I have a 10 string Dobro that was made in 1980, I then added a couple banjo tuners and converted it to a 12 string (diatonic, initially). First, the tailpiece popped, so I made another out of stainless steel, then the spyder cracked so I welded it back together, then the cone collapsed. This was about the time that I heard Pete Grant's 10 string, and it sounded so much better than mine did, I took it back to the factory to have Donald Young (National Resophonic) look it over. He gave me a new, better, spyder, spun a new cone and cleaned the paint off the wood where the cone seated. This made a huge improvement. It's also how I ended up working for OMI welding Dobro bodies for a short period.
The problem is, after talking to John Quarterman and Paul Beard, the cones work best with 6 or 7 strings, after that, each successive string constricts the tone. If you were to distribute that stress over several cones, it would probably sound really good.[This message was edited by chas smith on 28 November 2002 at 11:46 AM.]
