dobro man 56 - Posted - 01/05/2010:  10:27:45

Hi everyone. This is my first post on this board, and I have a question. I play a Regal black lightning, squareneck, but I have an old 30's model Regal roundneck that don't get played much because I have heard that tuning a roundneck to G puts too much tension on the neck and could cause it to warp, or cause other structural damage to the guitar, but I was watching some dvd's of Flatt and Scruggs tv shows filmed in the late 50's and early 60's and Uncle Josh was playing a roundneck dobro on them. My question is, can I tune this guitar to G and leave it without any damage to it? It has a really good sound and I would love to play it more, but I play a lot in G, so I've only been playing it in lower tunings.

oswald - Posted - 01/05/2010:  12:51:57

Bashful Brother Oswald tuned his mid 30`s model 27 to A with no problem. I also have a mid 30`s model 27 round neck tunes to A with no problems. If I can get by with A with no problem, you should be fine in G unless you are using huge guage strings. The round necks on all these 30`s dobros I`ve seen are pretty chunky and are somewhat of a V profile neck and are pretty tough.

benspinks - Posted - 01/05/2010:  13:53:17

Low bass G with 13's or 15's, yes. High bass G I'd be wary.

Ben

oswald - Posted - 01/05/2010:  14:58:32

Oswald used high bass A, so do I. The string guages I use are 2 18`s, 1 22, 1 32, 1 42 & 2 52`s.

crh1 - Posted - 01/05/2010:  16:37:58

For what it is worth, I have a 1974 Dobro Roundneck that I bought in 1978.
I immediately put the nut extender on and a set of Dobro brand Bluegrass gauge strings. I played it like a squareneck until 1990 (approx). Then a friend and fellow Reso picker took it and boiled a bone nut, fabbed maple bridges and raised every thing up. It played great. Last year I took it up and had a Beard setup done on it. He put his 29s on it and thats how I play it now.I really didn't play much from 1990 till 2007 maybe once a month or two, but before that I played three or four times a week maybe a couple hours at a time. The Dobro strings were as thick as barbed wire. I have always tuned to standard G. I don't have any neck problems at all that I can tell.
I say string it and play it.

Edited by - crh1 on 01/05/2010 17:59:09

60 Rndnk

benspinks - Posted - 01/05/2010:  17:30:24

Wow, they must be bulit like tanks!! I had two bananna necks through 16's in high G.

Ben

dobro man 56 - Posted - 01/07/2010:  07:34:38

Thanks guys, I may slap some strings on it and get to picking.

chipotle - Posted - 01/07/2010:  11:24:42

Do you think modern resonators are built as strong. I have a round neck Rally steel resonator and am starting out learning, could i tune it to gbdgbd? Most of the instructional material is in that tuning, reason i want to play it lap style is so i can use a steel on all the frets as i have bad finger joint problems and find it easier than trying to fret notes with my fingers.

Thanks for any help.

Pete

crh1 - Posted - 01/07/2010:  17:34:21

Wow I wouldn't have a clue about a steel Reso. In my humble opinion I don't think the neck joint would be as strong because of the two different materials, (steel & wood). Although there is probably some kind of attaching block.
I know I am not afraid to tune mine up.

6stringTom - Posted - 01/08/2010:  20:47:17

I own a chrome/brass 1972 Dobro 33H roundneck, I use the metal nut extender and have it tuned to G with a .056 6th string - .016 1st. I don't know that all metal bodies are built the same, but the neck to body connection is quite different than a standard 6 string acoustic. I found a great video showing some of the neck designs on older nationals at video.aol.co.uk/video-detail/b...59808672.

Maybe some builders will comment on whether there are differences in construction on metal bodies that would make the additional tension a particular concern on some brands/models. I personally am not worried about the tension on my guitar, but if I return to playing standard tuning without the nut extender, I may need some set up work, but then I was told I needed that even before I converted to lap style, although I didn't feel the set up was seriously bad.

Edited by - 6stringTom on 01/08/2010 21:23:04