Dobro Question

Gil Carleton · From: Foley, Alabama, USA

Can someone please tell me the difference between a Dobro Model 66 and a model 66-S? Is a 1981 a good year for them and what would be a fair price? My arthritis has gotten so bad that I can no longer flat pick any longer. It is so bad that I can no longer even make a G chord. Anyway, I can still use my right hand for finger picking so I decided to learn Dobro.

Also, if anyone is interested, I have a Taylor DCSM (Dan Crary Signature Model) that I need to sell. It is the finest guitar I have ever played and it has enough natural volume to play along side of a banjo without any amplification. Love it but can no longer use it.
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Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

I may be mistaken, but it's always been my understanding that the "S" designation signifies "square-neck." No doubt someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Gil Carleton · From: Foley, Alabama, USA

That makes sense. The one I am thinking about buying has the sandblasted ,or engraved, top. I was wondering if one was Sandblasted and the other wasn’t.

Russ Young · From: Seattle, Washington, USA

Jack is right — “S” means squareneck. If it’s a 66-S it should have a slotted peghead; the peghead on a P66-S is solid. But all Model 66 guitars are sandblasted with the “French scroll”

You never know from guitar to guitar, but in 1981 the Dopyeras were still in charge at Dobro. A lot of people feel the brand was never the same after it was acquired by Gibson in 1993.

Russ Young · From: Seattle, Washington, USA

Gil Carleton · From: Foley, Alabama, USA

Do you have any idea what a 1981 66-s in very good condition would be worth?

I grew up just north of Birmimgham but moved to Oregon when I was 21 years old. I lived about 5 years in Portland but I got tired of the rain, they call it rain but I call it Chinese water torture. Anyway, I moved to Medford and lived there for around 35 years. Two things I really miss from the west coast is salmon/steelhead fishing and elk hunting.

My first wife was from Paulsbo.

Russ Young · From: Seattle, Washington, USA

Gil, I’ve seen (listed) prices all over the map for 1970s and 1980s Model 66s — as low as $750, and as high as $2500. ((The latter is on Reverb right now.) But overall, I’ll go out on a limb and say a very good one would be $1200 to $1500.

I spent my first 25 years in San Diego, but have been splashing around in the rain up here for 36 years now. We’re getting a little tired of the clouds and puddles, and are starting to seriously consider some sunnier places now that my wife has retired.

Mark Eaton · Posted 27 Feb 2022 4:57 pm

The years when the late Don Young was shop foreman at OMI Dobro in California are considered to be the high points for quality. He did two separate tenures at Dobro, but when this comes up no one ever seems to know the specific years. 1981 might be one of them - don’t know for sure.

Don left Dobro around 1989 to revive the National name and form National Reso-Phonic with MacGregor Gaines.

Unless you just really gotta have the fancy stencil work on the Model 66 - there will be no difference in sound between that and a regular Model 60 squareneck.

And things have changed a lot since those days when there were only a few small operations making resophonic guitars aside from Dobro. A lot more to choose from these days.
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Mark

K Maul · From: Hadley, NY/Hobe Sound, FL

Dobros made in the 70s and 80s are generally the reason why people like Paul Beard, Tim Scheerhorn, Rudy Q Jones etc started making their vastly superior instruments.
Very early in the Gibson years they consulted Jerry Douglas. However, I believe they shortly stopped heeding those consultations and the brand suffered for it.
I’d look at those I mentioned or even a Gold Tone before I’d buy a Dobro unless it was an incredible deal.
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KEVIN MAUL: Airline, Beard, Clinesmith, Donner, Evans, Excel, Fender, Fluger, Gibson, Hilton, Ibanez, Justice, K+K, Live Strings, MOYO, National, Oahu, Peterson, Quilter, Rickenbacher, Sho~Bud, Supro, TC, Ultimate, VHT, Williams, X-otic, Yamaha, ZKing.

Glenn Wilde · From: California, USA

I like OMI's maybe I'm weird or tone deaf, i don't think so, I've had some real nice OMI's and have one now. I'd love a nice 66.

Dana Blodgett · From: California, USA

Don Young is no longer with us anymore but his shop “Don’s String Shop “ is still with us in Los Osos Ca. On LOVR next to Carlocks bakery.
Hillary still runs the shop, all kinds of guitars, resophonics, ukes, mandolin etc, accs. Strings…
Most excellent Gilded luthier repairing instruments available also…from the “Blue Note Music” days.
Dons String Shop- 805 439-4017
Hillary

And of course National Resophonic is still in San Luis Obispo,Ca. Too.
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Dana Blodgett
From Los Osos,Ca.
'74 ShoBud 6140 3+4, Martins HD28,D-12-28, D-15,'65 Gibson LG-1, '77 Gibson Les Paul special dbl cut p-90's, Les Paul Special p-100's,Les paul Special Hybrid(maple top) hbkr's,'68 Fender Strat reissue, Fender Squire Jazz bass,Epi mandolin,Epi Wilshire '66 reissue, Kamaka Concert uke, 70's Kamaka Soprano Uke, Fender Super amp, Ampeg ba112 bass amp,60's harmony banjo,'00 Gibson SG Supreme

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

I've had a 1981 OMI Model 60-DS since it was new. A couple years back I retrofitted it with new guts (cone, spider, & bridge) from Beard. Sounds purty good to me.

