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Post by Michael Messer on May 10, 2007 21:41:38 GMT
 I have been meaning to put this on the forum for a month or so, but just haven’t had the opportunity to do so. In 1982 I was told about a resophonic guitar that was for sale in a shop in Harrow. The shop turned out to be ‘Sid Parsons Volume One’ in Springfield Road, which incidentally is where I spent much of my last couple of years at school….well I was supposed to be at school, but I was more interested in the goings on in the guitar shop. So I already knew Sid and went along one day to see the guitar. It turned out to be a metal-bodied fiddle-edge Dobro model M-32 (Serial number A855) – from 1936. It was exactly what I was looking for. I was a big Sam Mitchell fan back then and Sam played a guitar very similar to this one. The only problem was that the Dobro was in very poor condition – it sounded wonderful and played beautifully, but it was rotting. The neck was collapsing and the body needed attention. I really didn’t care about any of that, I just had to have it and as Sid was asking a high price, I decided to do a swap with him. I had a 1979 Dobro 33H in beautiful shiny condition and Sid had a 1936 Dobro M-32 that was falling to pieces. I walked in and showed Sid my shiny Dobro, asked if he would swap it for his rusty old one in the window…..and need I say more….both parties were very happy with the deal. In 1983 I decided to do something about the Dobro and try and get it restored. I dismantled it and took the body to a car body shop and they cleaned it up pretty well. I then took it to a plater who refused to chrome plate it because it was not a smooth finish. He advised me to paint it, or powder-bake (stove enamel) it. So I took it to a stove enamel shop and much to their amazement, I got them to stove enamel a 1936 Dobro in tool box hammerite blue with a hammerite grey coverplate. I then ordered a new cone from OMI Dobro – it arrived a few weeks later in a padded Jiffy bag completely crushed! ….So I had to order another and explain how to pack it so it would survive the journey. I then took all the pieces to a luthier I knew who had a very good reputation and had worked on a few Dobros, Nigel Thornbory, to rebuild the guitar with a new neck, cone and Schaller pickup. Nigel did a wonderful job and within weeks I was the proud owner of a brand new 1936 blue Dobro! In 1984 I did my first recording session on the Mike Cooper & Ian Anderson record ‘The Continuous Preaching Blues’. I played the blue Dobro on five tracks and Mike Cooper recorded his wonderful version of ‘Dark Was The Night’ with the blue Dobro (for us anoraks...Mike recorded the track plugged into a Fender Pro-Reverb amp). Between 1983 & 1985 the blue Dobro and I did numerous gigs as a duo with Mike Cooper and with my own newly formed band. In 1985 I spent a few months in Nashville and got pretty well known on the local music scene. As I was the only Englishman in town who played delta blues & bluegrass on a blue metal Dobro, it wasn't difficult to get noticed. I got to know Ray Sawyer ‘Doctor Hook’ and he liked my style of playing blues….and of course my blue Dobro! (somewhere I have a photo of Ray 'Rooster' with the Dobro) - In June 1985 I was in Gruhn’s Guitars on Broadway and I was seduced by a 1931 National Style O. This wasn’t like the Sam Mitchell guitar, it was like the SON HOUSE GUITAR! …..so I took my blue Dobro into George Gruhn’s store and I swapped it for the 1931 Style O. George was happy & I was ecstatic. A few days later I flew home to the UK and for the next two decades I very rarely thought about my blue Dobro. Occasionally I have mentioned to friends….’if you ever hear of a blue Dobro let me know…’ Well a few months ago I had a call from Mark Makin who said…’you’ll never guess what I’ve seen on eBay today…..it’s your blue Dobro’… I contacted the owner, sent him some photos of me in 1985 with the guitar and we agreed that I should own my blue Dobro again. It turned out that he bought it from Gruhn in June 1985 and hardly played it for the 22 years he owned it. So when I finally got the guitar a couple of months ago, it was in exactly the condition I left it in at Gruhn’s store 22 years ago. The blue Dobro is a unique guitar with a beautiful tone. I have used it on a couple of National Debt gigs and last weekend it did its first big show at the Mumbles Blues Festival. I can’t understand why I sold it. It really is a one-off with a tone to match and I haven’t put it down for the past month! In addition - I should say that Nigel Thornbory did an amazing job rebuilding it. Back then we did not have the knowledge we have today and It was an unusual request. Nigel copied the original neck & construction and got it pretty darn close. The guitar sounds and feels just