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Topic: OMI Dobro history |
Jim Behnke
From:
SW USA
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Posted 4 Nov 2011 6:59 pm |
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My 1st post here. Just acquired an '83 OMI Dobro. Got an old Nat'l & other lap steels but never spent much attention on Dobros before.
My newbie-to-Dobro-world question: how long were the Dopyera brothers still involved w/OMI? I've not found a site that answers this, nor do Broz' or Andy Volk's xlnt steel books say that much about OMI.
Tom Wheeler's & Nick Freeth's books reveal little more except that OMI was sold to Gibson in 1993. I'm just trying to figure out if the instrument I have was "made" under their ownership [even though they'd have been waaay old & unlikely "hands-on"].
Pls forgive if this is an oft-asked question. I'm new... |
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Michael Hogan
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Posted 4 Nov 2011 7:50 pm This Wikipedia info might help you
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From the outset, wooden bodies had been sourced from existing guitar manufacturers, particularly the plywood student guitar bodies made by the Regal Musical Instrument Company. Dobro had granted Regal a license to manufacture resonator instruments, and by 1937, it was the only manufacturer, and the license was officially made exclusive. Regal-manufactured resonator instruments continued to be sold under many names, including Regal, Dobro, Old Kraftsman, and Ward. However all production of resonator guitars ceased following the US entry into the Second World War in 1941.
Emil Dopyera (also known as Ed Dopera) manufactured Dobros from 1959 under the brand name Dopera's Original before selling the company and name to Semie Moseley, who merged it with his Mosrite guitar company and manufactured Dobros for a time. Meanwhile, in 1967, Rudy and Emil Dopyera formed the Original Musical Instrument Company (OMI) to manufacture resonator guitars, which were at first branded Hound Dog. However, in 1970, they again acquired the Dobro name, Mosrite having gone into temporary liquidation.
OMI, together with the Dobro name, was acquired by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1993. They renamed the company Original Acoustic Instruments and moved production to Nashville. Gibson now uses the name Dobro only for models with the inverted-cone design used originally by the Dobro Manufacturing Company. Gibson also manufactures biscuit-style single-resonator guitars, but it sells them under names such as Hound Dog and Epiphone. The Dobro was first introduced to country music by Roy Acuff. |
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Tom Gray
From:
Decatur, GA
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Posted 5 Nov 2011 7:10 am
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Emil "Ed" Dopyera died in 1977. Rudy died in 1978. In 1983 OMI was owned by the Lazar family. Gabrielle Lazar was a sister of Dopyera brothers. Her son Ron ran the company from about 1973 until his death in 1982. Around the time your Dobro was made Gabe rehired Don Young (now known for National Reso-Phonic Guitars) as shop foreman. Don had left OMI earlier because of a dispute with Ron.
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www.tomgraymusic.com |
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Jim Behnke
From:
SW USA
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Posted 5 Nov 2011 11:32 am
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Thx Tom. Got a few books that chronicle the Dopyera's saga through Beauchamp, Regal/et al, Semie Mosely, & so forth. None had the detail you've offered.
As mentioned, this is the 1st Dobro I've ever had, but have been into vtg Nationals, Martins, etc for decades; playing the guitars is most important to me, but I like the "lore" too.
Bringing this 10-str to my luthier [xlnt+ w/pre-war Martins/Nat'ls,etc] for[fully reversible] modification, new nut/saddle. The strings are just too tightly spaced for me with 10. We'll determine if I need to go down to 8 [& thus tune like my '57 Fender Dlx 8] to get "comfortable" string spacing. If we can get 9 on there I'll try that. Won't remove unused tuner[s] unless they rattle, plug no hole so instrument's preserved [w/orig nut & saddle] for future.
A vtg dlr I know recently advertised a'77 10-str @ $3400. I'd not seen OMI Dobros as "collectible", paid less'n 1/4 of that. Figure it's a "better" choice than Beard/Goldtone 8-str for same $.
Am a novice at spider-bridge resos. Looking forward to wrappin' my head around Dobro approach/technique and most importantly the "feel", "sound", and songs this instrument draws me towards. Doubt I'm going to suddenly become a 'grasser in my 6th decade, do hope to find some Gabby and Joaquin-like things I can do with it.
Thanks again! |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 5 Nov 2011 12:37 pm
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When Don Young was at OMI, I brought my 10-string down for some repairs. While I was there, I got into a conversation with the owners and they hired me to do some welding of the brass bodies. Apparently they found somebody that was local, who would work cheaper than me and they let me go, which didn't hurt my feelings. They also didn't feel like paying me for the ones I had just welded, so I did some "mods" on them. At the time, I had modified my Super Pro, with pickups on both ends of the neck, to do "sound fx". I wondered if it was possible to do that acoustically. It wasn't very successful and the instrument became a wall hanging, that I named the Simese, but it usually gets referred to as the Breast-o-phonic.
