What are some sought-after square neck resonators?

Jimmy Washington · From: Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

Looking to dabble in some dobro

Glenn Wilde · From: California, USA

Not real sure what you mean, but id say to get the best one you can afford. Ive been impressed with the newer Regals, I have a RD30 I bought off CL used for $200.00 as a beater and its really a darn good guitar, I also had a Black Lightning that my buddy has now and loves. As far as Desirable, the sky is the limit.

D Schubert · From: Columbia, MO, USA

A wood-bodied square-neck spider-cone Dobro from the 1930's.
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Mark Eaton · Posted 16 Jun 2023 9:34 am

What often happens in these seeking advice regarding gear threads is the OP neglects to state a budget. Resophonic guitars aren’t unlike flattop acoustic guitars in terms of price - you can find something for a few hundred bucks and from there it goes into thousands.

For a first timer it’s good to go the used route, there are often dobros in very good or better condition for a reasonable price.

If you’re “dabbling” then you most likely don’t want to drop big dough on a guitar - but don’t go too cheap - you’ll likely be disappointed.

IMO the best reso for the money these days is the Recording King Phil Leadbetter signature model. Pro level sound and feel at a pretty good price. The only thing I would say is a minor negative is the nut width at 1 3/4” - it doesn’t bother most people but it’s slightly narrow for a dobro. If you’re a pedal steel player than it shouldn’t bother you at all.

https://www.recordingking.com/rr75plsn
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Douglas Schuch · From: Valencia, Philippines

For a novice player, there are several questions to answer to guide your purchase, assuming you want a good quality instrument that you will enjoy playing for many years.

First question: do you want a vintage style/sounding reso, or a more modern large-body style/sound? If your intentions are to play bluegrass primarily, the smaller body makes sense. Jerry Douglas uses a small-body vintage Dobro when he plays with his bluegrass band, but a large-body Beard for most other work, including with Union Station. A third option, if you are more interested in playing blues (or just like the tone) would be a biscuit-cone model (vs. the more common spider cone), but that's a rather offbeat choice for a first reso. BTW, you can listen to sound samples on Youtube to hear how each sounds. Mike Witcher has some excellent sound samples of different Beard models.

Personally, I like the more modern, fuller sound of the large-body resos. I do not play strictly bluegrass. In fact, I play very little bluegrass. The high end of this style would be Scheerhorns (made by Scheerhorn, not National), followed by such names as Beard, National Scheerhorn, Schoonover, Clinesmith, Rayco, and Redline . A good bit more affordable, yet still excellent would be Appalachian.

For used resos, I know a number of forum members own guitars by Benoit. Deneve, Warner, Adams, and McKenna were known for building great sounding instruments at reasonable prices, and thus their used ones are often very reasonable.

What I don't hear much good about are the various Asian wood resos (possibly excepting the Gold Tone Beard Signature models, but they are vintage-style).

If you decide you want a more vintage-style and sound instrument, there are other options. Some of these same builders make them (Beard notably so), but you can also add Crafters of Tennessee, the Gold Tone Beard Signatures, used Dobro brand, among others.

I will note that, with the exception of Tom Warner's builds, one of which I own, I have no experience with any of these - the cost of living far from the US!
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Joe Burke · From: Toronto, Canada

Gretsch makes a really good sounding squareneck. They’re priced quite reasonably. Maybe Gold Tone is a step up. They have a number of models.

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

I have a Regal Black Lightning and that is a very nice guitar. Very Happy

Erv

Howard Parker · From: Maryland

1. I generally don't involve myself in these types of discussions.

2. I live and "work" in a contemporary "dobrocentric" world where the dobro is the main focus.

With the above in mind, I can state that I think when the dobro is a player's main focus today, the market has offerings and prices very similar to the pedal steel world.

In my mind (and imho and .02), reasonable playing instruments can be had new for roughly $1K and I'd be happy to recommend The RK Leadbetter and Gold Tones as 2 such guitars.

Beyond that, the market has a fair number of boutique builders. In terms of players and numbers I'd surmise that Paul Beard is the best known. He's an innovator and builds guitars with a variety of internal technologies that appeal to a wide number of players.

National is building the Scheerhorn designed guitars under license.

There are a handful of smaller, quality builders, Byrl, Schoonover, the Appalachian as examples. I don't believe Todd Clinesmith is building dobros these days.

The fit, finish and technology of the hand crafted guitars completely overshadow the imports like Regal, Gretsch, etc. Contemporary players demand guitars with bigger, more complex voices and the contemporary builders deliver those guitars.

Also, like quality steels, the pricing reflects the time, materials and technology available.

Shocked at the Emmons Resound pricing? It might be of interest that I'm aware of dobros priced and delivered at around $14.5K . The "sweet spot" for a huge part of the market is in the $2.5-4.5K range. I admit that's a swag number though Winking

One might assume that these guitars don't sound like your Regal "Black Lightning".

