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Topic: Help With Dateing a Dobro |
Chris Watkins
From:
Eastern North Carolina
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Posted 26 Nov 2018 10:35 am |
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I wanted to see if someone may could determine a date maybe on this Doro it’s all original with the exception of the tuners the cone & spider are one piece the headstock number is 1106 any info would be appreciated thanks
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Howard Parker
From:
Maryland
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Posted 26 Nov 2018 12:10 pm
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Closer pics of the cover plate, logo, slots in the headstock would be helpful. "Patent Pend." on the cover plate?
The serial number would indicate "early" California but not necessarily.
More photography would be helpful.
hp
_________________
Howard Parker
03\' Carter D-10
70\'s Dekley D-10
52\' Fender Custom
Many guitars by Paul Beard
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 26 Nov 2018 2:06 pm
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What Howard said.
Need better photos. But right off it is not likely to be an early California model because the string slots were squared off on the top during those years. The latter pre war Regal-built Dobros had slots that were rounded off on the top.
The modern era of OMI Dobro commencing in the early 1970s had rounded off slots on both ends like the pre war Regal-built guitars.
If it is an OMI era guitar then the serial number would be circa 1972. And the stamping of the number is pretty nicely done on this one - a lot of the pre war guitars look like whoever did the stamping didn't have the steadiest hand in Los Angeles in those days.
Chris, are you the fellow that asked about this guitar on Resohangout but couldn't get the photos posted?
Again, some additional photos per Howard's suggestions would make for a more positive i.d., but were I a betting man based on these two photos only I'd say it's circa 1972 OMI Dobro which I believe at the time would have been made in Long Beach, prior to the factory moving a little south to Orange County and Huntington Beach.
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Mark |
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Chris Watkins
From:
Eastern North Carolina
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Posted 26 Nov 2018 2:14 pm Dobro
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Thanks
No im not the one that asked this Dobro belonged to a close friend that passed I had thought it may be a 70s model but did not know
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Howard Parker
From:
Maryland
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Posted 26 Nov 2018 2:26 pm
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I'd agree with Mark.
Disregarding the serial number. The logo decal, rounded slots and cover plate screws in the 11 o'clock & 1 O'clock position all say OMI.
My .02, etc.
hp |
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Kenny Davis
From:
Great State of Oklahoma
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Posted 28 Nov 2018 10:44 pm
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| I agree with Mark and Howard - If the serial number is 1106 it falls somewhere in 1972, perhaps June - August. I think they made about 714 that year. |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 29 Nov 2018 3:28 pm
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Rounded slots are found on plenty of '30's Dobros - see Dobro Roots pages 11,15,95, 99, 116, 125, 127 - and the entire "teardrop" series made in the '30's.
And the coverplate screws are in the same position as my 1936 squareneck model 37...and Jerry Douglas' '36 Model 37.
The headstock, however, does have the "fat font" that indicates OMI production.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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Tom Keller
From:
Greeneville, TN, USA
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Posted 30 Nov 2018 3:43 pm
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I am not sure but this guitar has the look of an OMI manufactured guitar. I've been wrong before.
Tom Keller |
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Ben Elder
From:
La Crescenta, California, USA
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Posted 4 Dec 2018 10:16 am
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+1 for OMI.
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"Gopher, Everett?" |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 5 Dec 2018 10:41 am
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| Jim Sliff wrote: |
Rounded slots are found on plenty of '30's Dobros - see Dobro Roots pages 11,15,95, 99, 116, 125, 127 - and the entire "teardrop" series made in the '30's.
And the coverplate screws are in the same position as my 1936 squareneck model 37...and Jerry Douglas' '36 Model 37.
The headstock, however, does have the "fat font" that indicates OMI production. |
Checking back in on this topic - even though all "precincts have yet to report," I think we can officially declare that it's an early '70s OMI Dobro and be done with it. The judge bangs the gavel, case is concluded.
On a historical note, as posted by Jim, Dobro switched to the coverplate screws at 11 and 1 o'clock in the '30s. Apparently the old lightbulb went on over someones's head at Dobro
or it might have been at Regal in Chicago after the licensing agreement came into effect for that company to begin building Dobros. With the screws in this configuration, and particularly at the 5 and 7 o'clock position, you could remove the coverplate and slide it up to rest on the fretboard to gain access to the "innards" of the guitar for minor adjustments or repairs. This would save one from having to remove the strings, or at the very least you wouldn't have to remove the tailpiece to be able to loosen the coverplate.
Yes - rounded headstock slots are indeed found on plenty of '30s Dobros - but according to Steve Toth in Dobro Roots this didn't happen until 1934 when Regal got into the picture. Nowhere in that book or in any other reference I have found over the years is there evidence that the rounded headstock slots existed from the initial California production around 1929 until 1934.
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Mark |
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