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Topic: Difference between 6 String Lap Steel and a Dobro |
John Hartle
From:
Thailand
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Posted 30 Dec 2017 5:08 am |
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| I can see that they are two different instruments with slightly different sounds. But what are the other differences. What has one got that the other does not? |
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Stefan Robertson
From:
Hertfordshire, UK
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Posted 30 Dec 2017 5:45 am
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Electricity 
_________________
Stefan
Bill Hatcher custom 12 string Lap Steel Guitar
E13#9/F secrets: https://thelapsteelguitarist.wordpress.com
"Give it up for The Lap Steel Guitarist" |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 30 Dec 2017 6:19 am
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| One is acoustic, one is electric. One has a resonator, one doesn't. |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 30 Dec 2017 7:09 am
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A resophonic instrument contains an aluminum cone - spun very thin - that acts as a mechanical resonator to amplify the sound. It was developed in the 1920s just before the era of the first electric instruments as a way to have a guitar louder and better heard in a band situation. In practice, the cone and wooden (or metal) body of the instrument creates a mysterious amalgam of wood, air and metal that creates a unique tone signature. Some find this sound poetic, powerful and unique. Other respond as if someone dropped a drawer full of silverware.
A lap steel is a solid or hollow, but thick-bodied instrument whose ability to be heard depends on electric amplification via a magnetic pickup. The sound of the pickup (number of winds, gauge of wire, magnet variety, etc) in conjunction with the specific guitar's body density and brand of amplifier used are the factors that color the sound of a lap steel.
In terms of touch, Cindy Cashdollar says the dobro is like a mechanical typewriter and the lap steel is like an electric typewriter. The Dobro requires a more effortful picking approach to get the sound out at its full potential.
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 30 Dec 2017 7:23 am
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Because the Dobro is most commonly tuned to open G and lap steel to a 6th chord (big generalisation, I know) and the Dobro is often played with a Stevens bar using lots of open strings with hammer-ons and pull-offs, many people think they are very different instruments. But there are no rules and a lot of people don't tune or play either in the way I mentioned.
I tune my Dobro and 6 string lap steels the same (A6) and play them both the same way. I mostly play Dobro when doing an "unplugged" gig with a, normally, electric band although sometimes it just sounds right for a particular song. |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 30 Dec 2017 7:27 am
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| Also, the majority of dobros are 6 string (with the occasional 8 string), a lap steel can be 6, 8, 10, or even 12 strings. |
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James Hartman
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2017 7:46 am
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| For me the most significant difference is in the attack/decay envelope of a note or chord. The electric instrument has potentially infinite sustain, the acoustic comparatively little sustain. This leads naturally to a different conceptual approach to utilizing the instruments. One can attempt to play them "the same" but then you're fighting one or the other's inherent nature. |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2017 8:02 am
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| An apt comparison may be the difference between a piano and an electronic organ. |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 30 Dec 2017 8:05 am
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| An even more apt comparison would be the difference between an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar. It is the difference between a Martin D-28 and a Stratocaster |
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Brooks Montgomery
From:
Idaho, USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2017 8:07 am
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I like Jerry Douglas's analogy: chainsaw vs. handsaw
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A banjo, like a pet monkey, seems like a good idea at first. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2017 9:24 am
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A lap steel doesn't have to be electric.
I have quite a few lap steels that are strictly acoustic.
The only difference between an acoustic lap steel and a dobro is the sound you get from them.
I tune my lap steel and my dobro the same.
I started out playing an acoustic Oahu lap steel.
I sold it when I went to a solid body Gibson lap steel with a pickup.
I found another old Oahu like I started on a couple years ago and bought it.
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James Kerr
From:
Scotland, UK
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Posted 30 Dec 2017 12:27 pm
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John, I see from FB you hail from New Orleans, although now living in Thailand and have an old Acoustic which you are trying to get off the ground.
Have a look at my beat up 1929 Student Guitar playing an old New Orleans number called "Tin Roof Blues" which might lead you to think you can get a tune out of anything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FaJNcRZngU
James. |
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David M Brown
From:
California, USA
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Posted 31 Dec 2017 5:21 am
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| They sit in your lap differently - the dobro/acoustic steels are at an angle, the electric lap steels sit nice and cosy and straight, of course that is without a stand. |
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David M Brown
From:
California, USA
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Posted 31 Dec 2017 5:22 am
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| Jeff Mead wrote: |
I tune my Dobro and 6 string lap steels the same (A6) and play them both the same way. |
Yeah, same here. Same A6 tuning, same round bullet bar, just one is electric and the other acoustic.
It makes life easier. |
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Tommy Martin Young
From:
Sacramento-California, USA
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Posted 20 Nov 2020 4:15 pm Dueling Banjos Meet a Tone Bar....Steel vs Dobro
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I laughed. I cried. A solid 3-Star rating!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk4pCzHK1Y0
_________________
The One & Lonely Tommy Young
"Now is the time for drinking;
now the time to beat the earth with unfettered foot."
-Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65-8 B.C.) |
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Greg Forsyth
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 20 Nov 2020 9:01 pm Difference between 6 String Lap Steel and a Dobro
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| The scale length of lap steels is generally shorter than resonator guitars |
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JB Bobbitt
From:
California, USA
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Posted 20 Nov 2020 9:16 pm
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$450
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"Time is an enemy"
-Bob Dylan |
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