right. It does however, require a neck reset which Dave King is doing for me. The neck angle is crucial to getting everything right, and I don't think we were so aware back then. At the moment I have to tune it to open E & A to get enough tension to stop it buzzing....because there is no break angle over the bridge. Nigel, if you read this post...Thank you, you really did a wonderful job. (Sadly, Nigel no longer makes guitars. He now runs the excellent 'Highly Strung' mail order company which is highly recommended - www.highlystrung.co.uk/). Here are some pics…  Blue Dobro M-32 HEADSTOCK (the logo is a Dobro enamel pin-badge set into the wood)  Blue Dobro M-32 >FRONT  Blue Dobro M-32 >PROFILE  Me with the blue Dobro in 1984 - unknown photographer  Me with the blue Dobro in Nashville, June 1985 - Photo by Alan Messer  Me with the blue Dobro and Ed Genis in Wales, May 2007 (photo by Simon Prichard) .....it's back where it belongs ;D If anyone has any good stories about buying guitars they used to own....let's hear 'em. Shine On, Michael. |
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Post by martin w on May 11, 2007 12:35:06 GMT
Michael,
If you're looking for a suit like the one in the photo to completely re-create the 1985 image, I think I have one in the back of the wardrobe, somewhere.
Like the dobro, it has seen little ware since '85.
But that really is one seriously great sounding guitar (as I heard for myself at the Raven). Have you tried it live with the pickup?
Hopefully hear it again next Thurs in Reading.
Cheers
Martin
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2007 11:08:42 GMT
That’s a great story. It must be a strange experience to be reunited with a guitar after such a long time, especially as the condition has hardly changed (the condition of the guitar I mean, I couldn’t comment on the condition of the player). It must bring back lots of memories.
I don’t know much about Dobros, I wish somebody would write a book like Bob Brozman’s National book. Was your Dobro originally plated? Did you have any concerns about keeping it original back in the early 80s? I suppose the vintage guitar explosion hadn’t really happened then. It certainly looks distinctive in blue.
I’ve never been reunited with a guitar I’d sold but there’s one I won’t mind seeing again. It was my first proper guitar, a vintage reissue Strat. It was originally red but I wanted it white, like Jimmie Vaughan’s. My Dad refinished it for me and I had the neck replaced because it was two skinny. I sold it a couple of years ago when I got rid of all of my electrics. I don’t get the urge to plug in these days but I wouldn’t mind having it back. Perhaps I’ll come across it in twenty years time (unlikely because it went to Greece courtesy of eBay). I still remember the serial number.
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Post by Michael Messer on May 13, 2007 13:17:08 GMT
Hi Blisters,
It is very strange to have the guitar back in the same condition as I sold it 22 years ago. The first time I took it out to a gig a few weeks ago, I was quite emotional and it did and still does bring back many memories (especially of that shiny 80s suit!).
The guitar was originally painted with a frosted crinkle duco finish, not plated. Although they did make nickel plated sand-blasted & engraved versions. When I got the guitar it was stripped and corroded. I had no choice about keeping it original. Something had to be done and I decided to make it a unique guitar by stove enamelling it. You are correct about the vintage guitar market being in its infancy, but there was also a tradition that has now dissappeared of musicians personalizing their resophonic guitars. Usually it was stuff on the headstock like Bukka White's Duolian. But in this case, because of the state of the instrument, it had to be refinished. Whether I would do that to a 1936 Dobro these days is something I cannot answer. I was 27 years old!
Like you, I thought it was unlikely I would ever see the Dobro again. I sold it in Nashville in 1985 and from there it spent the next two decades in Texas. You never know....that strat might come back one day.
I am hunting for some photos of the Dobro before I restored it.
Shine On,
Michael.
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Post by Michael Messer on May 14, 2007 10:10:49 GMT
This is what the Dobro M32 should look like. Gold crinkle duco paint and a flat shovel-type headstock. Mine had no paint, lots of corrosion and the neck was disintigrating.  Shine On Michael |
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2007 11:25:03 GMT
Fascinating story! And I though only boomerangs came back! ;D
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Post by Michael Messer on May 15, 2007 14:08:32 GMT
Boomerangs and blue Dobros!
Shine On,
Michael.
