The Steel Guitar Forum

Due to arthritis, I am giving up playing a standard guitar and going to the slide steel guitar, square neck, etc.

I know very little about gear, In particular, it appears there are a couple of choices like a Weissenborn or just a standard slide steel guitar like a national or Dobro.

What are the advantages or disadvantages of a Weissenborn, compared to a Dobro or National type, square neck?

What are the pros and cons of playing a Dobro style, versus a standard national type of slide guitar, square-neck

I feel like a dummy when it comes to this stuff and thought you guys might be able to share some enlightenment.

I tend to like to play mostly country blues, as that is what I played on my six string acoustic. I am comfortable playing in open G, open D, low C.

Thank you very much.

I owned a National Tricone for about ten years, but I came to the conclusion that I did not like the sound of metal bodied guitars. That goes for all resonators too. It was not that they sound bad in a performance situation in a venue larger than my house. For playing at home, there is something more intimate about the Weissenborn or Kona style guitars. Its a much sweeter sound.

Welcome to the world of steel guitar, Jack. You will be hooked for life.

Following on David M.'s comment, so much depends on the sound you are looking for. If you have opportunities to get out and play a bit on the instruments you've mentioned (not always easy) you'll hear their very distinct differences. One style will probably "speak to you" more than the others. Or, if you are like me, you will want one of each. But it's worth the search.

One thing to consider is that resonator guitars have significantly more volume than wooden soundboard guitars. In a non amplified jam session, that's an issue. I find Weissenborn type guitars particularly lacking in volume, though they certainly sound sweet. Another option to consider is a guitar shaped body with a flat top and a square dobro style neck. There are a lot of vintage models made by Oahu mostly. They seem to vary widely in quality, and some will have issues. The only person currently offering new instruments of this type that I'm aware of is James Adams.
https://www.adamsresonator.com/guitars/sqhd_guitar.html
I have one of these, and I love it. It has more volume and low end punch that any of the Weissenborn style guitars that I've tried, though still not as loud as a resonator.
Gold Tone used to make a Beard designed PBKG model like this. I played one in a music store once and thought it was an excellent value. They turn up on occasion.
Tone, of course, is very subjective. The most important ear to please is yours.

You have to make the decision yourself according to the type of music and and what kind of guitar feels best to you.
Country blues, I think a squareneck played with a bar or a roundneck with a slide would both work.

I myself settled on Squareneck dobro tuned GBDgbd and now have two non pedal steels tuned the same way. Plenty of learning materials for that tuning. Troy Brenningmeyer has lots of lessons on his site that teach bluegrass, country and blues on the instrument. His beginner lessons are excellent.

But like I said it's up to you. Try getting to a music store and trying a few instruments out. Get on youtube and listen to both types of instruments. See which speaks to you most.

Welcome to the SGF community, Jack.

One other option you might consider while deciding which style of squareneck to go with is ... a Hawaiian extension nut for your existing acoustic guitar and a tone bar. You can easily retune to open G (DGDGBD) or open D (DADF#AD) with the strings you already have on the guitar. With this option you can instantly enjoy the realm of steel guitar while you shop around for a squareneck.

A word of caution about extension nuts, or more generally, converting a standard guitar for lap style playing. Some guitars will tolerate raising the strings with no problem. Others won't. Moreover, I know of no way to tell which ones will and which won't without trying it. I've tried it with two guitars. One worked well, the other showed signs of damage. The one that didn't work is a 12-string. I really thought it would be a good candidate for converting to a 6-string lap steel, but after a few weeks, I noticed a pattern of cracks forming on the back near the neck joint. Fortunately, the back is laminated, and the cracks only went through the outside layer, but I took that as a bad sign and converted it back. I'd be very cautious about doing this with a high dollar instrument.
By the way, for the short time it was converted, it sounded great.

I have a Dobro,a National Tri-cone, and a Weissenborn, (among a bunch of other stuff.) Each has advantages. Every gig I decide which one to take. I would never take the Weissenborn to an acoustic jam. No one could hear me. Generally I use the National for blues, the Dobro for bluegrass, and the Weissenborn (with an amp) for folkie things. I tend to play the Weissenborn the most through a tube amp with a few effects pedals.

I think you might have to play them all and trust your ears. If bottleneck is an option given your arthritis, I would expect that's a much easiest transition for a country blues player.

In case you haven't figured this out yet, there are 2 styles of resonator: 1) biscuit, where the cone faces down and the bridge is mounted directly on the cone, and 2) spider, where the cone faces out and the bridge sits on a metal 'spider' that connects to the cone. Biscuit bridges are more often associated with a country blues sound. Dobros use the spider and are more common in bluegrass or country. The National brand is associated with biscuits bridges. (Although the modern National company also makes spider-style Dobros under the Scheerhorn name.)

I have a roundneck Dobro with a brass nut adapter, tuned to GBDGBD that I play lap style. I could just as easily take the adapter off and tune to open E or D and play bottleneck style. Some words of caution when playing a roundneck lap style - don’t use the standard heavy gauge bluegrass strings. They will put too much tension on the neck and bow it, possibly causing permanent damage and definitely making it tough to play in tune when sliding around on it. If you decide you like playing lap style, use nothing heavier than standard gauge 6-string guitar sets, or get a square neck and string it up with railroad ties.