Robert B Murphy · From: Mountain View, Arkansas, USA

Gil, I layed off flatpicking for a year because of joint pain and stuck to dobro. I recovered enough to play guitar again but can't and won't try flatpicking bluegrass seriously anymore. I hope a long break will allow you to get some mobility back. I am impressed with the modern Beard, Scheerhorn... guitars but I wouldn't say they're vastly superior to older dobro coned guitars. Shot Jackson sounded great on those post-soundwell sho-bros too. They're just different. I don't think Josh Graves or Pete Kirby would sound any better on a newer design. I agree with Russ's guesstimate and don't think you can go wrong with that 66-s.
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Bob, small o.

Gil Carleton · From: Foley, Alabama, USA

A big Thank You to everyone. That was some great information and it is nice to get to know some people on this forum. I bought the 66-S and it arrived today. It does not look like it has ever been played. I paid $1,195 for it along with $150 shipping and around $90 in tax.

Now I have one loaded question that everyone will have a different opinion on for sure. What are the best strings for my Dobro? I have several sets of Martin Marquee mediums that I can put on but are regular guitar strings fine? Should I move up to heavy gauge since I don have to finger the guitar? Any advice you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

Robert B Murphy · From: Mountain View, Arkansas, USA

I've always used regular bronze mediums but used .015 for the top D instead of .013. That would be 56 46 36 27 17 and 15. By the way, you might want to get extra .027s. After a while of heavy picking I wear completely through the winding and it sounds like slide kazoo.
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Bob, small o.

Brian Evans · From: Nova Scotia, Canada

I like bronze strings too, .015 - .056 covers a lot of tunings on a squareneck. You could try .013 - .056 D'Addario Chromes flatwounds if you want less string noise. But simple is best.

Mark Eaton · Posted 2 Mar 2022 11:23 am

Gil, forget about putting a flattop guitar set with one or two substitute strings on this Dobro. You want a set designed specifically for Resophonic squareneck guitar in GBDGBD tuning.

There are dozens of dobro string sets out there these days. Likely the most popular is the EJ-42 set from D’Addario. The gauges are 16-56 with a .028w 3rd string, which as written earlier is the first to go. Some players prefer a .017 first string, like Rob Ickes. He uses this set but subs out the first string. Jerry Douglas has been using the stock EJ-42 set for many years.

https://m.juststrings.com/dad-ej42.html
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Mark

Gil Carleton · From: Foley, Alabama, USA

I just purchased my first Dobro. Now I have one loaded question that everyone will have a different opinion on for sure. What are the best strings for my Dobro? I have several sets of Martin Marquee mediums that I can put on but are regular guitar strings fine? Should I move up to heavy gauge since I don have to finger the guitar? Any advice you can give me will be greatly appreciated

Mark Eaton · Posted 2 Mar 2022 5:23 pm

Gil, I’m a little confused - I see you took a portion of your earlier post and re-posted it - look at my post above yours, I already answered it. Start with the basics - GBDGBD tuning which is sort of the dobro equivalent of standard tuning on a conventional guitar. Send for some Resophonic squareneck sets as I posted earlier. Odds are, the strings that are on the guitar that you just bought are a dobro set.

Alternate tunings and customized string gauges can come later. Or you may never feel the need. Probably 80-90% of all the learning materials for dobro are in G tuning.
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Mark

Gil Carleton · From: Foley, Alabama, USA

Thanks again for all of the help. No doubt I would have chosen the wrong strings if I had not asked. I did repost a part of my question from this post, reason being I didn’t get an answer after some time and I thought that everyone who was interested in my original post had already looked at it.
Are flat wound strings very popular for a dobro? I had no idea that they were made for acoustic instruments.
I will order a new set today. No local music shops here. I don’t believe anyone has played this Dobro in years. The finger picks that came with it were the most corroded and rusty I have ever seen.

Jim Pitman · From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA

This reminds me. I bought a Dobro model D60 in 1973 at a local music store in VT. I recall taking a trip down south with my parents and begging them to stop in every little town down south to find Dobro strings. I wasn't quite old enough myself to drive. We never did find them. I thought for sure I'd have luck south of the Mason Dixon line.
I finally figured out the correct gauges and would buy individual nickel wound string for the longest time until some point in the 80s when manufacturers started marketing Dobro sets.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Gil Carleton · From: Foley, Alabama, USA

It seems strange but no one has any Dobro strings in stock. I finally gave up and ordered a couple of sets from Musicians Friend but they will not arrive until the first of the month. Since they are so hard to find I decided to buy a couple of sets.

I really do appreciate all of the help that everyone gave me and answering my simple questions but your info will really help me get off on the right foot. I just wish my strings would come in a little sooner I think I will take some basic lessons off of youtube to get going and then go over to Homespun Music and order some instructional DVD's. Does this sound like a good plan? I don't know any Dobro players or instructors in our area.

Robert B Murphy · From: Mountain View, Arkansas, USA

What styles of dobro playing do you like Gil?
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Bob, small o.

Gil Carleton · From: Foley, Alabama, USA

Regarding what kind of Dobro music I like, the person who really got me interested in the Dobro was Mike Auldridge. It was a long time ago and I still have the album, Dobro, Blues and Bluegrass. I cannot tell you how many times I played that album but I had never heard Dobro like that. The artist that I enjoy now is Jerry Douglas. I doubt if I will ever be able to play like either of these guys but they are certainly an inspiration to me. I think it will be like when I was flat picking, I could play a lot of Norman Blake and Doc Watson but could never come close to Tony Rice or Dan Crary.

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