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hattio
Dec-26-2014, 5:24pm
Folks,
Is $1,200 a good price on this dobro mando?
http://elderly.com/vintage/items/90U-6633.htm

I understand that it's better to try if possible, but I live in a very remote area of Alaska, and that's just not an option. Also, Elderly told me they believed this was a laminate instrument. Can anyone confirm? Final question, it's a "spider bridge" does that mean it is likely a spider cone instead of a "biscuit" cone? I understand the biscuit cone is generally preferred, right?

pheffernan
Dec-26-2014, 5:32pm
I find that price a bit high, and I've been looking. You just missed one in the classifieds for $650: http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/82171. And Charles Johnson has a near mint one for $850: http://www.vintagemandolin.com/82dobromandolin_81082m.html. These instruments do have spider rather than biscuit cones, but from what I've read, they are viewed as different rather than lesser. I'm also under the impression that the later OMI Dobro instruments are more sturdily built than their pre-war ancestors, although I'm uncertain about the possibility of laminates used in their construction.

LongBlackVeil
Dec-26-2014, 5:34pm
Many of the old dobros were made of a laminate woods, I can't confirm because the old dobros varied so much, but it looks like laminate to me, I would take elderlys word for it. They're a good outfit. I wouldn't let laminatr concern you too much though. It doesn't seem to matter nearly as much with resonator instruments as it does for regular acoustics

Biscuit and spider are two different types of bridges, but they DO have different cones. I wouldn't say one is preffered over the other. But the spider bridge dobros are warmer, have more overtones, and are not as loud and brash as the biscuit bridge nationals. The Nationals also have metal bodies so that could be another difference maker.

The price doesn't seem outlandish, pretty much in line with the asking prices I've seen. I bet you could talk them down a little bit.

hattio
Dec-26-2014, 7:59pm
Thank you Pheffernan and Long Black Veil. I pulled the trigger on the one from Charles Johnson. That guy was a pleasure to deal with, and I had not heard of him before. Thanks for turning me on to him.

pheffernan
Dec-27-2014, 8:50am
Thank you Pheffernan and Long Black Veil. I pulled the trigger on the one from Charles Johnson. That guy was a pleasure to deal with, and I had not heard of him before. Thanks for turning me on to him.

And thank you for removing temptation. Truthfully, I don't play my National RM-1 as much as I might, but I still can't help wondering how the spider cone would sound compared to the biscuit that I know.

allenhopkins
Dec-27-2014, 10:58am
Almost all the Dobro mandolins I've seen have been laminated wood; it makes much less difference, since the resonator cone is the basic vibrating surface.

LongBlackVeil has aptly summed up the difference in sound, as I've heard it, between the older spider-bridge and biscuit-bridge mandolins. I have both a late '30's Dobro mandolin and an old National Triolian, and they're very different instruments. The Dobro sounds "ringy" and the National sounds "barky." I understand, though, that the new biscuit-bridge National RM-1's have a "smoother" sound than the old Nationals. The newer ones have wood bodies, while my Triolian's painted steel.

I also thought $1.2K was steep for a Dobro mandolin -- although they're fairly rare, and that's a factor. Think I paid under $400 for mine, but that was in the 1980's and dinosaurs roamed the earth...

mandroid
Dec-27-2014, 1:26pm
The cheaper selling ones (around $600 these days ) often need a Neck reset ..

allenhopkins
Dec-28-2014, 12:53am
The cheaper selling ones (around $600 these days ) often need a Neck reset ..

Good point; mine did. My repair guy compared the quality of the neck block to "balsa wood." That said, it's held up for 20 years or so after the re-set.

Regal made the wood bodies for Dobro in the '30's; Dobro made the resonators, and the mandolins were sold under both labels. The one under consideration, however, is from the 1980's, the OMI era for Dobros. So I'd guess the body's better made than my '30's model -- probably no balsa wood...

pheffernan
Jan-05-2015, 11:28am
Thank you Pheffernan and Long Black Veil. I pulled the trigger on the one from Charles Johnson. That guy was a pleasure to deal with, and I had not heard of him before. Thanks for turning me on to him.

Did the sale fall through? The instrument returned to the classifieds this morning: http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/82639.