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Topic: Dobro players: Good starter resonator/dobro? |
Kyle Dosskey
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Posted 2 Nov 2008 8:38 pm |
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Just posted this next door in the "no pedals" forum but I realize some don't wander over there so I thought I'd give here a try as well.
In order to be a more well-rounded steel guitarist, I'm trying to get into the ancient art of dobro. Thus, I've been shopping for a resonator guitar in the $500-$1000 and I thought I'd stop and ask here first if anybody had any brandnames or models which they could recommend? |
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Ben Hoare
From:
NSW Australia
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Posted 2 Nov 2008 9:21 pm
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| I think for that money the Regal black lightning rd52 is the best sounding dobro Ive come across,especially a Korean one if you can get it.If you cant afford a Scheerhorn or the likes you cant go passed them |
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Steve Norman
From:
Seattle Washington, USA
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Andy Sandoval
From:
Bakersfield, California, USA
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Posted 2 Nov 2008 10:39 pm
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| Kyle, Janet Davis Music is really hard to beat on the price and they carry lots of instruments. Here's a link Click Here |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064
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Posted 3 Nov 2008 6:01 am
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I have a small collection of pre-war dobros, but for gigging I go with Gold Tone Beard guitars. They sound great and the laminate mahogany model you can find for under 6 bills.
I would not recommend the Regal Black Lightning because, despite its attractive cosmetics, there's been some history of glue joints separating on some of them.
The value of the Gold Tone is more than worth the extra couple hundred over the Regal.
The Scheerhorn/Wechter is also a fine Chinese-made instrument, but I give my personal nod to the Beard Gold Tones for being a more traditional guitar. I would certainly have no problem with a S/W axe, however.
I just had both my Gold Tones installed with the new Fishman bridge/saddle pickup and it is quite a good product as well. But the install should be done by Beard and it does add a couple hundred bucks to each guitar. For a gigging player that needs amplification, it's the best for feedback resistance I've found.
_________________
My rig: Infinity and Telonics.
Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? |
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Tommy Detamore
From:
Floresville, Texas
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Posted 3 Nov 2008 10:03 am
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| Quote: |
The Scheerhorn/Wechter is also a fine Chinese-made instrument, but I give my personal nod to the Beard Gold Tones for being a more traditional guitar. I would certainly have no problem with a S/W axe, however.
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Having owned both, I would concur with the Herbster. I guess I personally prefer the traditional soundwell sound (Goldtone) over the modern post and baffle design (Wechter).
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I just had both my Gold Tones installed with the new Fishman bridge/saddle pickup and it is quite a good product as well. But the install should be done by Beard and it does add a couple hundred bucks to each guitar. For a gigging player that needs amplification, it's the best for feedback resistance I've found.
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And the Schertler Basik ain't no slouch either. Can't speak for the new Fishman, but I had all but given up on Dobro pickups until I tried the Schertler...
_________________
Tommy Detamore
Source Audio, Goodrich Sound, and Stringjoy Authorized Dealer
www.cherryridgestudio.com
www.steelguitartracksonline.com |
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Larry Bressington
From:
Nebraska
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Posted 3 Nov 2008 2:39 pm
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The fender is about $350.00 i own one, not bad for starters, sound ok and plays very well, they come in square neck or standard, it takes about a week or so to order the squareneck, but well worth the wait.
How much do you want to spend, its $300- $20,000
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A.K.A Chappy. |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 3 Nov 2008 7:11 pm
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He wrote in the first post $500-$1,000 and that being the case, he doesn't have to fool with the Fender.
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Mark |
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Tony Davis
From:
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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Posted 4 Nov 2008 3:59 am
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I have had a Martinez Dobro for about two years...square neck,,,two screens not F holes and Danelectro pick up........pick upis pretty good......still sounds closer to dobeo then steel
I personally think it would Stomp all over a Fender or a Gibson Hound Dog..........and for the price of about Aus $500 its Great
Given the choice I would go for an American made Beard......I have tried a lot of them....Like them..........and have a couple of friends there who would pick me a good one
Cheers.........Tony |
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Mike Cass
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Posted 4 Nov 2008 5:40 am
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Ive owned and played many reso guitars over the years, from the fanciest inlaid pre-war Dobro's to handmade new ones, and I like the Regal Black Lightning about as well as any of them. I bought one well over a year ago and see no problems with it, glue or otherwise. And, right out of the box the sound on the BL is quite reminiscent of a very good pre-war instrument . Also, its a fairly lightweight guitar if you plan to use a strap.
just my $0.02 worth. |
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Ben Jones
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 4 Nov 2008 8:22 am
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I am real happy with my Goldtone beard model.
Now if only I could play the thing well  |
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Olaf van Roggen
From:
The Netherlands
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Posted 4 Nov 2008 8:27 am
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| who knows what Cindy Cashdollar for dobro has? |
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Ben Lawson
From:
Brooksville Florida
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Posted 4 Nov 2008 10:59 am
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| Jimmy Heffernan plays a Beard. I believe Mike Auldridge has a few of them also. That ain't bad company to be in. |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 4 Nov 2008 11:33 am
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| I'll chime in in favor of the Goldtone Beard. Several I've owned and played acutally sounded better than my old Custom Beard R body. Right now I'm playing a Wechter-Sheerhorn Ickes model, which, for under a grand is an incredibly fine reso. I assume their lower-priced models would compare very favorably withtn he Goldtones. |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 4 Nov 2008 12:54 pm
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| Olaf van Roggen wrote: |
| who knows what Cindy Cashdollar for dobro has? |
Cindy just recently took ownership of a new Beard Mike Auldridge six string model, in black. She played it last month at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.
