Dobro Hula Blues guitar

D Schubert · Post by **D Schubert** » 17 Dec 2001 9:32 am

Is anybody familiar with this particular model -- made in the 90's? I'm interested in this guitar for bottleneck playing, not for lapstyle. Question for somebody who's actually played one or heard one: What are your impressions regarding tone, volume, etc? Does it compare with the new crop of wood-bodied Nationals?

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 17 Dec 2001 1:13 pm

This is probably my least favorite of all the guitars Dobro® ever made. Poor sound, poor construction, and just plain ugly (especially the green model). I've heard many Regal and Flinthill guitars which sound better.
Pass unless you can get a good price, in my opinion.
The new wood body Nationals are fine sounding instruments and a much better investment. I would seriously consider the squareneck Model D for lap style playing, although some have complained that the strings aren't high enough off the fretboard.

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A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Brad Bechtel on 17 December 2001 at 01:15 PM.]</p></FONT>

Ziggie · Post by **Ziggie** » 17 Dec 2001 3:59 pm

If you're playing bottleneck guitar it's just fine. It has a smaller cone and a lot tighter sound. More high end comming out of it. High end is great for blues. Smaller body guitars work nice also. I also use gibson LG models for slide with an old DeArmond pickup. Sounds great. (treble) I own one (hula blues) and have found it works great for blues but I wouldn't recoment it for other styles much. I've never raised the nut to try it on my lap so I couldn't comment on that. It's a blues machine. I like my Hula Blues a lot for bottleneck. Ziggie

Ziggie · Post by **Ziggie** » 17 Dec 2001 4:14 pm

Just another added note. I do a fair amount of radio work and when I'm doing something live they always like me to bring the Hula Blues because everyone at the station claims it has the best sound over the air. That works for me.
Good luck, Ziggie

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 17 Dec 2001 6:39 pm

Probably the most visible pro player of the Hula Blues model is bluesman, Corey Harris. He's usually holding one of 'em in the photos I've seen. Personally, I don't like instruments with illustrations on them.

Mike D · Post by **Mike D** » 18 Dec 2001 3:48 pm

Actually Corey Harris plays a National Islander, which is also a wood body single cone.

Biggest problem I've seen with the Hula Blues is the cone, which needs to be swapped with a National, and that cheesey handguard that often comes clean off in a few years.