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Author Topic:  Dobro Player Question
John Broughten

 

From:
Minnesota, USA
Post  Posted 2 Oct 2010 11:24 am    
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I know that some lap steel players are also Dobro players so I thought I would post this question here. Sorry if this is not the place to post this question. I have been praticing both for about a year. I'm trying to grasp the technique for a good sounding pull-off on the Dobro but just can't figure the correct technique or skill needed. Its been frustrating. Any comments or feedback on this would be greatly appreciated.
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Jerry Overstreet


From:
Louisville Ky
Post  Posted 2 Oct 2010 11:48 am    
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John, good place to start here with Troy's free vids and tons of links to other information. You may have to load a couple of pages to see the techniques, but they're in there.

http://www.reso-nation.org/tags/troy-brenningmeyer
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Robert Murphy


From:
West Virginia
Post  Posted 2 Oct 2010 5:12 pm    
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Make sure you have a bar with a sharp edge like the Shubb S-P or the good ole Stevens type bar. Cashdollar can pull off with a round nose but I'll be hanged if I can!
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Ulrich Sinn


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 3 Oct 2010 10:08 am    
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I would have liked the following advice 3 years ago:

- get a strap, start practicing standing up.

To get a loud, consistent pull-off while standing up is IMO a totally different technique than when sitting down.

I'm back to practicing REALLY SLOW again so that the neck stays in place (more or less) while playing.

I'm using a "lap dawg" for open position playing, and a SP-2 if it's more of a closed position (and split slant) thing.

U.
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Ian

 

From:
San Francisco, CA
Post  Posted 3 Oct 2010 11:03 am    
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John,

I had been having problems doing pull offs (too noisy) until I got a tip from Micheal Witcher. He said that rather lift the bar up, pull the bar toward you and "pluck" with the edge. Hope this makes sense.

Ian
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John Broughten

 

From:
Minnesota, USA
Post  Posted 3 Oct 2010 12:00 pm    
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Thanks for the tips. I will try these out tonight. I'm also going to get a different steel. I think I have a Stevens now but I'm going to order a Shubb which I'm told has a sharper edge than the Stevens.
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Dave Thier


From:
Fairhope, Alabama, USA
Post  Posted 3 Oct 2010 4:36 pm    
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Ian (above) has it nailed. A sharp edged bar pulled back toward you is the way to do great pull offs.
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Orville Johnson


From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
Post  Posted 3 Oct 2010 7:26 pm    
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It's true that pull-offs are easier with a sharp edged bar but it's completely doable with a Stevens. Mike Auldridge has no problem with them (he uses a Stevens-style bar). It's much more about the technique that Mike Witcher described than about a certain type of bar.

When you pull the bar off the (1st) string you need to put a slight bit of downward pressure on the bar and then pull it back towards the 2nd string and get a "pluck" from the bar itself. One way to practice this is to do this motion without picking the string with your right hand until you can actually make the sound of the pull-off just with the bar itself.
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Tamara James

 

Post  Posted 4 Oct 2010 6:32 am    
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I'll be showing my age here, but I use the same wrist action as when I was a kid flipping tiddly-winks. It's a "popping" type motion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-pdglP7J8Y
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