Import Resos: The Good, The Bad & the Ugly

Mike Tatro · Post by **Mike Tatro** » 24 Oct 2006 11:35 am

I'm looking to acquire a decent quality square neck dobro.

I've owned three other dobros: a low end Hound Dog (made by Dobro), a real Dobro DW60F (a complete $1,400 turd, I couldn't believe how bad it ratteed, it went back right away) and a Melobro (thought it sounded kind of sterile and didn't keep it long).

I'm looking at the higher end Regals, Beard Gold Tones and Wechter-Scheerhorns.

Anyone care to share thoughts or personal experiences?

Thanks, mlt

Drew Howard · Post by **Drew Howard** » 24 Oct 2006 11:52 am

Check this thread:
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/009935.html

Beard Gold Tone Maple Deluxe

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Drew Howard - website - Red guitars sound better!

Ted E. Smith · Post by **Ted E. Smith** » 24 Oct 2006 11:53 am

Hey Mike - I think you'll hear a lot of favorable comments about the Beard Gold Tone. I have one and I really like it - I traded in a Regal to get it. Buffalo Bros. down in Carlsbad usually carries the Gold Tones, and I've seen a Wechter there as well, so you can compare yourself.

Mike Tatro · Post by **Mike Tatro** » 24 Oct 2006 12:13 pm

Thanks Drew. I did scan the list of recent threads and searched for "regal" before posting this, but I guess I missed that one. Great stuff.

FWIW, Antongear (on eBay and antongear.com) will sell a 6510 WS for $675 shipped sans case (I need another case like I need a hole in the head). That's the best deal I've found. The owner seems like a stand up guy.

Ted- Long Beach, eh? I'm down in South OC. Do you play out? I bought my H&D dread from Buff Bros. Truthfully, I bought it in spite of the poor customer service shown to me (I spent $2,500 and they wouldn't even put a new set of strings on the guitar - total bush league IMHO). BB is someone I prefer to not deal with, unless I have to.[This message was edited by Mike Tatro on 24 October 2006 at 01:13 PM.][This message was edited by Mike Tatro on 24 October 2006 at 01:14 PM.]

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 24 Oct 2006 1:20 pm

Wechter/Scheerhorns (also known on the Jerry Douglas Bulletin Board as "Frugalhorns"

) are pretty nice guitars for the money-as are the Gold Tone Beards, but I lean toward the Frugalhorn.

The only thing I don't like are the inlaid wooden fret markers, as opposed to actual raised frets.

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Mark
[This message was edited by Mark Eaton on 24 October 2006 at 02:21 PM.]

Tommy White · Post by **Tommy White** » 26 Oct 2006 6:49 am

I recently purchased a new Regal "Black Lightning" squareneck. Beautiful guitar. It came with a quarterman cone, but bridge inserts were too low. After installing higher inserts and a little adjusting, it came to life. Proves to be one of the best sounding resophonics I've owned.

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 26 Oct 2006 8:17 am

I have a "stock" Regal that the neck has slightly separated from the body. It doesn't affect the playing or the sound of the instrument. These instruments are not known for their "close specifications", but it seems to be an issue with buyers.

Since it has been an issue, I have elected to keep the instrument, rather than to sacrifice it.

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<img width=100 src=http://genejones.bizland.com/index.1.jpg>www.genejones.com

John D. Carter · Post by **John D. Carter** » 28 Oct 2006 1:24 pm

(Mr. Gene Jones, I enjoyed reading your website. Very interesting life. Thanks for sharing.)