Dobro mandolin

[mdithk]

Hello,

First message from me, although I've been reading the message board for a number of months...since last summer when I bought my first mandolin.

My husband got me a Dobro Resonator Mandolin, Serial Number 5 182 M for our wedding anniversary this past weekend. It's a real beauty and I love the sound. Can anyone help me figure out when it was made?

Thanks,

[Lee]

Post a photo of it and also the case. The cutout design tells a lot. Is there a decal on it?

[allenhopkins]

This is the best info I could find on Dobro serial numbers. #I believe it's from a Vintage Guitars website; here's the link.

1929 to 1937 Dobro Serial numbers by M.Cass.
Note the 1929 to 1937 serial number info is not very accurate. For example I own a Dobro metal body M-62 with the serial number 1832. According to the list below it should be 1930. But no metal body Dobro existed before 1935. So you can see the serial number info below is not 100% reliable and the information below applies mostly to wooden body resonator Dobro guitars. Pleaes keep this in mind. Also I don't have any 1937 to 1942 Dobro serial number info. Serial numbers for metal body Dobros very scarce. Serial numbers are stamped into the top of the peghead. No factory serial number records are available. The numbers below are a general guide, and are not reliable for dating the instrument solely on the serial number.

#Number range # # # #Year
#800 - 1400 # # # # #1929
#1400 - 2000 # # # # 1930
#2000 - 2600 # # # # 1931
#2600 - 3200 # # # # 1932
#3200 - 3900 # # # # 1933
#4000s # # # # # # # 1933 (mostly Regal made)
#5000 - 5600 # # # # 1933 (California made)
#5700 - 7600 # # # # 1934-1936 (California made)
#8000 - 9900 # # # # 1936 & 1937
#L9000s # # # # # # #1937 (Regal made)
#A prefix # # # # # #1936
#B prefix or suffix #1931-1932 (most Cyclops wood models)
#M prefix # # # # # #1935-1937
No serial number: on 1930s Dobros, this happens a lot, and for no explainable reason.

Now, some assumptions here: [1] Dobro mandolin serial numbers are in the same or similar series with guitar serial numbers; [2] generalizations on serial number ranges for different years can survive the many documented exceptions; [3] accumulation of anecdotal evidence can get us closer to reality. #My Dobro mandolin, which is post-1937 because it has "Licensed by National Dobro Co." on the resonator coverplate (National and Dobro re-merged in '37), has no discernible serial number at all. #I assume Regal built it, due to the "licensed by" inscription, but it has a Dobro decal. #It has the "outhouse door" crescent moon cut-outs in the coverplate.

I often wonder if instrument manufacturers would have been more rational and responsible about serial numbering, if they'd any idea how in later years, instrument owners would care so strongly about year of origin. #Good luck, and I hope someone else can help you more than I can.

[mdithk]

Thanks to both of you. It's in the shop today for some tweaking on the intonation, but I'll post some pictures when I get it back home.

Meredith

[Lee]

Does it look like this?

[Lee]

Hmm, here's the serial number.

[Lee]

And the decal. This one doesn't seem to fit the serial numbering system above. Any thoughts?
(Sorry to hijack your thread with my Dobro, but yours isn't available right now... )

[allenhopkins]

Nice looking Dobro mandolin, Lee! #Mine has the same "stars & crescents" coverplate, except mine's engraved "Licensed By National Dobro Corp." just below the bridge. #I have round screen holes in the upper bout, rather than f-holes. #Slightly different-shaped tailpiece, but with the same option of either a single prong for each course of strings, over which two string loops will fit, or a slot on either side of the prong for ball-end strings.

Do you have any approximate idea of its vintage? #Serial number seems the closest to one of the OMI (Original Musical Instruments) configurations. #Could it possibly be as new as 1980-90, though? #It looks so much like my '30's vintage instrument, that I would tend to place it as pre-war, despite the fact that the serial number is nothing like the pre-war sequence. #We really don't know whether Dobro mandolins were given serial numbers in the same sequences as Dobro guitars. #National Guitar Co. did give sequential serial numbers to all instrument styles, so a guitar, mandolin and ukulele might have consecutive numbers, but I don't know if Dobro (and later OMI) did the same.

