looking for dobro playing advice

John Kwasnik · From: California, USA

hi, all --

I've been playing C6 lap steel, mostly with a Hawaiian music club. I bought a Gretsch square-neck in January, thinking I could simplify from schlepping the amp, finding an outlet, etc. But it ain't the same, and I think the hardware demands a different style of playing.

Anyway, a couple of questions:

1) I'm having trouble with pick-blocking buzz that I don't get on the lap steels. Is there a trick?
2) For sliding 6ths, the un-picked but un-muted string in the middle sounds. This isn't a problem on lap steel, but is there a trick to muting the middle?

Thanks in advance!
_________________
========================
John Kwasnik
Sacramento, CA
========================

Glenn Wilde · From: California, USA

Wait,There's a Hawaiian music club in Sac that you play steel with? Smile

I'm in sac.....

Walter Webb · From: California, USA

Wait, there's a Hawaiian music club in Sac? I'm nearby.

John Kwasnik · From: California, USA

To Glenn and Walter --

Well, yes, before the pandemic. But not in person since early March. Most of us are retired, and in vulnerable groups. Here is the link:

https://www.meetup.com/CCCukulele/

It is a project of the Chinese Community Church, though the group does religious tolerance and ain't evangelical.

Right now, no plans to resume meeting.
_________________
========================
John Kwasnik
Sacramento, CA
========================

Will Brown · From: Oklahoma, USA

Playing a regular dobro is a little different then playing a lap steel. When you play with your bar are you keeping your free fingers on the strings. and for me anyway when you pick a dobro your fingers that you pick with are slightly more angled then a lap steel. because if you set your palm on the palm rest usualy it puts your hand at a different angle then on a lap steel or for me it is. but if you stay at it you will find that what you are having trouble with will slowly fade away. this that I mentioned is just what works for me you will get a 100 different answers so try them all and you will find what works best for you good luck

Douglas Schuch · From: Valencia, Philippines

I can think of a few pointers - dobro players try not to slide the bar across multiple strings unless they are playing multiple strings. If playing single-note stuff, they tilt the bar and use just the tip of the bar on the string/fret they need.

Certainly a dobro tends to be picked more aggressively than a lap or pedal steel in order to get volume and tone. I know Mike Witcher says he avoids pick-blocking because of the pick noise, but I think some others use it - I do - part of it is timing - blocking just as you pick the next string so any buzz is hidden by then next note's attack. You can either buy Mike's video on right hand technique, or subscribe to his lessons at Peghead Nation to learn his techniques.

Another distinction is, on pedal steel, I often actively avoid the open string positions as the tone is distinctly different. But on dobro, players seek out those positions as they allow the hammer-on and pull-off technique to shine.

So, yes, there is a lot of overlap between lap steel and dobro, but there is also a lot of techniques that, if not exactly unique, are at least much more emphasized in one and not the other.
_________________
Bringing steel guitar to the bukid of Negros Oriental!

Nic Neufeld · From: Kansas City, Missouri

Terminology may also work slightly against you on this too..."dobro" for many means 1-3-5 type open tunings in bluegrass or blues styles. But resonator guitars certainly have their place in Hawaiian music...in the 20s it seems the tricone versions were more popular (but a regular single cone "dobro" style will work just fine). You can tune to the period appropriate open tunings like A, or even bluegrass open G (I find myself playing things like Moana Chimes on my open G dobro), or you can tune to C6 as long as you select your string gauges carefully. I have a Republic tricone in C6 that would be my pick for acoustic Hawaiian...as I said, this isn't necessarily period appropriate because basically nobody was using C6 when resonators were the norm in Hawaiian music, and by the time C6 took hold, pretty much everyone had gone electric. But in modern times with people picking the acoustics back up, C6 acoustic is more common...Barney Isaacs did an album on a C6 tricone I think in the 90s.

Other techniques...you'll have less sustain than you're used to...if you listen to early Hawaiian steel you'll hear a lot more rapid fire picking (particularly from Sol H) which I think was a way of keeping that note going.

As a side note...playing a resonator is a worthy pursuit on its own, but if you just are annoyed with hauling an amp, check out the little battery powered Yamaha THR amps. I picked one up this year after Alan Akaka vouched for it and I think it sounds great for Hawaiian steel at moderate to low volumes...
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me

John Limbach · From: Billings, Montana, USA

Nic Neufeld · From: Kansas City, Missouri

What I used...well, Labella at least -used- to make a string set for C6 resophonic guitar. I bought a set, but they are designed for high-G tuning. I can't find it online any more but someone on a forum mentioned the gauges:

(E 34, G 26, A24w, C 18p, E 14, G 10)

I can't -quite- recall but I think I definitely ditched the high G and...well now I'm thoroughly confused as to what I did because my top three strings are plain (assuming from my juststrings order history that I interjected a 17 for the C and moved the 18 to the third string?). Really just going off of strings I bought and the string end colors I'm guessing this is what I ended up with roughly. That said, I can't tell you this is the "right" setup as this was my first reso! I think I had issues with it sounding like it was distorting in the cones so I lightened the string gauges a bit to take the pressure off.

38wC 32wE 26/24wG? 18pA, 17pC, 14pE
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me

John Kwasnik · From: California, USA

Ok ... here's what I mean. An A scale in sixths.

Common in Hawaiian playing is sliding through parts of that, and picking where the dots are. With a lap steel, the strings in the middle won't sound noticeably. But the middle string does on dobro. But maybe that's why people just don't do that?
_________________
========================
John Kwasnik
Sacramento, CA
========================

Nic Neufeld · From: Kansas City, Missouri

I just picked up my dobro, open G like that, and played through that. I'm getting no sound at all from the middle (4th) string. Are you picking really aggressively maybe? Can you tell what is actually sounding the middle string...your thumb going forward and hitting it or your index finger coming back?
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me

Ken Pippus · From: Langford, BC, Canada

Old dirty strings will make more noise when sliding.

John Kwasnik · From: California, USA

Nic:

Thanks for replying.

The bar sliding along the strings, without picking at all, makes noise. So the effect I'm talking about is one smooth timed slide from the E-G# down to A-C# at fret 2, picking all the sixths at the right time along the way. My hand doesn't want to index-finger-hold-a-block while thumb and middle pluck the 5th and 3rd strings.

Maybe I'll just stick to 3rds; necessarily adjacent strings.
_________________
========================
John Kwasnik
Sacramento, CA
========================

David Knutson · From: Cowichan Valley, Canada

Two thoughts . . . . Are your strings all level across at the nut and saddle?

Are your strings round wound? My string noise went way down when I switched to semi-flats.
_________________
David K

John Kwasnik · From: California, USA

David --

Yes and yes. I'll try those next set. I just put this standard set on. Formerly had a G6 / Bâ™6 custom set: BDEGBD / Bâ™DFGBâ™D to mimic A6 / C6.

At this point, I'll use the lap steel for Hawaiian. We mostly do hapa-haole 1930s-40s stuff anyway. With the dobro, I'll start studying bluegrass / fiddle tune styles.

I think the pandemic is gonna hang around awhile, so I'll have the time ...
_________________
========================
John Kwasnik
Sacramento, CA
========================

Forum Index > Steel Without Pedals		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic

All times are GMT - 8 Hours	Jump to: