:42 pm

So, I ordered one of these Hound Dogs from Music 123. $309 with the discount and free shipping. It arrived yesterday. No pickup, as expected, which isn't a big deal, and no gig bag, which the site also promised. Did anybody else get a gig bag?

As for the Dobro, It's actually a nice instrument. Much better than I expected, and I have to say, far superior to the recent American made Hound Dogs that I have seen. It seems to have all the right stuff; Grover tuners, what appears to be a bone nut, and ebony capped bridge saddle. The tone is nice, and it's quite loud. Not as sweet as some higher-end resos, but certainly acceptable for a budget instrument. It could benefit from some setup work, but it's not bad the way it is.

I'm still deciding whether to complain about the pickup and gig bag thing. I don't really want to send it back.

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