Fiddle Edge Dobro, Sweet Guitar, Wish It was Mine

[andys]

Haven't been on here for a bit, but I thought that folks on here would know something about this guitar that spent too short a time in my company today.

Had someone over to look at guitars, and he brought a lovely old, rather well worn, fiddle edge Dobro, and I'm trying to find a bit more information about it, if anyone can help please?

It was only in my house for enough time for me to take a few pics, but it looks like it has had a tough life, but was very playable and sounded great. No bow in the neck, which was a very pronounced V profile, quite a bit of rust/tarnishing on the body and coverplate. Looked like it had a wood nut fitted, which I can't help thinking was not original though I stand to be corrected.

A few pics, it it helps









Cheers

[leeophonic]

I have one of those they are a lot of fun.
Lee

[Michael Messer]

Hi Andy

Long time!

That is a steel bodied Dobro M32 which I reckon was built in 1936. It has been stripped of its original painted finish, but seems to be in okay condition. The Schaller tuners are not original, but everything else looks fine.

There is not much more I can tell you without seeing the serial number, cone and spider.

Shine On
Michael

[rbe]

Another mod is on the tailpiece. The front portion that supports the strings has been cut away. Probably an indication that the neck angle is pretty far off or the cone is collapsing, or both. The removal of this part of the tailpiece is like under-stringing a National. I tells me that with the Dobro's tailpiece intact, the strings did not make good contact with the bridge. Something is going on that reduced the break-angle over the saddle to 0 or less.

[Michael Messer]

Well spotted, Rik. I hadn't noticed that, viewing it on my phone last night. What a shame, those tailpieces are as rare as hens' teeth! It's done now.

Shine On
Michael

[rbe]

Yeah, I hate to see those things messed up. There seems to be many fewer of those tailpieces, than fiddle-edges. At one point I considered reproducing them, but, with so few fiddle-edge guitars out there and their relative low value, it would clearly be a venture that would never even approach breaking even. The one on this guitar could be repaired. Someone would just have to care enough to make the investment.

[andys]

Thanks guys.

The owner uses it regularly and says it was like that when he got it. I guess that its the difference between making something useable and playable, without spending large amounts of cash. He said when he bought it it was just described as a "rusty old metal guitar", and its previous owner obviously bodged it when it wasn't worth much anyway.

It actually played really nicely with a very useable mixed action, and a sweet tone.

At one time these instruments we now revere, were simply old guitars, or even not so old.

Remember the early 1980s when players put Floyd Rose trems on 60s strats and even late 60s/early 70s Les Pauls???

Or what Steve Morse, Jeff Beck, Mike Bloomfield did to old Telecasters?

I guess the tailpiece modification made the guitar work better at the time, otherwise the outcome could have been much worse and it could have ended up in a skip!

[Michael Messer]

Occasionally that was true, but even in the 1970s when I first got into all this, they were always sought after instruments. Okay there were the occasional junk shop ones in the mid 60s like Mike Cooper's Tricone and naive owners that just moved them on, but mostly people knew they were special. In the early 80s I had to swap a brand new shiny silver OMI Dobro with a dealer to get my rusty broken down 1936 M32 fiddle-edge Dobro. So he knew what he had and what it was worth to me. By 1985, which is now 33 years ago when Brothers In Arms was released, the whole world knew what they were and how collectable they were. I remember in 1984 Mike Cooper say to me that his Tricone was now worth around £900, which at that time was serious wonga. In 1979 I was unable to buy one of Bukka White's guitars from George Gruhn because he wanted the astronomical figure of $700 for it. In 1980/81 John Beeby's shop in North London was selling two Nationals - a style 0 at around £500 and a style 2 Tricone for £700.

I think more to the point with the Dobro in question, was that until sometime in the 80s, very few, and I mean VERY FEW knew about how to work on Nationals and Dobros, especially in this country. I sold two guitars, a Duolian and a style 0, because of their setups! I had no idea it could be adjusted in the way we do now. It wasn't that I didn't understand their value, I just didn't have any idea that you could adjust the setup, apart from filing or building up the bridge saddle.

In 1983 I ordered a cone from OMI Dobro in the USA. When it arrived in a flimsy pizza box type of package it was completely squashed flat! That is how naive we all were back then, even OMI didn't know how to ship a resonator.

Shine On
Michael.

[andys]

I also think the problem with this Dobro, is that it is just that. It looks similar to a classic National, but not quite. So I guess someone thought it was more suitable for bodging.

Again, I have to say it was very playable, and sounded very nice. And still gets gigged.

The guy who owns it paid very little for it, from someone who apparently got it by swapping it for a cheap flat top acoustic from someone else in a guitar class back in the 1970s. Who probably thought they had done very well in offloading that "rusty old guitar that's really hard to play". It has spent a lot of its life hanging on a wall too.

I think it's a shame that due to the "vintage market" there are probably guitars out there that either don't get played because someone is put off having something done to it to make it playable, that might affect its "vintage appeal", or that are frowned upon because someone has done just that.

Didn't Rory Gallagher, Keith Richards and Kent DuChaine chop holes in their Nationals and put Gibson PAFs in as pickups in the 60s? And like many of those PAFs, obtain them by stripping nice Gibson Semis of parts?

A year or so ago, I stripped the poly finish off my 2007 Baja Tele. I put it up on a forum to let folks know how I did it. Seriously, I was castigated by two people for "destroying it's future vintage value"!!!

My reply was that by gigging and playing it, I was already doing quite a good job of that already.

[Michael Messer]

I think differently about that type of thing now I am older. 35 years ago I had my M32 stove enamelled, neck replaced and holes drilled for jack socket and pots. There is no way I would ever do such a thing now, just no way!



What I didn't think about back then because I was younger and because there were more really good Nationals and Dobros for sale, was that there will never be any more 1936 M32 Dobros and there will never be any more 1931 Style 0s....etc. Those things don't matter when you are young.

Shine On
Michael

[celtic]

First, thanks for allowing me to be part of this forum. I'm and instrument builder and collector. I recently obtained what I believe is a Dobro M 14. All nickel plated brass body. It needed a through body stick which I made, but my question is this. It did not have any form of end block in it. Did they have an end block? It has only one screw hole in the end which I assume was for the tail piece. It is also missing a tailpiece. Sure would like a drawing or tracing of that so I can fabricate a new one. Any help others on this forum could give me would be much appreciated .
Neil Russell
Celtic cross Instruments.

[pete1951]

Not sure why a fiddle edge owner hasn’t replied yet, they may all be off for the weekend. I have had a few reso apart and they usually follow the same basic pattern. The neckstick rarely goes to the end of the body, they stop shortly after the cone well . Then there is a small square end block the the tail/p. screw goes in. You will find lots of pics. on the forum , hopefully someone more expert than me will reply tomorrow.
Pt

[celtic]

Thanks Pete, that clears up one of my concerns.

[Michael Messer]

Neil, I have only just noticed your question. Thanks to Pete for helping.

I can post some photos, but not today.

Shine On
Michael

[celtic]

Thanks Michael, would love to see them.