Happy with your Beard Gold Tone Dobro?

John Troutman · From: Washington, DC

Well, as I just told my girlfriend, I 'accidentally' bought a dobro on ebay today. I've been looking around for a while, and this seemed, based upon what little I know about dobros, to be a decent deal.

Would folks that have had any experience with these guitars let me know what you think? I've never played dobro but have been messing around with my deluxe 8 now for a while and figured it would be a fun investment.

the guitar i won is here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2385&item=7330919266&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

if i wish to use this strictly as a dobro, should I replace the nut? should i consider any additional modifications? what do these dobros even sound like? in other words, perhaps I should have done more research in advance. if you have any experience with these guitars, i would appreciate any words you may have time to offer...

thanks!
john

Brad Bechtel · From: San Francisco, CA

Congratulations! I think you've found a real deal here. These are fine sounding instruments, and the upgrades that Pushinforty has done will make you even happier (especially if you play electric as well as acoustic).
I have never heard anyone who bought a Beard Gold Tone who has regretted it. The only times I see one of these sold by a private party on eBay is like this, where the user has saved enough to buy something four times its cost.

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

John Troutman · From: Washington, DC

Hey Brad:
Thanks so much for responding--With this reassurance coming from you, in particular, I feel a lot better about the purchase. I figured the fishman would be handy in a live setting. I really look forward to playing this thing. dobros are so versatile and sound so beautiful--i can't wait!
Thanks again,
John

Stephen Gambrell · From: Over there

Shoot, yeah! That's a deal. Those things sound WAY huge, and for that price---MAN!!
Congratulations, John.
I wonder if there's any plans to market a Gold Tone 8-string??

John Troutman · From: Washington, DC

Thanks, Stephen! I look forward to entering the dobro world. I'm nervous, though, about the fact that it's a round back rather than a square back. But I guess I'll just have to see how it goes...

Stephen Gambrell · From: Over there

Pete Kirby (Bashful Brother Oswald) played a roundneck, with a nut extender, for most of his career---din't seem to hurt none!

Ron Shepard · From: Easthampton, MA, USA

John and Brad, do you find these resos to be naturally loud?

Howard Parker · From: Maryland

Stephan Miller · From: Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

John-- That's a good price for a quality instrument. If you use it strictly as a dobro, the roundneck won't be an issue; get the high nut and the volume will increase.
Let us know what you think of the Fishman pickup-- I have a Fishman resonator p/up in
my roundneck Hound Dog Dobro and am not thrilled with it. Hope you have better luck.

--Steve

Tony Davis · From: Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Hey John...well I have owned a round neck Dobro style guitar for over thirty years...made in Australia...I believe it is early 1930's....was given to me by a friend...........I put n a metal nut extender and replaced the wooden saddle with an aluminium one.....never ever cared for the sound.....just used to play it at parties.......but last year when in Nashville I went to the Dobro factory in Church St Nashville and bought a bone nut and and ebony saddle....cost $20 American.........the volume and tone is unbelievable.............it sounds great !!!!!!!!
Hope this helps
Tony

John Troutman · From: Washington, DC

Hey guys--
Thanks for the comments so far. I appreciate the words of wisdom. The guitar should arrive tomorrow and I can't wait to check it out. I'm also curious as to how the fishman sounds, so I'll give you my impressions. Thanks!
John

Bernard Beck · From: Paris France

You should not be worried about the round neck. I did buy my dobro in 1974, they only had a round neck in the the store. Well I bought it, raised the nuts, turned the mechanics upside down and I've been playing lap style ever since.
Wellcome to the dobro world
Bernard

Gary Schuldt · From: Seymour, TN.

Hi John,
Welcome to the Dobro world. I have no doubt at all that you will be happy with your Beard Goldtone. I bought mine last November From Paul and Howard.Let me tell you i couldn't be happier.The tone and sustain is great. Loud too. I go to quite a few Blugrass jams up here in upstate N.Y. and i always get comments how beautiful the instument is, and how great it sounds. It really cuts through. I own the sq. neck but i also have an Epiphone round neck that my wife first bought me about 5 years ago. Not to hurt her feelings and take it back i just put a nut extender on it and it played great.But i must say, that Epiphone has sat in the closet since i got my Beard Goldtone.Also feel free if you have any questions about your new guitar, to call Paul or Howard. They are just the greatest guys to deal with,as are all of thr Forum members.
Just a quick note, i'm going to be putting a pickup on mine,but don't know whether to go with the Fishman or the McIntyre feather. any help would be appreciated.
Have fun John Keep Pickin !!!!!!!!
Gary Schuldt

John Troutman · From: Washington, DC

Hey guys--

Thanks for your welcoming words! The gold tone came in last night and it is beautiful--well crafted with a deep and resonant voice. I really can't get over the value of these guitars for the buck. Paul and them are certainly on to something here--it affords those of us without too much money to play a quality instrument. I am very happy with the decision to buy it, and I think it will be a great addition to my little stable of instruments.

I've been messing around with it since last night, but I won't be able to pick up an extension nut until this weekend. The spacing between the strings seems comfortable to me, so that should not be a problem. The cone is loud enough as it is, and I imagine the volume will increase significantly with the extension nut. All in all, a really great instrument. Now I just have to learn to play the dern thing!

A couple of you asked about the fishman active pickup. I plugged it into my '65 twin reissue and to tell you the truth, my feelings were torn--on the one hand, it did not sound that bad, especially for being plugged into an amplifier and not through a DI box to a PA. On the other hand, it did not sound that great, either. I used to own one of those little LR Baggs preamps, until it went 'missing' last year, and it helped my acoustic and mandolin tremendously. In fact, they could actually sound decent through this very amp. I wish I could try the Beard with the Baggs as well for the added EQ and frequency notch.

I've never been a big fan of pickups and prefer direct mics instead, so I suppose this thing will do the job, particularly through a DI and PA system, but I would certainly prefer some sort of condenser mic situation.

What is this 'feather' mic all about? I'd love to hear more about it.

Thanks guys. I really appreciate your interest in this most recent development of my musical ambitions!

John

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