Subject: Acoustic Roundneck Dobro Tuning
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 08:23:26 -0500

Greetings,

Greetings Charlie,

You have a wonderful site and I have learned a lot from browsing through it. 

Thanks for tuning in...

I have a question that maybe you can help with.
I have a Regal acoustic (not resonator) that my dad played Hawaiian back in the 20's and 30's. I am retired now and would like to learn to play it. Maybe it will be therapy for my arthritic fingers.

Great idea!

Anyhow, I am puzzled by the many tunings that are out there. I don't necesssarily want to play Hawaiian but mostly hymns.
With the original strings, I have it tuned to GBDGBD but I have learned that there is concern about too much tension.  The neck is already bowed a little from being strung for many years and I guess that won't hurt for playing steel. The guitar is structurally sound and has X type bracing beneath the top and I don't want to cause any damage by tuning it wrong.

The best G tuning, on a roundneck such as the vintage Regal, would be D G D G B D...this will minimize stress while still offering you a full G open chord to arrange off of...

I saw on a page of your site that there is a lower open G tuning that is DGDGBD. I assume that this tuning would be better for this guitar. I also have a Mel Bay book that shows an E7 tuning BDEG#BE.

Well, I guess I didn't read your e-mail ahead...yes, this G tuning is far less stressful on the neck...I use it quite often...for many different types of arrangements...Leo Kottke has also used this tuning extensively.

The E7 tuning is also OK...only, I would find this tuning more useful for blues settings...you could spend a lifetime just mastering the Open G tuning...be sure to check out the Larrivee Parlor-Size guitar video samplers...I performed three different arrangements using the Open G tuning described above... http://www.folkofthewood.com/page2523.htm#larrivee

I just don't know which way to go. I want to order some new strings but don't know which ones to get.
Do you have any recomendations on strings and tuning for a beginner ?

For a vintage guitar such as your Regal, my suggestion would be to stick to a bronze light gauge...

Hope this helps, Mickey

Best regards,
Charlie Campney

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Subject: open G tuning
Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2004 15:27:29 -0600

mickey,
i know of two tunings that are often refered to as "open G"
the first, which i use, is: D-G-D-G-B-D (low to high)
the second is: G-B-D-G-B-D (low to high)

These tunings are differentiated by the style of instrument being used...the G B D G B D tuning is a squareneck dobro tuning and is not designed for roundneck dobro...for it would be far too much tension for the standard roundneck guitars or dobros...a squareneck can easily take on this tension due to having far more thickness in the neck and a very high action....the G B D G B D tuning is used traditionally for bluegrass dobro stylings...and is the standard tuning for squareneck bluegrass dobro period...

The D G D G B D is one of my favorite open tunings for standard acoustic guitar...I use it extensively for most of my arranging in open tuning...it is not a tuning used on squareneck Dobro...however, I'm sure this tuning would work just the same on squareneck...only the G B D G B D tuning would not work on the roundneck...

Hope this helps clarify things...Mickey


this is confusing to me. i guess my question is what is the difference? (pardon my ignorance!)

thanks in advance,
matt woods
des moines, ia

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Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 10:20:29 EST

What is standard Dobro tuning? Aren't there are several different ways of tuning it? Are some better for certain types of tunes or styles of music? Thanx, Joe D.

Greetings Joe,

It depends on which type of dobro you're referring to:

A squareneck dobro, with 6 strings, is tuned in open G as follows:
G B D G B D from low to high...

Now, this is the standard bluegrass tuning; it's quite rare for a bluegrasser to deviate from this tuning...

Now, on a roundneck, they are commonly tuned to:

Open G:
D G D G B D from low to high...

Open D:
D A D F# A D

or even Open E tuning...
E B E G# B E

And the tunings go on from there...this was started with the blues tradition along with slide playing...

Hope this helps, Mickey

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Subject: Dobro FAQ
Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2003 13:10:26 -0400

Dear Mickey,

I am trying to decide between the Regal Round and Square Neck Dobro and have a few questions. I am primarily a fingerstyle blues player and would like to get into bottleneck slide style blues. I understand that the round neck seems like the obvious choice, but in reading some of the FAQ responses I've become hesitant because of the tunings. A lot of the songs I want to play are either tuned to Open G, D or E. Do any of these tunings pose a problem, i.e. warping of the neck, that would require professional modifications or adjustments? If so, is there a dobro that can be played easily with these tunings and still maintain the non lap approach. 

Thanks in advance,

Adam


Greetings Adam,

Glad to assist if I can:

For fingerstyle blues, truly, the best route to go would be the Roundneck Dobro...

1. The Roundneck is the traditional blues player's choice. The Squareneck is almost exclusively applied within bluegrass settings.

2. All of the above tunings you've listed work very well on a roundneck. Now, the open G tuning on a squareneck is unique unto itself and is almost exclusive to bluegrass:

G B D G B D from low to high...

The open G tuning used commonly within blues settings would be:

D G D G B D from low to high...

This open G tuning poses no problem for a roundneck dobro...keep in mind, the bluegrass tuning listed above would be too stressful on the neck of a roundneck.

Open D tuning for roundneck is quite common for Mississippi Delta blues:

D A D F# A D

Personally, instead of tuning to open E tuning, I would use the above open D tuning and capo up two frets.

Again, all of the above blues tunings, outside of the bluegrass open G tuning, work very well on a roundneck and should never stress the neck...especially, if you follow my approach to the open E tuning...

Hope this helps...Mickey

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