The best book to learn bluegrass dobro?

Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

Can somebody recomend a good book for learning bluegrass/country dobro? I'd
like a book that starts with beginner and goes through intermediate levels. Maybe
one that shows chords , scales etc. Thanks
BTW- Is it diffucult for a steel player to learn the dobro, I mean to pick it up fairly quickly?
Terry

Mark Eaton · Posted 18 Nov 2006 3:52 pm

I still think, after all these years, that the two best books to get you started are by Stacy Phillips.

Go to:
www.Stacyphillips.com

One is about $17, the other is about $34.

The less expensive one is a bargain. Known among dobrophiles as "the green book."

Sort of thought of like Winnie Winston's book for pedal steel.

You'll pick it up fast. But don't believe that because it only has six strings and lacks pedals and knee levers that it's easy. Playing the dobro well, as with pedal steel, is a lifetime pursuit...and great fun!

One thing that some pedal steelers seem to have a problem with is not picking hard enough-not "digging in." Probably because of the light touch required and playing within a narrower string spacing on a PSG.

You have to "dig in" to get good tone out of a dobro.

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Mark

Billy Wilson · From: El Cerrito, California, USA

Sometimes the problem with pedal steel players playing pedal steel is not digging in. OK back to dobro.

John McGann · From: Boston, Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

Terry, if you play regular guitar, you'll find the G tuning has half the same strings, and the rest are easy to figure out.

If you go for the Bashful Brother Oswald and Uncle Josh stuff before the Jerry Douglas stuff, you'll probably find it easier than getting started on pedal steel...

The Green Book is excellent.

Mike Auldridge is a great player to listen to.

Billy is right about digging in, you may want to get the .025 gauge fingerpicks, and dig into the strings as you would a dreanought guitar to get the Big Tone. I like 'em on pedal steel too.

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http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, transcribers, technique tips and fun stuff. Joaquin Murphey transcription book, Rhythm Tuneup DVD and more...

[This message was edited by John McGann on 18 November 2006 at 05:53 PM.]

Jeff Garden · From: Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, USA

Check out Jimmy Heffernan's website for some great DVD dobro instruction www.jimmyheffernan.net
The DVD's are really well done and Jimmy is a great instructor.

Bob Watson · From: Champaign, Illinois, U.S.

Herb Steiner has a Dobro course that he wrote specifically for Pedal Steel players wanting to learn Dobro. I found it to be quite helpful.

Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

Thanks to all you guys for your help. I do play 6 string guitar, played 6 string before steel.
Do any dobro players tune to an open E, like the steel is tuned to?

Terry

Steinar Gregertsen · From: Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.

Open-D is used quite a lot by several dobro players, including Pete Grant, Sally Van Meter and Jerry Douglas.

Steinar

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"Play to express, not to impress"
www.gregertsen.com
Southern Moon Northern Lights

Bo Borland · From: South Jersey -

I used to use an open E on dobro and lap steel for a better frame of reference. low to high E-B-E-G#-B-E.
When I started trying blue grass about a year ago, it was all wrong so I changed to open G on Hef's advice.
Since most grass players play 1st position chords for the open notes, it works fine. But when someone calls a tune in an "unusual" key, the dobro tuning gets a little thin with a capo above fret 5 or 7.
Many players use more than one guitar, in different tunings (major and minor), to get more open strings and better tone.

Patrick Ickes · From: Upper Lake, CA USA

Terry,
As Mark said, Stacey's "green" book. My brother Rob and I both started with that book. That'll put you in good company.

Patrick

Mark Eaton · Posted 19 Nov 2006 9:20 am

And speaking of tunings-and Pat's brother Rob-the instruction materials out there heavily emphasize G tuning. It ain't just for bluegrass. Rob's 2 DVD instructional course from Homespun Tapes is one of my favorites, for something to play on the TV or computer.

I have seen Rob play songs like Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely," the Allman Bros. "Midnight Rider," and Herbie Hancock's jazz/pop hit "Watermelon Man" in high bass open G. It's all there for you.

Jerry Douglas uses G probably 80% of the time, open D about 15%, and some tuning like E or F for a few specialty songs maybe 5% of the time. For example, with Union Station, he will keep a dobro on stage tuned to F for the classic that made such a big hit in the "O Brother Where Art Thou" film, "Man of Constant Sorrow" as sung by Dan Tyminski.

Rob rarely veers out of G, he may occasionally re-tune an individual string for a certain song.

if you choose a tuning other than G as your main style (as mentioned earlier, Pete Grant likes D) then you have to do a lot of mental conversion when going through teaching materials. I don't play much golf these days, but when I did, I played left-handed, and I constantly would have to say to myself when reading an instructional book from a right-handed golfer like Jack Nicklaus: "Let's see-when Jack says to keep your left arm as straight as possible, in my case, it would be my right arm." It was a pain in the rear to have to do that all the time.

