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Post by geoff on Mar 2, 2008 21:31:00 GMT
I can't play the guitar, but after I watched a Son House clip, I really need to. I'm practicing with my $40 firewood fake Spanish guitar and meanwhile funsurfing everything about Reso's. I found two types of Hound Dog guitars. One type is labeled with the Dobro brand logo and the other type is embossed with a dog logo and the text hound dog. The Dobro brand seems to be way cheaper and I can't trace the factory. The dog logo ones, are made by Gibson and are very expensive. I find that people are not enormously satisfied with the expensive Gibson ones. Can anyone elaborate about the differences between the brands? You can see the two next to eachother in this shop's link: www.music123.com/Resonators-Stringed-Instruments,Page-1.Music123 (not a commercial remark, but posted as an example)
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Post by geoff on Mar 2, 2008 21:32:42 GMT
you have to paste the link, a small part is not translated into a real link
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Post by Michael Messer on Mar 3, 2008 10:10:09 GMT
Hi Geoff, The Dobro & National story is a long and complicated one, and to add to the confusion there are as you say, two instruments called Hound Dogs. The Gibson/Dobro Hound Dog that is advertized all over the Internet, is a budget priced Dobro style guitar. An instrument of this price would not actually be built by Gibson, probably far eastern built and imported with Gibson on the headstock. Gibson bought the Dobro brand name and over a ten year period, they have completely destroyed it. There are now only two Dobro instruments in the catalogue. The other Hound Dog Dobro style guitar was built by a company that was a kind of stop-gap between the Dobro Corporation and the OMI company (1968 to 1970). This was a small workshop run by Ed Dopyera & Rudy Dopyera. They built resophonic guitars with the names HOUND DOG and DOPERA ORIGINAL on the headstocks. As instruments these were the beginnings of the OMI style of guitars. My personal opinion is that a new Gibson branded Dobro Hound Dog is not a good buy. However, I am sure there are plenty of happy owners that would disagree with me. Shine On Michael
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Post by geoff on Mar 3, 2008 21:58:44 GMT
So, trying to sort this.
A. The ones with the dogface on them, are made by Gibson? and not very great?
B. How about the ones with the DOBRO logo on them? There's no Gibson to be found on them, and are closeout old stuff. Could they be good instruments or just you-know-what?
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Post by Michael Messer on Mar 4, 2008 10:45:21 GMT
The ones with Dobro on the headstock are made as Gibson Originals. There are no good Gibson Dobro guitars currently being made.
In addition; On the Gibson Originals website, they state that one of their Hound Dog models is USA made. That must be true, but whether it is any better than the others is doubtful.
Shine On Michael
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Post by maxxengland on Mar 4, 2008 11:53:44 GMT
Forgive the intrusion of a non resonator player, but why are you only asking if the Hound Dog is a good buy? My personal take on buying an instrument is loads of research to find one that suits sound, price, build quality, conditions of use. I made the mistake of trying an Ozark tricone when i didn't have the piggy bank full, but out of all the resos I've tried (not a huge amount, admittedly) it's The One.
Michael and the rest of the experienced players here can probably point you at something that will enrich your life rather than shorten it by giving you stress from it's deficiencies.
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Post by Mark Makin on Mar 4, 2008 12:00:22 GMT
Hello Geoff The actual history of Dopyera Originals and Hound Dogs goes like this!:
1950s - Ed and Rudy made some guitars under the DB ORIGINAL label. The logo is blue and yellow with stars on it and a diagonal banner with the word ORIGINAL in it.
1962 - In El Monte California, DB ORIGINALS were made in greater numbers. Shield had ORIGINAL vertically down it between the letters DB. These guitars like the Uncle Josh and the Deacon Brumfield have a very similar look to the later Mosrite guitars. They were distributed by Standel.
1965.January - production is now in Gardena, CA.
1966. - Semie Mosely of Mosrite acquires Dobro. 100 or so DB ORIGINALS are branded with Mosrite Dobro metal logos. Most made at Mosrites factory in Bakersfield.
1966. - Ed and Rudy Dopyera carry on with resonators but now cannot use the Dobro name. Instruments are called REPLICA 66s. These have plastic coverplates and the Dobro fan patterns are reversed with the curves of the fan outwards.
1967 - OMI is formed in Gardena and their brand name is HOUND DOG. The first logo shows the Hound Dog looking at a 3/4 angle with a guitar neck over its head.
1968-71. - The hound Dog logo looks straight ahead with the words ORIGINAL HOUND DOG over the dogs head.
1970 - Rights to the Dobro name were reacquired. They carried on using the Hound Dog name for a time and even introduced the DOPERA ORIGINAL name and logo for metal bodied guitars.
