Dobro: Resonator Resophonic Guitar Choice of Woods

Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 19:46:37 -0600
Subject: Dobro (choice of woods)
Hi Mickey,

Greetings Chuck,

The playin' is going great thanks to your video and a couple of other tapes and cd's I got. Getting those banjo rolls to work is the trick. How's the video editing going? I got Vegas Video for PC to check out.

I've heard and read nothing but great reviews on the Vegas program...VideoMaker gave it the highest accolades.

I've finalized "Intro to the Dobro" for its final cut...and, will be sending it out for duplication directly.

Well. let's plan a get together here sometime either in Santa Fe or Ruidoso eh? I noticed the fellow who bought the birch decided to swap for the mahoghany Beard.

Very observant of you! You're right, even though he loved the sound of the vintage birch, he wanted the grain on the R Mahogany...it wasn't a matter of wanting a different tone...

Those Mahoghany reso guitars are getting a pretty good rep! Are they reall that much better in tone or is it that they are solid wood and people want solid over thelaminate wood? What's the story? I know the bulliten board on the Jerry Douglas site talks up the Mahoghany over the laminates but Greg McKenna's site says a good laminate can outperform a solid wood since it damps and decouples the vibrations more. What's your thoughts Mickey?

You have some valid questions here...
I've heard that the laminates are more durable and can withstand weather changes more so than solid woods. My personal opinion is that each Beard sounds very similar no matter how it's constructed. I'm leaning towards a laminate Beard now...in fact, Paul and I have been discussing a Custom Art Dobro for my personal use...Paul's really high-end custom Dobros are mostly made of laminates...so, I suspect that says something in itself. I believe that the solid Mahogany is a real beaut...with the wood trim and nice grain; as far as sounding better than his laminate Dobros...that would be a matter of personal taste. To me, it only sounds subtly different...for instance, your Cherry model has a darker tone to my ears...however, they mostly have a similar tonal range due to where the heart of the sound resides: in the resophonic assembly and what material is used on the nuts and bridges...Paul seems to have just the right combination of hardware that creates a full resonant sounding Dobro...

Jerry Douglas endorses and plays a Mahogany...I suspect that's the reason that Mahogany is held in such high esteem on the Jerry Douglas site. Who can argue the phenomenal sound that Jerry has achieved through playing Mahogany Dobros? He's the man! As you know, he's the reason I pursue Dobro today. His "Under the Wire" recording has set the precedence in what I aspire to achieve (maybe within one lifetime) with a Dobro. In light of this, Mahogany is not necessarily my first choice...I believe I'm going to end up with a laminate maple custom-built by Paul himself.

Hope this sheds a different perspective...Mickey