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Mark

[This message was edited by Mark Eaton on 19 November 2006 at 09:24 AM.]

Mark van Allen · From: Watkinsville, Ga. USA

There really are a lot of great instructional materials out for G tuning dobro.
The Green Phillips book is great- just his one arrangement of "Jesse James" is enough to get you excited about bluegrass style.
Stacy also has a great 6-tape or CD course that goes into a lot more detail on straight bluegrass styles, as well as his two Hawaiian books, also mostly in G tuning.

Another great book is "The Dobro Workbook" by David Hamburger- he breaks up ideas into 1 and 2 measure segments and gets you fitting them together every which way, and includes some great material on melodic (up the neck) playing.
Mike Auldridge has some fantastic video out, the song tapes are split between stright bluegrass and wonderful melodic ballad playing. It's really helpful and inspiring to watch a master at work.
Heffernan's "Bluegrass Dobro From scratch" would be a great place to start as well.
Jay Buckley has a series out called "Virtual Band" with bluegrass standards tabbed out, and back-up tracks at three different speeds for working up to performance speed.

I'm always amazed by mention of "limitations" and "having to capo" for G tuning reso- there are many open position scales for various keys, and each lends itself to different phrasing- for example, tunes in Eb don't require "capoing up to the 6th fret". If you don't like the sounds the open tuning provides, there is a wealth of beautiful phrasing waiting in open D scales capoed at fret 1.
Rob Ickes is a a real master of playing in any key without a capo.
These days seem like the real rennaisance of reso playing, with great players showing up on more and more recordings, killer instruments available cheaply,and inspiration everywhere.
A fine time to "really dig in".

Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

I really do appreciate ya'lls advice, one more thing though I need to ask. What is the best, yet low priced dobro, that has a decent tone, and easy to play that ya'll would recomend for me to start on? I really wanted to try and stay under $400. Is that possible?

Terry

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Mullen RP D10 /8x5 / MSA Classic 8x4 Nashville 112 x 2 / American Tele and Fender
Hotrod Deville 2x12's
Thank God for music.

Mark Eaton · Posted 19 Nov 2006 3:07 pm

It's possible-by purchasing a Regal-not bad-but you will be WAY ahead of the game by purchasing a Goldtone Paul Beard Signature Series reso. Designed by master luthier Paul Beard, built in Asia, of laminate wood, with final setup and assembly by Beard. Check out:
www.Beardguitars.com

and:
www.Elderly.com

I think they can be had for ballpark $570 before shipping.

Higher grade components and a professional setup at the Beard facility in Maryland. Proper setup is big on reso guitars.

You can also find these used sometimes for a bit under $500.

Check out:

www.reso-nation.org

...as well as the for sale section here on the Forum.

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Mark

[This message was edited by Mark Eaton on 19 November 2006 at 03:13 PM.]

Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

Marc, round neck or square neck? Is one easier to play than the other, or is it just personal preference?
Also, which gives the better tone, spruce top, cedar top, mahogany top etc? Thanks for your help guys.

Terry

[This message was edited by Terry Sneed on 19 November 2006 at 06:47 PM.]

Stephen Gambrell · From: Over there

Terry, when I got into dobro, I wanted a round neck, thinking I could switch back and forth from playing with my fingers, to playing with a bar. I wound up with a square neck, and it made me a better player. Otherwise, I would have left it set up as a regular 6-string, and would have NEVER learned bluegrass dobro.
As far as top material, it's gonna be a matter of personal preference. Some of the best tone I've heard came out of laminate guitars, which the inexpensive beard and Scheerhorn lines are both made of. Both are real good guitars, too, and I doubt if you'd go wrong with either of them.
I'd steer clear of the Regal/Rogue stuff, though. After you spent the money to have a Quarterman cone, bone nut, and expert setup, it still wouldn't sound like the Beards or Scheerhorns, and you'd be hard-pressed to get much of your money back when you decided to sell it. Just my 2cents...

Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

Ok thanks a bunch Stephen. I'll go with a Beard squareneck.

Terry

Bill McCloskey · From: Nanuet, NY

The steel and dobro are definitely different instruments. To hear the difference between a true dobro player playing dobro vs a steel guitar player playing dobro, you might want to listen to the Resocasters CD (which is great by the way and should be in everyone's collection). The late Hal Rugg plays what I believe is a pedalbro, but Mike Auldridge told me that during breaks, Hal borrowed Mike's dobro and played it with the same style as the pedalbro, i.e. just like a steel player.

I think the biggest thing you will need to get used to is picking the bar up and down for those hammer-on runs.