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Post by mirrormist on May 15, 2007 19:18:16 GMT
A great story...the blue dobro has lots of charm... i would love to be reunited with my 1963 Singer Gazelle convertable and my much loved Honda 400/4...but i doubt they are still around.
i like the colour and would take my amg2 to work to have enameled if i was confident the finish would be ok...the stuff we do though is low carbon steel which i am told takes better.
i like the idea of customisation though unless I had cash falling out of every pocket i wouldn't do it to a really expensive guitar.
your guitar is unique Michael i am pleased you have been reunited
regards
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Post by colinbrooks on May 20, 2007 22:04:42 GMT
In an alarming bit of syncronicity early in the 80's I traded a Dobro 33 D for an unplated brass fiddle edge Dobro with a horrible custom neck. I sold that guitar rapidl;y and got it back a few years ago. I had hoped to have it renecked by now, but a few months back I left the body with an old friend, a gunsmith, to sort out a fewholes drilled in the body. I'm sure he will do this eventually.
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Post by Bill Stig on May 22, 2007 17:16:36 GMT
Not exactly in the same league as your blue dobro story, but I was looking at this thread yesterday and noticed the Schaller pickup on the guitar. It reminded me that I used to have one but it had been missing for a long time.
Probably about 10 years ago I answered a knock on the door. There stood a fairly scruffy looking guy with a bag saying he had some things to sell. Expecting him to pull out a magic duster and other household goodies, I politely said I wasn't interested. He insisted and to my surprise his bag was full of guitar parts. He said he made guitars, was having a clearout and had heard that I played. Amongst the bits and pieces I bought a schaller pickup and have used it on various acoustics over the years, until it disappeared a few years ago.
Today I was sorting out a drum kit that I look after for a music collective, and, inexplicably, there, in the bottom of the stands bag, was my schaller pickup!!
If only he'd had a blue dobro in his bag.
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Post by Michael Messer on May 22, 2007 19:20:07 GMT
Hi Colin & Bill,
Both are good stories! I look forward to seeing the re-necked fiddle-edge Dobro that you traded for a 33. Phew.....that really is syncronicity.
Bill - the Schaller pickup is okay. I forget how much I paid back in 1983, the figure of £12 seems to spring to mind. I am not sure if I will keep it on the Dobro, or find something with a bit more power.
Shine On,
Michael.
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Post by Alan on May 24, 2007 16:35:29 GMT
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Post by Michael Messer on May 24, 2007 16:43:38 GMT
They've done that one for sure!
The wood disc reminds me of Ronnie Lane's guitar.
Shine On,
Michael.
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Post by Michael Messer on Jun 4, 2007 18:45:53 GMT
This guitar is a wood-bodied copy of a fiddle-edge M-32 Dobro. The idea of making a wood-bodied one is not something that I can understand, because surely the finished result is just a regular Dobro with a lot of extra wood and shaping in the body? The whole point of fiddle-edge Dobros is that they are metal, which gives a different tone to wood and were built as a competitor to National. Anyway here it is - made by John Alderson (Delta Resonator Guitars). I would really like to hear from John about this guitar. It looks like a lot of carving or moulding has gone on to create the visual effect of a rolled fiddle-edge metal bodied Dobro - How does it sound?  Ninefingers, you posted this three times on two threads this morning. While I am sure we are all very interested to see Delta's wood-bodied fiddle edge Dobro, three posts were perceived as advertizing, and that is not permitted on this forum. Now that we have seen the guitar, it would be great if John could drop by and tell us about the project. It certainly looks very well built. Shine On, Michael |
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Post by Michael Messer on Jun 5, 2007 12:57:58 GMT
I had a very interesting & enjoyable conversation with John Alderson today. John is not a computer user and therefore cannot contribute to this forum, but I said I would write something on his behalf.
The three advertizing posts were nothing to do with John, ninefingers is a very enthusiastic client of his and posted the messages.
The guitar is built of wood with a metal sound ring for the cone to sit on, and the guitar sounds remarkably like a metal-bodied fiddle-edge Dobro. I may be seeing John at the weekend and will report further. John bought an M-32 in 1970 and was inspired to do so by Sam Mitchell. Amazing, Sam was a very big influence on British & European musicians. So many people credit him as an inspiration & guiding light in their discovery of resophonic guitars and acoustic slide playing.
Shine On,
Michael
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