Don't get me wrong. If you're primarily a steel player and want to add some basic dobro tones I know it might not make sense to drop $4K on a guitar you'd play on 3 tunes/gig.

I'm just saying that if you think your $400 brand X guitar is the holy grail you might not be aware of the larger picture.

I'll also add the the reason pre-war Dobro is such a relative bargain is because the majority of the contemporary players have abandoned those instruments for a different voice.

This comes from a guy that's managed to play approx 3,000 dobros over the last 30 years or so. I've seen, played and been inside pretty much everything.

It's been a journey.

I'm through typing...

h
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Howard Parker

03\' Carter D-10
70\'s Dekley D-10
52\' Fender Custom
Many guitars by Paul Beard
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Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

The most sought after dobro or spider bridge squareneck I know of at the moment is the Tim Scheerhorn built L body.

There's an early 2000s on Elderly right now for 15K.

I've owned a few asian entry level guitars. Let me state that some of them are quite playable and listenable. I owned a Regal Black Lightning RD52, one of the first or second gen with the Quarterman cone and the aluminum spider bridge that played and sounded just fine.

I also had a cheap Rogue that I upgraded with a Quarterman and a bone nut that sounded as good to me as a genuine OMI Dobro I had earlier.

The thing about imports is that they vary so much one to the other. You might get an acceptable one or you might get one that is poorly built or just a flat out dud.

The Gold Tones are just fine, but if you're going for one of those, be sure it's one that has been through the Beard shop.

I also had a Wechter/Scheerhorn with a Scheerhorn cone that was a good player.

All of the aforementioned models got the job done....but they are a far cry from the high end guitars.

I'll just say this, you'll be fine with any of these....just don't ever listen to or play a genuine Beard, Scheerhorn, Meredith, Schoonover, Harlow, Fishook, etc. upscale guitar if you are a tone freak like me.

I disagree that bluegrassers prefer the traditional R bodies. Just about everybody I see on the shows that's anybody plays the more modern larger L or E body, open chamber, post construction guitars. Jerry Douglas, Rob Ickes, Randy Kohrs, Phil Leadbetter [RIP], Josh Swift, Largent, Moses, DeSpain to name but a few.

[Jerry did play a traditional R dobro with Earls of Leicester...also Fred Travers of Seldom Scene plays a great old R size Dobro.]

I finally found a reasonable compromise with Tom Warner Appalachian and Bob Sehy custom builds. Appalachian is still going by a different builder but Sehy is not. Also Tut Taylor resos are pretty well thought of.

There's just too many choices out there to name here.

Speaking as one who has searched for a great sounding resonator guitar, it's just night and day between those and the lesser guitars.

Your dabbling may hook you for life and then you'll be dissatisfied with those.

It depends how serious you are and how deep you anticipate getting involved and whether or not you can or care to do mods such as cone, nut and saddles upgrades etc.

There are several good custom builders out there such as Adams, etc. that might not be at the top of the radar.

My advice is to take your time making a decision and, if possible, play as many different guitars as you can get your hands on. Don't cheat yourself out of finding one that does it for you.

Elderly Instruments in Michigan, Gryphon in California, possibly Gruene in Nashville, Artisan in Franklin Tn., Twelth Fret in Canada...if you are near any of these, they will likely have some different good choices to try out.

I echo what someone else above said Buy as good an instrument as you can afford.

Resos are no different from other instruments in the variety of quality and build. You can find some for a couple hundred bucks or you can pay over 10K depending on quality and demand.

If, on the other hand, you really do want to just dabble, look at some of the budget priced imports mentioned in this thread.

But what do I know. I play them, not very well, but think I have a good idea of the always changing current crop.

If you haven't already, you might want to poke around over at the www.resohangout.com site for info, stuff for sale etc.

Rich Arnold · From: Tennessee, USA

Bill Hatcher · From: Atlanta Ga. USA

Greg Forsyth · From: Colorado, USA

Recently I traded for one of Gold Tone's Paul Beard signature resonator. The base mahogany version. It's a gorgeous sounding resonator, and very well made. Quite a bit better sounding than a Rogue I had.
The PBS costs a few hundred more than the more expensive Asian imports but well worth the extra money. Probably doesn't have the tone of the custom resonators but considering the cost savings a great value.

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

I have one of those and it is a great guitar. Very Happy

Erv

Clyde Mattocks · From: Kinston, North Carolina, USA

A proper set up can do wonders for most any but the very cheapest dobro. Bobby Wright is among the best in the business. I play a Harlow that was one of the pricier ones when I bought it some years ago. Bobby set up an inexpensive Regal for me that turned heads when he got thru with it. I also found an R.Q. Jones that he brought back to life. As Howard says, "If the Black Lightning is the holy grail for you" then you haven't played the high end stuff. I don't mean this to sound snobbish, but the Op was was asking about most sought after dobros. Howard's post is spot on.
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