She appeared with the hopefully-more-than-one-time-only, Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women, instead of his usual cast of Guilty Men.
She was using the new Fishman Aura setup with Jerry Douglas stompbox, sounded great to me - but she only received the new guitar a couple days before she came out to California for the festival and wasn't real comfortable with the whole deal just yet.
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Mark |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 4 Nov 2008 12:57 pm
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| Ben Lawson wrote: |
| I believe Mike Auldridge has a few of them also. |
As written in my previous post, Mike Auldridge has his own model Beard. And he plays every single one of them before they leave the Beard shop in Maryland so that they meet his approval.
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Mark |
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Kyle Dosskey
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Posted 4 Nov 2008 1:30 pm
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| Thanks for the input guys... I knew y'all would come through. Pretty much I'm set on the Beard Gold Tone or a Wechter/Scheerhorn, even got my eye on a Rob Ickes W/S. I dig the dark sunburst look on the previous ones better, but the Rob Ickes has got to be better sound-wise and playability-wise. I'll let you know what I got when I get it, but keep the discussion rolling here. I'd like to learn more about what makes a good resonator, the difference between a $500 instrument and a $5,000 instrument, etc.... |
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Ben Lawson
From:
Brooksville Florida
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Posted 4 Nov 2008 4:34 pm
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| $4500. |
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Steve Branscom
From:
Pacific NW
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Posted 4 Nov 2008 4:43 pm
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Check out the classifieds right here. Gregg McKenna has a Dobro for $900. I wouldn't hesitate to do business with him.
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Steve |
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Ben Lawson
From:
Brooksville Florida
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Posted 4 Nov 2008 5:17 pm
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Sorry Kyle I just had to say that. My brother got a Beard Goldtone and he plays it every day. It sounds great. He's been playing for less that two years but I'm impressed with both his playing and his guitar. Jim Heffernan is a friend of mine and when we went to hear him a while back I was amazed at the sound and his ability to play. I think for the money you can't beat a Gold Tone. Mike Auldridge's endorsement
is also a major plus for Beard. |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 4 Nov 2008 5:56 pm
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Gold Tones are great guitars for the money, but what I seem to run across a lot is folks calling them "Beard this and Beard that"
They aren't Beards. They are Gold Tone Paul Beard Signature guitars. They were designed by Paul Beard in cooperation with Gold Tone, who oversees their manufacture in China.
Just like there are Gibson Les Pauls, and Epiphone Les Pauls. If someone has an actual Gibson, he might just use the term Les Paul. If someone has the Epiphone version they typically qualify it as such by calling it an Epiphone Les Paul.
Gold Tones, are a good value, but I have played played Beard E models, Beard R's Beard MA's, and a prototype Beard Jerry Douglas model - and to my ears anyway - there is a big difference between those and Gold Tone Beards.
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Mark |
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Kyle Dosskey
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Posted 18 Nov 2008 7:27 pm
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Just to give everybody a heads up (I know you've been holding your breath over my decision) I went with the solid mahogany Beard Gold Tone resonator. It was really a toss-up between that and a W/S and I guess the finish on the Gold Tone just looked nicer  . Thank you all for your input and hope we can talk about the magic of dobro after I get it in the mail and learn to play this thing... |
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Ben Hoare
From:
NSW Australia
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Posted 18 Nov 2008 8:08 pm
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Congrats on the goldtone Kyle,enjoy the dobro ride.I am
| Mike Cass wrote: |
Ive owned and played many reso guitars over the years, from the fanciest inlaid pre-war Dobro's to handmade new ones, and I like the Regal Black Lightning about as well as any of them. I bought one well over a year ago and see no problems with it, glue or otherwise. And, right out of the box the sound on the BL is quite reminiscent of a very good pre-war instrument . Also, its a fairly lightweight guitar if you plan to use a strap.
just my $0.02 worth. |
Not to discredit anyone elses experience,but in the BL's defence Im with Mike on this one I have had my BL for five years always used 16-56 strings and never had a problem.Ive also used it at many shows over those years and on a few recording sessions and never had a complaint and as Mike said they are a good sounding dobro and the only one with a quarterman cone and good hardware I found at that price when I bought it.Just my 2 cents. |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 19 Nov 2008 7:42 am
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The Black Lightnings indeed had the Quarterman and right hardware - and it has been at least two years, but I have never played a brand new one in the shop that didn't sound just "okay."
But a setup by a quality dobro luthier can do wonders. It is that advantage that a Gold Tone Beard which has had final assembly and setup in the Beard shop in Maryland has over most other Asian built resos. The Gold Tones are set up by the same folks that build and work on the guitars owned by Jerry Douglas and Mike Auldridge.
I wonder if in fact the newest BL's have a Quarterman? Or is he taking care of Regal's orders and not the smaller "artisan" luthiers? It has been extremely difficult in the past year or so for reso luthiers to get any new cones from John Quarterman. There has been substantial discussion about this on www.reso-nation.org
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Mark |
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