Mark Eaton · Posted 20 Nov 2006 9:37 am

The Resocasters CD is a "must have." Hal on the Franklin Pedabro (I believe only about 25 ever built-and Bay Area steeler Peggy Green brought BOTH of hers to the San Jose Steel jam a few weeks ago-beautiful pieces of work), Mike A on 6 and 8 string reso, and Jimmy Heffernan on 6 string reso.

If Jimmy ever comes to your neck of the woods-take his weekend workshop-you'll have enough stuff from the experience to work on for the next year and then some.

Good choice on the Goldtone Beard squareneck. A number of pros, Jimmy included, have said that they wish they had such a nice guitar for the money when they were starting out on the instrument.

It's difficult to say what sounds best-solid wood or laminate-it's a personal choice for your ears. McCloskey plays, IMO one of the best sounding resos on the market-a Beard Mike Auldridge Signature (an 8 string-he used to own a 6 string version) -and it is a laminate guitar made of I believe Finnish Birch. But there are a bunch of other "best sounding guitars" as well. I have a Clinesmith, made from our western native Big Leaf Maple, solid wood-and it is a great sounding guitar as well.

The main thing is to get the best quality guitar for your budget-and if you really get into the dobro, you can formulate an opinion as you progress as to what you would like to have for a dream instrument.

Pat Ickes posted above-he has played in a bluegrass band the past couple of years (banjo), with Todd Clinesmith on dobro.

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Mark

[This message was edited by Mark Eaton on 20 November 2006 at 11:34 AM.]

Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

Guys I really appreciate ya'lls help. I just keep coming up with questions. Which bar type? The regular steel dobro bar with the slot for your finger, or a round bar? And
what is a good capo? I use a shubb on my acoustic, are they good for dobro? And one more, what kind of strap, one that criss/crosses your back or just a single strap? Thanks guys.

Terry

Mark Eaton · Posted 20 Nov 2006 1:49 pm

Bars-personal preference-and I know there are plenty of Forumites that use bullet bars for dobro-but NONE of the top dogs that are dobro specialists use a bullet bar-they all use a "sculpted" bar. Douglas, Ickes, Kohrs, Auldridge, Hall, Cardine, Rosenberg, Barber,Heffernan, Witcher,etc. No bullet bars in that group.

Californian Pete Grant is a fine dobro picker-and he uses a bullet bar-but he also comes from a long background as a pedal steeler.

I like the made-in-Montana E.G. Smith bar, but there are several others that are great. Jimmy Heffernan sells these on his site:
www.jimmyheffernan.net

Go to the Jerry Douglas site-there is a bar discussion going on there right now on that forum:
www.Jerrydouglas.com

Capos-avoid the Shubb dobro capo at all costs. Unless it fits your reso perfectly-it doesn't work very well. I have a Beard capo, and though it's OK-I have heard that Jerry Douglas has been testing a newly redesigned version. The best out there seem to be the Bradley capo, and the newly redesigned Scheerhorn capo (I think this is an improvement over the old Scheerhorn/Flux capo).

Straps-I have a Folk of the Wood strap-adequate for the money-but not great. Webb makes a good dobro strap.

The state of the art strap is from Bobby Poff in Wyoming. I have tried one and it is the most stable, most comfortable dobro strap going. Bobby is a saddle and strap maker and a real artisan.
www.rpoffmaker.com

And you can also buy Bobby's straps thrpugh Elderly.

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Mark

[This message was edited by Mark Eaton on 20 November 2006 at 01:51 PM.]

Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

Thanks Mark, there is a dobro for sale here on the for sale forum now. It's a beard mahogany, but he said the small screen holes were slightly dented in, will this hurt the tone at all? He's asking $425 + shipping. They are $570 w/o case at Elderly, sounds like a good deal. Just want to make sure the tone wouldn't be effected by the dented screens. Thanks

Terry

Mark Eaton · Posted 20 Nov 2006 2:09 pm

I saw that one too-and not copping out-but I can't answer that question with any intelligence.

As a wild, in-the-dark guess-I would think it's no big deal, but who can say for sure without checking it out firsthand?

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Mark

Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

Well, he just emailed me and told me it was sold, so I don't have to worry about that.
Thanks to all for your advice.

Terry

Mark van Allen · From: Watkinsville, Ga. USA

Hi, Terry, I ended up with Joe's Goldtone, and no, the dented screen covers don't affect the tone. They're just decorative covers, on the Goltone slightly thinner construction than more expensive resos, so a little more easily "mashed in".
That being said, this one sounds as good as other Goldtones I've played, and all are a flat out BARGAIN. In fact, I would say honestly the Goldtone sounds as good or better that my Crafters, which lists for four times the price.
I played it on a session yesterday and it recorded beautifully.
Make sure to look at the "Beard Signature" models, set up by Beard.

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