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Thread: Dobro mandolin

  1. #1
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    I have a question, does anyone here have any experience with Dobro mandolins. I have one that I'm cleaning up and noticed the neck was a little loose. After removeing the resonator and cone I discovered its a bolt on neck.Kind of a dowel set up. I removed the one screw but I'm afraid to aply to much umph in case there is something holding it on. In the end I would like to see if I could get a better neck/angle set to improve playability and tone. The bridge or whatever its called is set pretty low, also the finger board is not dead staight slight bow where it meets the body , at that point its only the ebony board with nothing behind it.
    Any insight would be appreciated.
    Mike Lettieri
    AKA Mandolinmyster

  2. #2
    Café habitué Paul Hostetter's Avatar
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    As with Nationals, there are usually screws under pearl dots in the part of the board over the body. Resophonic mandolins are usually quite a piece of work. Once the neck angle is reset (major and rather inconvenient tweakage of the rod through the body, which is integral to the neck itself) you may well have to plane and refret it too. Not all Dobro mandolins were made the same. Some details are age-specific. Have fun!
    .
    ph

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    Paul Hostetter, luthier
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  3. #3
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    Thanks for the reply Paul. Now that explains everything, why my knife got a dent in the tip while trying to seperate the board from the top. The sneaky little screws under the dot trick!I've got it strung up again and it plays pretty good but in the future I may have another go at the neck thing.
    Thanks MML
    Mike Lettieri
    AKA Mandolinmyster

  4. #4
    Formerly F5JOURNL Darryl Wolfe's Avatar
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    Sometimes you can get enough adjustment by putting a shim between the "dowel rod" and the little saddle piece it screws to
    Darryl G. Wolfe, The F5 Journal
    www.f5journal.com

  5. #5
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    Darryl I did shim the dowel which tightened things up nicely, but the action is a bit high south of the 10th fret. One day I'll try getting those secret screws out and rework the neck.
    Mike Lettieri
    AKA Mandolinmyster

  6. #6
    Formerly F5JOURNL Darryl Wolfe's Avatar
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    cool Michael..I bought a spruce top off e**y the other day. It's going to need the same treatment
    Darryl G. Wolfe, The F5 Journal
    www.f5journal.com

  7. #7
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    I have an older Dobro mandolin, from the "National Dobro Co." period which I guess is from 1935 through 1942. When I had the neck reset, my repairman friend said that the neck block was made of "balsa wood" -- which I didn't take literally, but merely as an indication it was a very soft wood which had contributed to the neck angle problems.

    Innovative, interesting and melodic as those old resonator instruments are, both National and Dobro cut many a corner with regard to wood selection, as shown by pervasive history of neck problems. At least that's been my experience with National and Dobro guitars and mandolins from the '30's and '40's.
    Allen Hopkins
    Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
    Natl Triolian Dobro mando
    Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
    H-O mandolinetto
    Stradolin Vega banjolin
    Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
    Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
    Flatiron 3K OM

  8. #8
    Café habitué Paul Hostetter's Avatar
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    You were right in not taking it literally. The Chicago-made items used basswood (not balsa wood, but an understandable inversion) extensively. It is technically a hardwood, but is extremely soft, even if it superficially resembles maple. Kay, Regal and Harmony all used it because it was local, cheap, and easy to work with. Not a reliable wood in the long run, because it compresses so easily.
    .
    ph

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    Paul Hostetter, luthier
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