---

Date: Sun, 05 May 2002 08:19:51 -0400

Hi,
Can all of the Dobros be converted to left handed? I'm concerned about the bridge and intonation.

Regards,
Steve O'Connor

Greetings Steve,

Most all Dobros can be converted to left-handed...fortunately, the floating bridges are not compensated...they are straight and can therefore be easily reversed...and, the fact that there's no pickguard makes it fit the left-handed player naturally...the nut would also be reversed with a new cut for the proper angles. This is a relatively easy process at a nominal charge.

At your disposal, FOTW

---

Subject: Hi there !
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 10:08:37 -0500


Hi Mickey,
I typed a lengthy e-mail to you last night at my job via my web-based e-mail, and when I hit send, the thing logged me out instead, so I'm figuring the e-mail did not get sent.

The following is basically a reiteration of my email I tried to send last night, sent from my home e-mail address. If the prior one somehow got to you, I apologize for the duplication. Anyhow...

Yesterday I ordered a Regal RD45 Sqareneck and a Shub squareneck capo from you guys. I wanted to tell you how I found your great site, and also ask you a couple of questions.

The woman who took my order, Cheryl, was very friendly and helpful, and suggested I drop you a line.
I told her how great the website is, and she mentioned that it is your work. Wow! Great job. I do a family site and thought that took a lot of work to maintain, I can't even imagine the hours you must put in at your site.
I am a beginner, and have already learned a great deal from your site.

Thanks again...it's great to hear that the site has been a support system for you. It has been my ultimate goal to provide all acoustic players a venue to share and learn from...there are many other updates I'm currently working on which will include a far more extensive forum along with a completely dedicated website to dobros under the URL: www.resophonicguitar.com...


As to how I found your site...
A few weeks ago, an older uncle gave me a resonator roundneck. I am a lefty who tried learning to play acoustic guitar right-handed years ago ( I gave up because I just couldn't get the fretting down with my left hand).

I understand your dilemma...and even went through the same turmoil on whether to play right-handed or approach guitar in my natural left-handed predisposition...it's difficult when you live in a right-hander's world...we're the ignored minority. All doors seem to open up backwards including my very own refrigerator door!

I figured I could learn lap-style with a steel bar more comfortably. A friend at work had coincidentally just purchased a dobro himself, and brought it in to show me. It turned out to be a Regal RD45 Sqareneck (which I didn't know at the time).
I thought it was gorgeous and did a google.com search for "Regal Dobro" at work that night. Your site came up as one of the first hits, and I have been visiting and learning every day since!

That's great to hear...The web is an endless resource...I've found myself lost many times in others' sites.

I love the Regal RD-45...I believe it's the best value in the industry...far more powerful than some other low-end lines. And, don't forget, you'll also have our full trade-up value when you're ready to get into a Paul Beard or a Gibson Dobro...

I didn't even realize the difference between the squareneck and roundneck styles until I started researching your great site.
I am looking forward to my new Regal. In the meantime, I ordered an extension nut from you this past Monday, planning to put that on my roundneck to facilitate my lap-style learning.
And check out this good fortune...This morning (Valentine's Day), my wife gives me a gift certificate she made on our PC, "good for 100.00 towards the purchase of a new dobro". Is that cool or what ! Looks like my first installment on the layaway will be coming your way soon.
On to my questions..

Are fingerpicks a must ?

Nope...You can play with the flesh of your fingers (if you have short fingernails) or your fingernails which will give a more pronounced sound. However, keep in mind, if you're playing bluegrass, I would then say metal fingerpicks are a must. They're relatively easy to get used to...it's only the first week or so that they feel like some foreign growth extending from your fingertips...after awhile, they become a part of you and feel very natural. The advantage of fingerpicks: more volume, better dynamics, more projection, clear bell-like tone, and the true classic Dobro sound is easily achieved...

  
I am using a plastic Dupont thumbpick, and have Dupont metal fingerpicks. The fingerpicks seem clumsy to me, and I can pick pretty good with bare fingers (I do use the thumbpick). If you recommend the fingerpicks as essential, I will stick with them.
If you suggest I stick with them, I am hoping the higher and wider spaced strings on the Regal will make them easier to use.

The Regal does offer wide spacing between strings allowing for easier access to get underneath the string...and, minimizing the accidental hitting of adjacent strings.

Now, I would suggest staying with the fingerpicks:
1. Be sure that you're comfortably molding the collars to fit around your finger snug...otherwise, you'll experience slippage.
2. Make sure that the fingerpick extends above the fingernail approximately 1/8"...
3. Be sure to bend the top of the fingerpick so that you're striking the string evenly...most players will bend the tip so that it covers the top of the fingernail...I'm only suggesting that you bend it slightly until you find your fingerpicks more comfortable to pick with.


Can you get the Shub squareneck capo in silverplate ?

Sorry, currently they're only offering a brass model...even so, I love the brass look. When ordering the Shubb capo, be sure to request that the Shubb capo is fitted for your particular Regal. Some Regals vary in string height and will not allow a Shubb to fit properly. The Beard capo fits on any Squareneck Dobro no matter how high the strings. Even so, it's your choice which capo to purchase; they both work superbly.


      If you can, I will change my order to the silverplate. It would be a purely aesthetic change, as I thought a silver capo would look awesome on that black finish Regal! No biggie though if it's not available.

  Can you possibly provide any info on my current resonator, as I am quite curious about it, and could not find any info on the web ?

I don't know how old it is, but it is in excellent shape. It says Dorado on the headstock, and had a small sticker that said "Japan" on it. It is a roundneck resonator guitar, with 2 standard screenholes and three small holes between them under the strings.
It has a mahogany finish (I think), and a kind of ivory or bone color trim (I think it's properly called binding) around the body where the top and bottom meet the sides.
If you have any info about this guitar, I would love to hear it. It is quite cool simply to look at, let alone play.

Sounds like a very unique guitar...in fact, it's so unique, I could only find 1-3 references to it on the entire WWW...yet, these were all individual owners or stores that were selling them as used. Evidently, this company is no longer manufacturing these...


I also read somewhere in your site that you are a lefty yourself ! This has provided me with great inspiration! I watched some of your video clips, and said to myself, "I hope to sound like that someday". Your playing is awesome Mickey. Last night I checked out your mp3 page at work. After I send you this e-mail I am going there to check out more of your music.

Yes, as I brought up earlier in this e-mail: I'm left-handed living in a right-hander's world. You and I are the hidden minority...and, the problem with being a left-handed musician is that you can't just walk into a store and try out a variety of instruments...and, you can't exchange instruments in a jam session. Additionally, whenever you attempt to learn from a book or a video, you always have to be thinking backwards. I started learning right-handed because my first guitar was borrowed from my Uncle in Alabama--who, of course, was right-handed. Additionally, my first book was a Mel Bay chord book which had a right-handed point of view. You know, it was easy to get over my hurdle, at 15 years old, since I didn't think of the fact that a guitar's strings could be switched around for left-handed playing. Instead, I just had a higher hurdle to jump as a beginning left-hander playing a right-hander's guitar. Fortunately, I did end up a right-handed player; can you imagine my putting out instructional videos as a left-hander attempting to teach mostly right-handers?


Before I close, I must again congratulate you on an awesome website. As a beginner, I feel very welcome at your site, even though I can see how it would appeal to veteran musicians as well.
Your love of acoustic music comes through loud and clear on every page, and I wish you the best for your business and continued success and enjoyment in you musical pursuits.

Thanks so much Mike! Your words are an inspiration. Please stay tuned for many future updates to our website...

Keep on pickin', Mickey

---