Rudy's aluminum prototype

[mendax]

I just remembered our lead guitarist took some photos back in 2013, and he just sent them:

















Odd he took none of the sides. Well, one day when I can retrieve my camera I'll add closeup shots of the strange binding. It would be nice to also show the depth of the body.  Hopefully these will at least whet Mark's appetite!
Enjoy!

Attachments:

[Michael Messer]

Good morning Scott,

What a wonderful way to start my day. Cup of coffee and Rudy's creation.

He pretty much had it all there on this one.

I am sure it will interest Mark and one or two others!

It is very beautiful and thank you for sharing your photos on here.

Shine On
Michael

[snakehips]

Hi there !

What decade does this guitar date from ?

[Michael Messer]

Having lived with the photos for a few hours, I was about to ask that very question.

There are some things on this guitar that I don't understand. It has a truss rod and a flat headstock and it is not unlike other builds of Rudy's from the OMI period and just before that time.

Scott, I would be interested to know whatever you know about this guitar and whether the neck and body are from the same period. Are you under the impression it is one of the 1930s prototypes leading up to the fiddle edge instruments? If so, it doesn't quite make sense.

Looking forward to hearing what you have to say about it

Shine On
Michael

[mendax]

No, as I understood this was an instrument Rudy put together perhaps in the '60s. The neck was just something he'd grabbed from a parts bin. He was experimenting with the idea of making an aluminum guitar
that would actually have better volume and bass response than the Model 46-47 guitars, but still be light weight. The body depth is unlike any other wood or metal Dobro made by the Dopyeras. It's
almost like the "Aragon" of Dobros! He was obviously more concerned with the sound than the looks--sorry I called it a prototype--perhaps an "experimental" guitar would be a more accurate title.
I could tell the neck at times bugs the perfectionist in Dave Flood, but he would never change anything that Rudy had built, and he actually likes the fact that this "Frankendobro" sounds better than any
of the production models.
If He has any other information when I'm finally able to see Dave again I'll of course pass it on.

[Michael Messer]

Scott, Thank you for all that. It certainly looks like an amazing piece of work and I look forward to hearing it on your album. Perhaps you could ask your lead guitarist producer to do a special mix for us

I am intrigued by Rudy wanting to make an aluminium guitar, because they had already done that in the 30s with the Model 46 and 47 Lumalite fiddle edge instruments, which are very cool, but don't have the greatest sound. I understand that the extra depth and maybe heavier gauge metal would and did improve on that problem.

hmmmm.... very interesting.

Thanks for sharing all this with us.

Shine On
Michael

[Mark Makin]

Hi Scott
Very interesting to see this. I'm sure you're correct in your estimation of it. Thanks so much for the detailed photos. It seems to me to come from the late 1960s/early 70s when (to quote Don Young)..."Rudy had a small hideaway shed built in the corner of the OMI factory which he jealously guarded and spent his time building one-offs using his old collection of valuable hand tools". Don recalls many items like this. He also described Rudy's odd way of sometimes fitting the sides to the top and back. He would wrap the tops and backs over the sides and panel pin them together. Your example seems to be a similar variant on this. Here is a picture of another of his one-offs from this period. It also uses the three-ring coverplate from the fiddle-edge period. Apparently Rudy had a large stock of these 'left-over' plates. It shows the wrap of the top and sides. Rudy has also hand made the 'ledge' to angle the fingerboard exactly the same as yours. The most obvious difference of course, are the f holes!!!!

[Michael Messer]

This all makes much more sense now. Thanks Mark for adding the four F hole guitar to the thread, it really is a similar build to the other one.

Shine On
Michael

[mendax]

Just found this photo taken during the recording session way back when. As you can see--we are, and have always been a garage band! Sadly, Steve finally cleaned the studio--just not the same ambiance...

My "shades" are made from 1930s unplated Dobro screens Dave Flood gave me 20 years ago.

Our album is evidently being released on August 10. Although I wrote "Santa Claus May Be Your Death" on Rudy's guitar, I evidently was playing rhythm on the Bridgetone PU on my Martinique for that recording.
This photo then was taken during another song on the album--"Dead Vegans".

[Michael Messer]

Aug 2, 2020 3:37:00 GMT mendax said:

View Attachment

Just found this photo taken during the recording session way back when. As you can see--we are, and have always been a garage band! Sadly, Steve finally cleaned the studio--just not the same ambiance...

My "shades" are made from 1930s unplated Dobro screens Dave Flood gave me 20 years ago.

Our album is evidently being released on August 10. Although I wrote "Santa Claus May Be Your Death" on Rudy's guitar, I evidently was playing rhythm on the Bridgetone PU on my Martinique for that recording.
This photo then was taken during another song on the album--"Dead Vegans".

Seeing it in context I can now see the depth of the body. It's an amazing piece of history.

I too am a fan of Dobro glasses and sometimes while on stage I take them out of the guitar and wear one or two as Dobro monocles.

Shine On
Michael