The Steel Guitar Forum

Howdy there!
What is the most popular tuning for lap-style, country music Dobro? Right now I play E9 pedal steel but don't mind using any suggested tuning on my new Dobro. Thanks Folks!

By far the most popular tuning for Dobro® style guitar is open G, from bass to treble G B D G B D. You'll find the greatest number of players using this tuning, and you'll find the greatest amount of instructional material using this tuning.

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Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

Thanks Brad!

For country music, you may want to try an E tuning (top to bottom) E,B,G#,E,B,E. Most of the dobros in G tunings nowadays are playing Bluegrass and often tend to be played in a style that sounds like a banjo. A few others tune to A, as does (did) Oswald.

But the E, since you play an E9th now, will give you much more lattitude in country music, with little or no effort. You will also be able to better bring out the mellowness of the instrument.

The thing is, a dobro is played almost opposite of a steel and that is going to be the trick to learn. You won't be able to cash in on long sustains or swells and some string combinations that were fine on the steel will sound a little odd on the dobro.

I have played an E-tuned dobro since 1957.I picked that up from Shot Jackson, who also tuned to that key. Mine is a 7-string: E.B,G#,E,B,G#,E.


<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Ric Nelson on 17 August 2001 at 06:18 AM.]</p></FONT>

The G-tunning is the most popular tunning for Dobro but if you're a pedle steel player I would recomend finding a tunning that "you" are most comfortable with. I use an E13 and I find it works very well when I switch over from steel to dobro. D-E-G#-B-C#-E It works well for swing tunes also. Sometimes I will drop the D to B so I can play 5ths for rhythm.

I too am more partial to E tuning (or D) on Dobro. I find it very handy to have the root on top. I don't play Bluegrass so I find E tuning to be ultimately more versatile for the Dobro style I play. Besides originals, I find it works well for folk, country, blues and even Hawaiian (wehn you tune to E6). Kelly Joe Phelps & David Lindley are two players who play extensively in open E or D.
Do a Forum search for user: Pete Grant. Pete wrote a great post way-back-when about the reasons he uses this tuning rahter than G tuning.

I use bluegrass G for 99 1/2% of my Dobro playing. I also have an old Oahu 6-string that I use for experimenting. I usually tune it to open E (maybe changing string or another lookng for a a 6th or 7th) or to G6th (GBDEGB) -- which is my current favorite.

My current favorites are:
<font face="monospace" size="3"><pre>
D G E
A E C
F# C A
D A G
A G E
D E C#
</pre></font><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by chas smith on 17 August 2001 at 12:04 PM.]</p></FONT>

If you are playing with people that play bluegrass,G tuning. You will confuse the banjo player if you use anything else,they have a hard enough time staying in tune anyway.I think you will find E or E13 will work better in most all other cases. Another plus with E tuning, is that you already know a lot of E stuff.

jtvon says:

<SMALL>If you are playing with people that play bluegrass,G tuning. You will confuse the banjo player if you use anything else,they have a hard enough time staying in tune anyway.</SMALL>

You should probably play with a better breed of banjo player.

hp

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Howard Parker
poobah@resoguit.com
www.resoguit.com
ListOwner RESOGUIT

Question for all you guys not playing in the Dobro tuning:

What guages of strings are you using for the E tunings and C6th? I take it you are not using a standard reso set, which is gauged for Dobro tuning. Does your reso sound good with the lighter guage strings required for the E and C6 tunings?

Thanks

Bill

Like Ziggie, I use the E6th on my Dobro, but then, I play Hawaiian, (not Bluegrass). There are gigs where we stroll from table to table playing Hawaiian music with uke, rhythm guitar and upright bass. It's on these occasions the Dobro comes in quite handy. For Bluegrass, I would definitely recommend the G tuning. It has "the sound".

<font face="monospace" size="3"><pre>
G .012 or .013
E .014 .015
C .017 .020
A .020 .022
G .026
E .030
C .036
</pre></font>Does the Reso sound good with the lighter strings? One of those unanswerable questions. I have the hi C6 on a Tri-Cone, which likes the higher tuning, I have an A6 on a Greenfield, which likes that range better, I have DADF#AD on a Beard, which has a strong bottom and a very 'full' sound. I have a ten string C6 on a Dobro that doesn't have a strong bottom, probably because of all the tension on the cone, and I have a G tuning on a regular Dobro that seems appropriate for that guitar.

Concerning Bill Leffs question: Bill here is my tunning and gauges I use.
1 .015 E
2 .018 C#
3 .020P B P meaning plain
4 .o24 G#
5 .032 E
6 .036 D
sometimes I'll tune the 6th string to B with a .040

I hope this helps.

1. E .015p
2. B .018p
3. G# .022p
4. E .030 nickel
5. B .036 nickel
6. E.046 nickel I like a low E here.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by jtvon on 18 August 2001 at 08:28 PM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by jtvon on 18 August 2001 at 08:29 PM.]</p></FONT>

Thanks guys for the string guage info.

Bill

Actually, for the open E tuning (EBEG#BE) I've found the regular "Resonator Guitar" strings from D'Addario work pretty well, although they're *supposed* to be for the G tuning. Gauges are 16, 19, 28, 36, 44, 56. The half-round (FlatTops) are endorsed by Jerry Douglas, and I think some packages have his name on there somewhere.
Nick<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by nick allen on 21 August 2001 at 06:22 AM.]</p></FONT>

I've had the same experience as Nick. I use a regular "G" tuning Dobro set for "E" Tuning. My favorities are John Pierce's standard nickel-wound set.