little ray - Posted - 06/15/2023:  12:30:36

When I saw Josh Graves one Saturday on Flatt and Scruggs my brother told my Mom that he believed I could play a dobro. In 1976 I got a mod.60. It was $550.00 dollars and I paid it off in monthly installments from my after school job as I was just 16 years old. That guitar opened the resophonic world for me. 

So very much has changed for the better in the building of resophonic guitars, like cones,spiders, nuts,and inserts.I'm living light years away from the mod.60. The CNC machines let builders make fabulous looking and sounding guitars all over the world. 

In the United States you can narrow it down to craftsmanship from China and local manufacturers like Don Gann or many others. If you don't like your imported cone or parts there is Paul Beard or others that can supply what your looking for. For me I see  Chinese made or American made guitars locally now. There are many choices locally not just one.  Please note that this is just my observation and that I want to hear your insights into the subject. Thank you for your observations. I do honor and love the history of the Dopyera brothers. We would not have the resophonic guitar today apart from John Dopyera and his family! I believe he would be thrilled to see his instrument with all its impressive improvements!

Edited by - little ray on 06/15/2023 12:35:57

MarkinSonoma - Posted - 06/15/2023:  14:50:33

When I started on Dobro - coincidentally in 1976 as well - I looked at some new OMI Model 60s but as a starving college student, it wasn't in the cards.

Fortunately I was able to buy an early 1930s squareneck Model 37 from a local family where I lived in San Jose that had belonged to a long lost uncle and was sitting in its chipboard case in their attic - and it was a whole lot cheaper than $550.  

Little Ray, we have no idea where you live so where do you see American made resonators locally?

The only resos I ever see in stores locally are the occasional Regal, and the ubiquitous Gretsch, since the latter is manufactured and distributed by the long arm of Fender (even though Gretsch is still an independent company).

Oboecadobro/Dane posted about a rosewood/spruce National-horn at Gryphon in the San Francisco Bay Area. I would like to test drive it, but it's two hours or more south of me so I need a reason to be down there beyond test driving a guitar I probably won't buy. 

Unless one lives near only a handful of stores around the country with a decent selection, there are few ways to be able to check out a variety of quality resophonic  guitars up close and personal - some examples are ResoSummit, Resogat, and the IBMA convention in Raleigh. 

Tom Jr. - Posted - 06/16/2023:  04:15:37

I think I agree with what you are saying. We are living in the golden age of resophonic design and construction. Unlike most vintage instruments which have a pretty high price tag, newer dobros are generally built with more knowledge and create a sound that is more desirable. We have no 1923-24 Lloyd Loar signed dobros that are the be-all end-all universally acknowledged vintage "best". New builders are coming into the scene and making awesome instruments as well.
Somehow, for all the mechanical hardware that is the biggest part of the sound, custom made dobros are still better instruments. You would think if there was a recipe, it could be plugged into a CNC machine and a mass producer would be able to make thousands of awesome instruments but that is not generally the case.

gadobro - Posted - 06/16/2023:  12:33:09

$550 in 1976 is equivalent to $2,939.72 today, according to the internet. Nowadays I think people are being extremely optimistic if they list an OMI dobro for $1,000 or more. There's a cool natural/blonde 60D in a local music store, and I might buy it in late 2024 when the price finally gets down to a reasonable level ($600-700 vs. $1,200).

Improvement in sound is in the ear of the beholder. There is a very small minority of players who prefer the old honky dobros. It's nice to have options, though, and if the Os or Josh sound is your Holy Grail, you can probably afford it. I think in general dobro players are less tradition-bound than players of other instruments.

MarkinSonoma - Posted - 06/16/2023:  13:10:20

I don't want to say that LIttle Ray was incorrect on the price he paid for his 60D in 1976, but in searching through my memory banks that seemed high to me. 

There used to be a great music store in the San Jose suburb of Los Gatos called Union Grove Music (they still have a location on the coast in Santa Cruz). 

Union Grove was a store that had a good supply of bluegrass instruments and accessories, and this was where I first came across Dobros after being inspired my Mike Auldridge to take up the instrument. It's a long time ago so I'm not claiming total accuracy, but the figure that seems to lurk in the old memory banks for a 60D was around $400 tops. 

I found a scan of an Emmons retail catalog from 1976, a guy posted it on The Steel Guitar Forum awhile back.  Along with selling their Emmons pedal steels, they were dealers for Dobro and other brands. I will see if I can get it to post below.

The price at which they were selling a 60D in 1976 was $348. 

Edited by - MarkinSonoma on 06/16/2023 13:11:41

 

MarkinSonoma - Posted - 06/16/2023:  13:26:05

The online inflation calculator needs to be taken wth a grain of salt - not always apples to apples - but even at around $350 in 1976 it comes to $1871 today, and and as pointed out by gadobro earlier, OMI Dobros from that era don't even go for as much as a grand these days. 

Even at $350 to $400, in those starving student years, $350-$400 for a new Dobro was too rich for my blood. I was sharing a two bedroom/one bath house with a buddy in a nice older part of San Jose back then called Willow Glen, and my half of the rent was $150 a month. The rent on that house in 2023 is likely around $3500 a month. According to Zillow, the house has a current "Zestimate" of $1,208,000 - yikes! 

Edited by - MarkinSonoma on 06/16/2023 13:28:27

little ray - Posted - 06/16/2023:  15:35:58

$550.00 is correct and he gave me a dobro pamphlet with it. 

Edited by - little ray on 06/16/2023 15:37:05

Wildeman - Posted - 06/17/2023:  14:49:16

My first Dobro was also a OMI, it was a tobacco burst, maple fretboard roundneck Hound dog, it was their lowest priced one and still expensive to me at around $500.00 with case iirc. They were very hard to find in the late '80s, I wish I still had that one, im one of the guys that still loves the honky, vintage Dobros.

Iceman6937 - Posted - 06/18/2023:  01:23:57

I also started playing in 1976. I "mail ordered" a new 60D from Music Emporium (IIRC) in Maryland for $325 with case. The price without a case was $275.  I went through two hard cases but I still have the Dobro.

Edited by - Iceman6937 on 06/18/2023 01:25:27

little ray - Posted - 06/18/2023:  08:12:46

I kept the 60 d with its bright red case for years. It was the holy grail guitar to me till I discovered prewar dobros since 76 I moved on to better built instruments. Pedals and non pedals caught my attention and the dobros set in the cases. I’m back on the dobro and love it the most! In 76 maybe I paid to much and paying it in monthly installments was all I found afford. That guitar was bought by a friend in Wyoming.