Good morning! I am curious if anyone has any knowledge on Lawrence dobroes. A friend at a jam session is looking to sell it, and he gave it to me to try out and what not before I purchase it. I am pretty new to dobros , so I know little to nothing about them. Any information could be helpful, specifically in the realm of its current price. I do not currently know model numbers or even the year it was made, so I am kind of shooting in the dark.
I would also like to mention that the fellow I got this from glued down the resonator cover, so I am sure that will detract from the price a bit, any thoughts on that?
Any advice is appreciated, thanks fellows!
Edited by - bjaym55 on 02/21/2023 05:34:11
Some information here about the luthier from an older reverb listing.
reverb.com/item/1625319-robert...de-in-usa
Those two look very similar, wow!
Gluing down the cover plate? Really?
That would be a deal breaker for me. I can't imagine the reasoning.
Edited by - Terry Harris on 02/21/2023 09:46:32
quote:
Originally posted by Terry HarrisGluing down the cover plate? Really?
That would be a deal breaker for me. I can't imagine the reasoning.
Maybe he's actually referring to the cone? There are obviously screws on the coverplate. As many of us know, it's not all that rare that we come across spider bridge resos with glued down cones. I would get more specific with the seller and find out if this is the case.
I've heard of the builder in the past but know next to nothing about his guitars. That old Reverb listing above is helpful.
At any rate, it's a nice looking guitar.
Hello, it really is the cover plate, you cannot see it well from the pictures, but there is definitely spots on the finish and around the screw wholes were the glue pushed out.
One thing too I did not mention is that he has not set a price on it, he wanted me to pay what I think it is worth. That is why I pointed out the glued down cover, because if I do go with it, the price will reflect this issue.
Outside of that issue, I cannot find any issue (at least from my lack of knowledge), and it does sound beautiful (at least compared to my current cheap regal).
I could see the screws and the discoloring around the screws where I had assumed the glue had leaked out. Getting the cover plate off could be a real nightmare.
Probably the screw holes around the coverplate have stripped out of the wood. He probably filled the screw holes with glue and inserted the screws to fix the wallowed out holes....
Maybe.
I didn't look very closely on my phone, so the verdict is in of course that the coverplate is indeed glued down, and Eric's hypothesis certainly has some merit.
Jeezus Jones, you really have to be out to lunch to glue down the coverplate on a reso guitar. Sort of a guitar version of gluing down the hood of your car.
So that's the $64,000 question - how difficult would it be to remove the coverplate and glue without mangling the top in those areas? Could one use some heat to help loosen it? I would consult with a trusted luthier on this one.
The gluing looks pretty localized, and I'm going to bet that he was using a wood glue, which wouldn't stick well to the coverplate. If it were my problem, I'd make a scoring cut all the way around the coverplate with an x-acto knife or similar deep enough to be sure of not damaging the finish or underlying wood (look at the edge of the top by removing a screen hole to see if it's solid or laminate top - veneer on a lami top would be much more prone to lifting). Put down some blue masking tape to protect the finish, then reach in with the thinnest blade I could find and start popping glue joints.
It could turn into a can of worms, but from here it doesn't look too bad. Any chance of some closeup pix of the coverplate?
I'll just go out on a limb and say "run away", especially if that's a builder's "fix"
Good luck.
h
As Howard points out....why not just buy something that wasn't in the hands of a butcher.....unless you're looking for a brisket.
The big question is, What did that fix? This might become a project.
He did it because there was a slight buzz, and he thought that would fix it. Quite frankly, he did not know too much about dobro's either, and tried to fix it before he actually understood what the issue was, and realized he had made a huge mistake shortly afterwards. He is a trustworthy guy, I believe him when he says that is all that was wrong with it.
Honestly fellows, I am not too worried about this issue. I am very aware of the glue issue and that it could be a major fix, but I am going to take it to a luthier, and they can let me know the cost/how severe the issue(s) actually are.
What I am really intending with this post was to find out more information on the dobro itself, and try to get an idea of its worth (before the issues).
The guys lowest price was 400$, so even with repairs it might be worth it depending on the original value.
Edited by - bjaym55 on 02/21/2023 20:20:45
As something of an inverate tinkerer I wouldn't necessarily be but off by this. The screws are still there probably doing the bulk of the work in holding the coverplate in place. I'd get an electric soldering iron and warm each screw head in turn prior to removing them one by one. It's likely that the warmth will weaken the adhesive, especially if it was wood glue with little adhesion to the metal. I think it's acting more as a space filler. If the quality is on par with its looks and attention to detail, $400 doesn't sound unreasonable, even if it needs some attention.
I think a lot will have to do with what kind of glue did he use. Best would be an Elmer's white glue, its easy to soften. Worst would be an epoxy or Super Glue cyanoacrylate. The glue may not be adhering to the metal cover plate all that well but ya never know until you try to disassemble.
The guitar appears to be well put together with nice wood. If the components are of a similar quality, there is probably close to $400 in parts in the thing.
I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Protect the top and make sure any wood or finish damage is confined to the area that will be covered by the coverplate. This might be a good time to adopt Paul Beard's brilliant practice of using threaded inserts and machine screws in place of the original wood screws.
10 years ago I visited at his shop East of Cincinnati.
I was shopping for my first guitar. Clueless at the time.
Nice fellow. He made a guitar for our high school bluegrass program. Have never played it.
He has made mandolins and guitars as well.
I thought at the time his guitars appeared good. Again, I was clueless.
A year later Frank Harlow made me a guitar.
The Lawrence Resophonics had an angelfire website. I still have access to it.
I think for $400, it would be worth it to try and fix it up. New as I remember that guitar was $1200 or so. He advertised three models.
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