Playing Dobro style on a standard 6-string

L. A. Wunder · From: Lombard, Illinois, USA

I play dobro in the contemporary band in a Catholic Church, and the sound of a resonator doesn't fit in as well as I wish it did, and I was thinking of using an amplified accoustic guitar instead.i was wondering if it would harm the guitar, the bar, or the sound, if I played dobro style on a standard guitar without raising the strings? I have an extension nut but would prefer not to use it if I don't have to.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Adam Nero · From: Wisconsin

When you play steel or dobro, you're of course dampening the strings by applying pressure with your left hand, behind the bar. I don't personally see how you'd be able to play that stuff without a lifter nut...
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2 cheap dobros, several weird old lap steels, and one lifelong ticket to ride on the pedal steel struggle bus.

Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

I would suggest getting a weissenborne style guitar if you can. Superior, Lazy River...there must be others around too. A tricone might be another possibility. Louder than a single cone resonator as a rule. Very different tone as well.
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Amor vincit omnia

Mark Eaton · Posted 20 Apr 2015 10:52 am

I have been playing dobro for years at my church, and I think it fits in fine - but as I wrote in another thread in quoting from an Eric Clapton song" "it's in the way that you use it." If you play "dobroey" sounding bluegrass or country licks too much, it isn't going to fit. You have to kind of avoid that.

I was playing at church yesterday and we had our violin player, this guy is really good and can play just about anything reasonably well. Awhile back he was showing me a photo of him as a young guy when he got a handful of gigs backing Johnny Cash in Minnesota in the '70s. My point in bringing him up is that if he was backing Johnny Cash he was playing "fiddle," what he played at church yesterday was "violin." Same instrument, two very different vibes.

But to get back to your original point and alluding to what Adam wrote, it would seem to be really awkward to try to play a standard flattop guitar lap style without using a nut riser.

Along with Weissenborns or Tricones as alternatives you could get a squareneck flattop. There are always old Oahu and related brands for pretty cheap at various online sites.

I have played a couple of Goldtone/Beard PBK square neck flattops and have been impressed. This is another guitar designed by Paul Beard like the popular Goldtone resonators but manufactured in Asia so that it won't break the bank. There are some artisan luthiers making high end square neck flattops that are outstanding, but for acoustic lap style playing I'm mostly into dobro and I couldn't justify the price of a hand made in the U.S. lap style flattop, wouldn't get enough use out of it. But this Goldtone/Beard version is pretty doable for most people in terms of price.

Listed at $600 on the Beard website, but currently out of stock. I'm sure if you have a real interest one could be found somewhere. Or you might find one used for a pretty good price.

From the Beard site:

Product Details
A great “alternative” style guitar for slide players. Designed by Paul Beard. A solid spruce top with rosewood back and sides provide a rich sustaining tone. Square mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard. 25” scale length.

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Mark

Mark Eaton · Posted 20 Apr 2015 11:32 am

...better photos here:

http://www.elderly.com/new_instruments/names/beard-gold-tone-pbkg-hawaiian-guitar-and-gigbag--BGT9S.htm
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Mark

David Venzke · From: SE Michigan, USA

If you're reluctant to use the riser/extension nut because you don't want to damage a good acoustic, go buy a $20-$50 Asian import from Craigslist or a local thrift store or resale shop. That's what I did. Put the extension nut on that guitar and wail away. (Best $20 I ever spent!)

Brian McGaughey · From: Orcas Island, WA USA

Could you install a standard magnetic type pickup on your dobro?

I've been playing dobro at Mass on Sundays for a couple years and no one has ever complained about the sound that I know of. I do skip any sliding into or out of a chord, and limit my hammer-ons and pull-offs.

One of the things I do to get away from the standard dobro "sound" is to play a rolling pattern (I think of it as an arpeggio in church Wink

) on 6, 4 and 3, sometimes incorporating the first string when an open D works in the key. This is a passive chord (no major or minor 3rd) so I can "chord" with this roll and move up and down the neck using my low G as my guide to follow both major and minor chords. We have a bassist, a pianist and an acoustic guitar so I do have many other choices for ways to fit in without going bluegrass. That's just one that works over a lot of different styles.

Like Mark says, it's in the way that you use it.

L. A. Wunder · From: Lombard, Illinois, USA

Thanks for all the advice.

Brian, I currently have a Gretsch electric/accoustic dobro with a " Nashville Fishman" resonator pickup, and I've done arpeggios like you've mentioned and not been given "the look" by the music director. (A classically trained organist) I never slide, I did it once in rehearsal in an attempt to get from one chord to another in a fast piece, the director looked like his hair was about to ignite and he yelled " Don't do that!" I basically pick up the bar, put it down, and play chords. I tune using a standard guitar tuning, but lower the top string to a "D" and don't play loudly.

Dave, the fear of damage to a standard guitar was the only reason I didn't want to use a riser. I do, however, have an amplified/accoustic with a riser on it that I purchased for the purpose a couple years ago. It is a decent guitar, and I would rather not ruin it, but it won't break me if I do.

Mark, I looked at the guitar you mentioned, and it might be a viable alternative if I need to move in that direction. I think I'm about to be put under pressure to learn the guitar and switch over, so I can play rhythm for him. I don't want to, and I figured if I could sound more like a guitar it might be enough. (Church is the only place around here that I can play.)

Thanks again for all your help.

Jim Williams · From: Meridian, Mississippi, USA - Home of Peavey!

Does the church allow electric instruments? If so, a $119 SX lap steel from Rondo Music could be fitted with strings for open G or whatever tuning you prefer and you can get a wide variety of sounds from a small amp with a mic into the sound system if needed.
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GFI SM10 3/4, 1937 Gibson EH-150, 2 - Rondo SX Lap Steels and a Guyatone 6 String C6. Peavey 400 and a Roland 40 Amps. Behringer Reverb Pedal.

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