7-String Resophonic conversion for Western Swing etc.

[Vladimir Sorokin]

Here’s my 7-string Dobro recipe:
* a great inspiration from Mike Auldridge, Gary Morse, David Giegerich, Stacy Phillips and Joe Wilson music
* a $200 dobro from Aliexpress
* a spare set of dobro saddles from @beardguitars
* one banjo tuner from @desnevpavel
* 1 piece of bone for the nut
* 1 extra .030 string from D’Addario

And, of course, thanks SGF and ResoHangout members for all the information!

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=198245
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=225543
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=389945
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=236019

https://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/001687.html

https://www.resohangout.com/archive/52706
https://www.resohangout.com/archive/45939
https://www.resohangout.com/archive/41759
https://www.resohangout.com/archive/50169

https://www.gregcutshaw.com/8%20String% ... Dobro.html

http://www.suduva.com/7string_dobro.htm

http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om24790.html

[David Matzenik]

That's such a great way to keep the headstock symmetrical. I love the inlay pattern too.

[Vladimir Sorokin]

That's such a great way to keep the headstock symmetrical. I love the inlay pattern too.

Thanks David! It’s a good ‘starter’ dobro. I’ve owned this exact model in the 2010s, the name was “Black Lightning”.

The biggest surprise to me was that the cone sounded good out of the box!

[Bill McCloskey]

That is quite cool. Good job.

[Vladimir Sorokin]

That is quite cool. Good job.

Thanks Bill, appreciate this

[Mark Eaton]

Though I have never been a big fan of the stock Regal Black Lightning, the guitar is light years better than a $200 reso from Aliexpress. And it is a pretty respectable imported reso guitar - a lot of this is likely due to the fact that for many years it came equipped with a Quarterman cone. I'm not even sure if the model is still in production, when I googled they seem to be out of stock wherever I looked - but I know that the price when new has gone up in the past few years to around $700 here in the U.S. And they are fairly easy to find on the used market.

Vladimir, nice job on the conversion project. But if I were doing it I would change out the spider to the offset seven string version available from Beard's Resophonic Outfitters.

Paul Beard did not have these available for a number of years, but I have seen them back in stock lately.

https://www.resophonicoutfitters.com/pr ... B-118.html

[Vladimir Sorokin]

Mark, thanks for the recommendation! I was just going to order the offset spider, but now I'm waiting for the right occasion, maybe I'll order a cover with a removable palm rest.

[Vladimir Sorokin]

By the way, isn't this type of spider designed to adjust the scale on pre-war resophonics? Or is there some special spider specifically for 7- and 8-string guitars?

But if I were doing it I would change out the spider to the offset seven string version available from Beard's Resophonic Outfitters.

Paul Beard did not have these available for a number of years, but I have seen them back in stock lately.

https://www.resophonicoutfitters.com/pr ... B-118.html