Re: Opinions on the Dobro Ampliphonic Mandolin
"Spider" bridge/cone instruments, like the Dobro, and "biscuit" bridge/cone instruments, like the National, are similar but distinct entities. There is a quite obvious difference in sound quality, between the concave resonator cone that's vibrated by means of a cast-metal "spider" framework to which the bridge is attached, and the convex resonator cone that's vibrated by a wooden disk that's directly glued to the cone, with the bridge attached to the disk.
I own a '30's Dobro mandolin, and a steel-body National Triolian of about the same vintage, and they sound quite different. There are other differences in construction: the Dobro is wood-bodied and short-scale, the National steel-bodied with a longer (almost mandola) scale. The Dobro is sweet-sounding, with a long "ring-y" sustain, and less volume; the National is louder, with an aggressive "bark." (It also weighs about twice as much, but that's a separate issue.)
So, whether to get a Dobro or a National, depends to a significant extent, on what kind of sound you're looking for. I would say that a Dobro mandolin in good shape for $450 is a very good deal price-wise. Neither the older nor the newer Dobro instruments were masterpieces of construction, and I had to have the neck re-set on my pre-war Dobro mandolin, for which I paid about $250 maybe 30 years ago. As you say, choices are limited, and you may not get the chance to compare two resonator mandolins side-by-side. I'd be relatively confident, though, that you could get $450 for the Dobro if you decided later to get a National instead.
I also know that the new National RM-1 has a wood body, and a more standard mandolin scale length, so it may not be as "snarly" as my old Triolian. Cafe members who own RM-1's say that they are about the loudest mandolins they've played, so the aggressive nature of the "biscuit" National resonator construction continues in the RM-1's apparently.
Allen Hopkins
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