bigbluecrab - Posted - 10/23/2024:  07:09:55

I just received my new Epiphone Dobro Hound Dog Deluxe resonator guitar. I've never played a resonator before so I have no experience with one. It's a wood bodied guitar with a single cone spider. I was a bit disappointed in the sound, it just didn't sound as much like a resonator as I was expecting. I'm sure it was more due to my unrealistic expectations than any real fault with the guitar. I know being a wood bodied guitar it's not going to sound like my friend's all metal Mule resonator (not counting the fact that the Mule was about $3,000 and my Dobro was $800).

It was also a right handed guitar and I'm left handed so I put a cheap nut from an old lefty that I had that happened to be the same width as the stock nut. I had to shim it up a bit to make it work, so that's probably not helping any. I do have a Tusq nut on the way so I'll change that as soon as it gets here. It also had #12 strings, I switched to #13 strings and that seemed to help a bit, but it's still a bit lacking.

How much of a difference could I realistically expect by changing out the cone and spider? I've read that a Quarterman cone would be a pretty easy drop in replacement. I would not do this immediately as I just got the guitar and would probably end up in divorce court if I did this too soon. Just trying to get all my ducks in a row and seeing what I might be able to do in the long run to improve the sound. Thanks!

MarkinSonoma - Posted - 10/23/2024:  13:29:38

Welcome Todd Parks - with the same name as one of the best upright bass players in Nashville who has played with the likes of Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas.

First of all the majority of the members here are mainly lap style players like Jerry Douglas and have guitars with thick square necks. You mentioned the guitar shipped with 12's so no doubt it's a roundneck Dobro to be played like a standard guitar or by using a bottleneck slide.

You didn't mention the following - if you switched out the strings to play lefty, you will also need to remove the coverplate and ideally install bridge inserts designed for a lefty guitar. The slots are shaped to fit the approximate  corresponding string size, similar to the other end of the guitar at the nut. It's not like a flattop guitar where the saddle typically is a smooth surface lacking in slots. Without ever having seen "naked" bridge inserts on an Epiphone Dobro, I'm guessing the way they are slotted is a slight angle toward the tailpiece. You don't want the thick wound sixth string in the slot where the very thin first string normally goes. If you don't want to go for new inserts right away I guess in the meantime you can do some minor filing if needed to make them work with a lefty setup.

I'm not going into the whole spiel here, you can  do a search in the archives on the left side of your screen where the magnifying glass icon is located to follow the sad demise of the Dobro brand after Gibson purchased the company in 1993. Things seemed to be going well the first four years after the purchase when the company was still in Southern California, but slid steadily downhill when the company was moved to Nashville and resumed production in 1998.  The final year for  American made Dobros was 2010, then they "farmed it out" to China.

If it were me, beyond the bridge insert modification, I would play it as is and get used to it so that your ear has a sort of a frame of reference for playing a resonator on a regular basis. Updated components: The big three in  American made spider cones these days are Beard (in Hagerstown, Maryland), Replogle, and Scheerhorn.  Quarterman for a variety of reasons has not been producing any cones for ballpark three years, and it's possible we will never see those again as far as being available at retail. Mike Replogle here in the Bay Area was the guy who took over running Dobro for Gibson in 1993, but when they closed the facility in Huntington Beach in 1997 he declined to make the move to Tennessee.

Edited by - MarkinSonoma on 10/23/2024 13:30:41

bigbluecrab - Posted - 10/23/2024:  13:51:19

Thanks for the info. I did take the off the coverplate and reoriented the saddle so that the thicker slots were indeed with the thicker strings. I did not notice that there was any kind of angle toward the tailpiece, but I wasn't really looking for that either. The saddle is a two piece ebony capped maple. When my new nut comes in I'll look at the saddle again to see if it has an angle cut into it, it's pretty thin so I'm doubting it, but that could just be my ignorance talking.

And yes, it is a round neck. I know that my new 'Dobro' is a Dobro in name only and is obviously a pale shadow of the Dobro of old, but is is mine, the price was right, and it does have that cool Dobro name on the headstock, and I finally have a resonator, so I'm happy!

Thanks again for your input, I appreciate it.

roymel64 - Posted - 01/12/2025:  03:10:43

Hey Todd, no need to talk the guitar down, I have the same one and they're fantastic value.
If you put it on your lap like a lap steel you can hear just how much the cone resonates but in a normal playing position the sound is projecting outwards.
The other thing I've found is that a brass slide (to my ears) sounds completely different to a glass slide.
Anyway, I'm sure you have discovered all this and I hope you've grown to love yours the way I do mine, cheers.

Everlybr - Posted - 02/11/2025:  12:15:17

I came here for a similar reason. I have a 2019 Hound Dog I bought used from a reputable dealer (local shop I've used for years) because it was a steal price. The issue is the soundhole covers are missing and I was looking where to buy replacement parts. After reading this, I'm wondering if I should replace the cone and spider too.

none

 

bigbluecrab - Posted - 02/11/2025:  14:57:09

I've actually become quite happy with mine as is. I found that if I actually use the hand rest and play right over the resonator cone it really does bring out that classic resonator sound. Guess I just had to actually play it a bit! I also did have a Tusq nut installed and had a luthier to a full setup.

I've played with others and they all agree that it does sound really cool, so I'm not changing anything for a while, just going to play a bit and get used to my new guitar.