OMI Model 36?

[therealxenu]

Greetings from Long Beach, California! I'm Chris. A big thank you to all you contributors to the treasure trove of knowledge here on National Ave. I now know considerably more than I did just a few days ago. It's been an interesting education reading some of the informative posts. Thanks to Mark M and others I'm pretty sure that my guitar is a brass bodied '94 OMI Dobro model 36 with a 10.5 inch spun biscuit cone and a hand engraved wild rose motif originally seen on National guitars such as the '32 model 2 Tri-Cone (though please correct me if I'm wrong about that) and that the ranking number means that it was the 781st instrument manufactured that year in the Huntington Beach factory. Hopefully that's right. Things I'm not quite sure about are the style code (O9) and what it means, and the hierarchy of models from that period. A dealer nearby in West Hollywood claims that the DM1000 "Shield" was the top of the line model for OMI, but I'm not sure about the others and where the model 36 fits in. Well I'm not sure that dealer is all that knowledgable anyway as he seems to have erroneously sold a DM36 like mine as a model 75, which I understand should have a lily of the valley motif (oops) Not sure how big a deal that would be. He originally gave me a possible selling price estimate (he hadn't actually seen it) of $2000 (of which he would take 20%) but later emailed me that he was mistook and that, in good condition, it would only be worth $1200, so that didn't impress me too much either. Anyway, I think I might try my luck on ebay instead and I want to give accurate information in my listing so that's why I've been doing the research on it. I knew almost nothing previously. Another thing I'd like to ask is for input on whether it would be worthwhile attempting to repair the little dings on the headstock and the rabbit gnawed damage to the case (my roommate's pet rabbit). The dent I imagine is not repairable and looks like a possible manufacturing defect to me as the finish is not marred at all. I'm the second owner and the original owner said he never even noticed it in the 10 years he owned it--well he barely played it so maybe that's why. Please feel free to let me know what you think of the guitar and fill me in on anything else I should be aware of. Thanks again.

PS: Sorry about the ugly mess of strings. Can't find my dykes.

[Deleted]

Going by the index info in Marks excellent book (Palm trees, senoritas and rocket ships), although it doesn't note an O9 specifically, the O9 appears to be "a code referring to a Model..." - 36 in your case. The catalogue picture of a model 36 with some info is on page 273 of Marks book. Same as yours.
Getting the dent out? Maybe.
Fixing the case? Don't see the point.
TT

[therealxenu]

Thanks, deuce.

[Stevie]

I wouldn't attempt anything with the dent(s). The material has stretched and due to the highly polished nature of the finish, you will not (IMO) lose the extra surface area in the dent without making it look worse. It is said that the deformed metal develops a memory for its new shape over time. That is to say that if you can pop a (non-creased) dent back out rapidly enough you might get lucky. I can see the logic in that. I parked a car in some woods very near to where MM is domiciled (he'll know where!) and upon return found that someone had tried to slide-hammer the driver's door lock. As soon as I got home, I removed the lock and made a "puller" from two bits of Tufnol and a large nut and bolt. I was successful on that occasion, but time is not on your side here and you do not have the benefit of the hole that I had. You'd have to go inside. I'd leave it alone or give it to someone of the calibre of Mike at Fine Resophonic if I were you.
My $0.02...