Anyway, here's the OMI numbering system for late 1980's to early 1990's, before the Dobro nameplate was acquired by Gibson:

1988-1994 OMI Dobro: A# #### yyD configuration.
#First letter (and numeral) is style.
#numerals in center are instrument ranking.
#yy is last two digits of year.
#Last character is body type: D=wood, B=metal, H=Hounddog, P=solid peghead.

-- Would mean K9 = style, 120 = instrument ranking, 90 = 1990, M = body type (mandolin; OMI used "M" as a suffix for mandolins).

If you're well aware that the instrument is much older than this, the above attempt at deciphering the serial number is just an exercise in futility.

[mdithk]

Lee,

It has the same look, stars and crescents, but an additional plastic plate above the nut that says Dobro as I remember. #I'll be picking it up from the shop tomorrow, and I'll post pictures. #

The serial number is engraved on the wood itself, not on a metal plate like yours.

[mdithk]

Lee,

Looking at your serial number more closely, looks like it's engraved in wood also...

Mine has two holes in the top with metal mesh...tweeters???...rather than the f holes.

[mdithk]

I finally have a few pictures of my Dobro...

[mdithk]

Another...

[mdithk]

Another...

[Bill Snyder]

That is a sharp looking mandolin.

[mdithk]

Here is the serial number.

[mdithk]

Here is a picture of the case.

[mdithk]

I finally have a few pictures of my Dobro...

[mdithk]

One last picture.

Can anyone give me an idea of when it was made?

Thanks

[atetone]

It looks like it was made a couple of days ago!

[mdithk]

Thanks. #We cleaned up the outside and the hinges of the case and my husband polished the resonator plate before he gifted me with it. #

Having some problem with the intonation still after my music shop restrung it for me. #The strings that were on the instrument must have been years old and I suspect that there was already an intonation problem before the mandolin got the new strings. #The bridge is kind of funky and it may be difficult to adjust.

Oh well. #It's a very cool instrument nonetheless and I enjoy playing it.

[allenhopkins]

Wanta try this?

1974-1979 OMI Dobro: Y (#)### D configuration.
#Y is last digit of the year (if this number is "3" it is actually 1974).
#3 or 4 numerals in center are instrument ranking for year starting with 101.
#D is body type: D=wood, B=brass, M=steel or mandolin.

If it's an OMI -made Dobro (and I would guess from the molded plastic "Dobro" truss rod cover that's a strong possibility; don't think pre-war Dobros had truss rods) --

Then
Y = 5 means 1975
182 means the eighty-second instrument made that year
D (body type) = M for mandolin.

And the fact that your mandolin has a truss rod, while Lee's doesn't (see earlier posts), also militates against my haphazard attempt in dating Lee's instrument using the Vintage Guitars formulae. #No way that Lee's would be as late as 1990; I'd be very surprised if it weren't pre-war. #No "National Dobro Co." on the cover plate, so likely to be pre-1937.

[mdithk]

Thank you, Allen. We thought it was probably about 30-35 years old and it looks like it is.

[Bob Visentin]

Meredith
I am the original owner of a "5 142 M" Dobro mandolin that I bought new March 30 1976 for $225.00. Looks just like yours but the pie plate has round holes instead of cool moons and stars. I just stared playing it again.(I mostly play bass because I get paid to do that) It sounds great for the blues. I put octave strings on the D and G (one wound and one thin string an octave higher) like a 12 sting guitar. I have been trying to find out about it and this is the first thing I have found. If you don't mind telling me, how much did you pay for yours?

Bebop Bob

[Bob Visentin]

OOPS. Just looked at the paper work again. I bought the case in '76. bought the mando in 9-29-1975

[Lee]

Trying to recollect, I believe I bought my Dobro in 1983 from the previous owner. He told me it was from the 30's. I saw no proof, but I never really questioned him either.
I'll get a flashlight and check inside the F-holes to see if there's a year stamped inside.

Hmm, if the first couple digits are the style, and mine's a K9, does that make it a pre-war dawg-dobro?