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Tom Gray
From:
Decatur, GA
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Posted 5 Nov 2011 4:26 pm
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James, do your wooden bridge inserts extend past the edges of the aluminum spider bridge? I've heard that on those 10-strings the top and bottom strings are so far outside that they don't transfer vibrations well to the resonator.
About 10-15 years ago I did a ton of research and wrote a Dobro history. I did all the writing, but a coauthor supplied a lot of material -- old documents and interviews with people who had since passed on, etc. The week the book was going to the printer an unexpected disagreement between my coauthor and publisher killed it. I got involved in other projects and for a long time didn't even want to think about the book. But lately I've been considering rewriting it as a website or an e-book.
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www.tomgraymusic.com |
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Eugene Cole
From:
near Washington Grove, MD, USA
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Posted 5 Nov 2011 5:13 pm
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Tom; I have no issue with the outside strings not transfering to the resonator on my 10-string.
However I do find that my 10-string is not as loud as a standard Dobro with only 8-strings.
Additionally the 10-strings have a spider which accomodates a 1 piece saddle (see http://www.pixenbar.com/My-Dobro.asp for a close-up picture of the saddle).
_________________
Regards
-- Eugene <sup>at</sup> FJ45.com
PixEnBar.com
Cole-Luthierie.com
FJ45.com
Sierra U14 8+5 my copedent, 1972 MSA D10 8+4, and nothing in the Bank. 8^) |
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Jim Behnke
From:
SW USA
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Posted 6 Nov 2011 6:40 pm
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Yes, Tom - the saddle [appears to be Maple] extends slightly beyond the aluminum spider-bridge. It's beveled so the part that contacts the aluminum isn't as "wide" as the portion the strings pass over, maybe 1/8" overhang where it touches the spider-bridge.
As Eugene remarks, I perceive no loss of mechanical transference [i.e. vol/tone] on outer-most strings. Mine BTW is spittin' image of Eugene's, has that 12-str tailpiece/etc.
When I have it "cut-down" to 8 or 9 strings it'll be for string-spacing-comfort, not tone/vol issues. I'll save all orig parts so it can be reversed ez-pz.
Am hoping we can "fit" 9 so I get a "root" lowest string, see what evolves. Plan to see luthier ~Wed & discuss nut-material [currently plastic, I'd think bone or fossil-ivory might do better] as well as saddle-wood [ebony, etc, maybe stick w/Maple, luthier'll guide me].
My beloved '34 Nat'l Style O round-neck used to be this luthier's personal instrument. Got great confidence in his reso-"sense" though he works on lotsa "regular" guitars too. This'll be an adventure. |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 6 Nov 2011 6:43 pm
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| Quote: |
| However I do find that my 10-string is not as loud as a standard Dobro with only 8-strings. |
Because of the extra stress on the resonator. Back, when I brought mine in to Don, I had converted it to a 12-string, a really bad idea which cracked the spider and "crushed" the cone, he suggested that I wanted to keep it a 10 and spun a heavier cone, as well as got me a better spider. I had already made a brass 10string bridge. I still have it and while it's not a great sounding guitar, it's not bad and it has a warm tone. |
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Eugene Cole
From:
near Washington Grove, MD, USA
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Posted 6 Nov 2011 8:40 pm
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| James Behnke wrote: |
Bringing this 10-str to my luthier... for[fully reversible] modification, new nut/saddle....
Won't remove unused tuner[s] unless they rattle, plug no hole so instrument's preserved [w/orig nut & saddle] for future. |
If yours is also 1983ish vintage like mine you might want to considder replacing the tuners with a good quality set. The original tuners on mine are really lousy and it is only a matter of time until they fail. I would ask around (the SGF) for guidance regarding sourcing suitable upgrade tuners.
_________________
Regards
-- Eugene <sup>at</sup> FJ45.com
PixEnBar.com
Cole-Luthierie.com
FJ45.com
Sierra U14 8+5 my copedent, 1972 MSA D10 8+4, and nothing in the Bank. 8^) |
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Jim Behnke
From:
SW USA
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Posted 11 Nov 2011 8:33 pm
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Thx Eugene - Plan's to remove any unused tuners to reduce confusion. These might be "spares" if I had tuner-failure. This particular Dobro's not seen a lotta use and they seem fine for now.
Luthier's got it in hand. I look forward to see/hear/play results.
If it comes back really great then I've got some good choices in mind for "upgrade" tuners; unfortunately they'll entail add'l/different screw-holes so originality will be theoretically be compromised. Still unclear how "collectible" an '83 OMI is. If it's a true "keeper" that won't matter. Never having had a Dobro before I'm hoping to preserve reversible "originality" [it's very clean] til I make that decision. |
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