1993 - Gibson acquired OMI and changed it to the OAI division. (Original Acoustic Division) in 1997. Production moved to NAshville.
2000 - Modern Hound Dog logos are similar but the word ORIGINAL is not underlined.
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Post by Michael Messer on Mar 4, 2008 12:16:01 GMT
Thanks Mark! Excellent clarification & explanation. I did say it was complicated Shine On Michael
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Post by geoff on Mar 5, 2008 7:33:40 GMT
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Post by Michael Messer on Mar 5, 2008 10:11:12 GMT
All Dobro branded products since 1993 have been made under the Gibson banner.
Shine On Michael
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Post by geoff on Mar 5, 2008 19:30:45 GMT
Maybe they are ashamed about these entry level models. Normally there is some Gibson reference to be found. Not on these $250 models. Also I can't find such cheap Gibson related products anywhere. I fear it may be fake stuff...
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Post by Michael Messer on Mar 5, 2008 20:10:55 GMT
They are not fakes, they are just cheaply produced instruments with the Dobro brand on the headstock. Gibson don't care, they bought the Dobro name and don't really have any idea what to do with it. All they have in the range is an artist model and two Hound Dog models. One Hound Dog model, they claim is USA built. Whether that is actually true and what difference it makes is neither here or there. Gibson made and Gibson branded Dobro guitars are terrible and are not the money at any price. They have bought an iconic brand name and destroyed it. With the might of Gibson and the history & status of the Dobro brand name, Dobros should be easily as good as National Reso-Phonic Guitars and they should be the biggest selling resonator guitars worldwide. Instead.....they have a Phil Leadbetter model ( ) and a couple of Hound Dog models. They are not fake Gibson Dobros, they are fake Dobros! Shine On Michael.
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Post by geoff on Mar 5, 2008 22:02:20 GMT
And that's final, lock & seal on it... Amen
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2008 22:43:31 GMT
Case in point: I was just looking on eBay, and some poor honest gent is trying to unload an '02 Gibson/Dobro "Mississippi Voodoo" for parts. (Seems that even after a "professional" repair performed before this fellow bought the instrument - for over 1100 USD, mind you - the headstock just fell off!) That's bad enough, but in reading about the instrument, it's nothing more than a 2-humbucker semihollow electric with a dobro coverplate. No resonator cone. What a travesty.
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Post by Michael Messer on Mar 5, 2008 23:43:23 GMT
It's not quite final! Check out Gibson's latest addition to the Dobro range circa 2002. No wonder they ended up reducing their range to two guitars. Charming....scribble out DOBRO and write GIBSON in its place!!! Nice work boys. PRESS RELEASE -2002 Dobros new Mississippi Voodoo model has the familiar Dobro poinsettia-pattern coverplate and the handcrafted quality that the Dobro name signifies, but everything else about this electric model is new and unique, from the routed mahogany back to the special neck pickup, and even the sunrise finish pattern.
There has always been a mystery and mystique about the Dobro sound, and the Mississippi Voodoo expands on that tradition, said Henry Juszkiewicz, chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar Corp., Dobros parent company. Now Dobro players can go electric without giving up any of the qualities they love about Dobros.
The Mississippi Voodoos cutaway body has a mahogany back, routed to create a tone chamber, and a top of solid curly maple. A Gibson humbucking pickup in the bridge position and a custom-designed humbucker in the neck position combine to create a gritty Delta blues sound thats perfectly suited for rock or slide blues. A Gibson tune-o-matic bridge ensures accurate intonation. The poinsettia-pattern coverplate (with no resonator) gives the Mississippi Voodoo a flashy quality while tying into the Dobro tradition.
The Mississippi Voodoo is available with Heritage Cherry Sunburst, Sunrise or Vintage Brown finish in a unique sunrise pattern, with a sunburst rising from the bottom end of the body rather than the center.
The Dobro Mississippi Voodoo is made at The Gibson Bluegrass Showcase in the Opry Mills retail complex, a stones throw from the Grand Ole Opry House. In addition to a live performance venue, the 30,000-square-foot facility houses a retail store with instruments and Gibson wear, a restaurant and the headquarters of Gibsons Original Acoustic Instruments (OAI) division , where visitors can watch skilled craftsmen at work handmaking Gibson mandolins and Flatiron mandolins, Gibson banjos and Dobro Mississippi Voodoo go here. See the entire OAI line here and the The Gibson Bluegrass Showcase here.What would these folks say about a Dobro Mississippi Voodoo guitar that looks like a lizard smacked into it Tom & Jerry style. Shine On Michael
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