Wood Tones

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 03/01/2009 05:07:25

Hello everyone out there in the dobro world.

My name is john and my question is this.
I have a Mahogany dobro and the strings are fairly high from the instrument wich gives it a real mello tone. I also have one made of Walnut and the strings are alot closer wich gives it a brighter tone. I am working on getting anothe custom made out of Curly Maple.
I beleive the Walnut and maple may have pretty close to the same tone. I have considered selling one of the others but would not know wich one. Or do you guys have any idea of anoyher type of wood other than Curly Maple and the tone they may have?

Hello,
I am new to B.C. and the forum, and am not a great player at all. However, I think I can give a reasonable answer to this question. I build dobros. I'm on like # 10 or so and here is my determination of tonal qualities of different woods.

Sometimes even similarly built instruments built with the same wood sounds different. They all have their own live gue to many different reasons ... brace placement, insert types, nut types, thickness of wood, etc. . There is no right/wrong answer here in a way. They ALL have a life of their own.

Do you know what type of inserts are in the Mahogany, and is it an import? I would think seriously about changing inserts before you get rid of it unless it is an import without upgrades. You can't hardly go wrong with a custom Maple though.

I just finished a Mahogany last week that has rather high set up, and it is bright as a bell with tremendous resonance. I can be walking through the room, pluck the strings and when I come back in, it is still ringing a bit. And its loud. I used Locust inserts that I made myself. It is very hard wood and has a good ring when you drop one on the table. The Maple Ebony inserts from Paul Beard are good too, but I like mine. It's easy to change out and you'll want new strings too.

I'd give it a try. If it's an import, it would be a different instrument with quality hardware. It's not necessarily the string height

dobromo!

Hello,
I am new to B.C. and the forum, and am not a great player at all. However, I think I can give a reasonable answer to this question. I build dobros. I'm on like # 10 or so and here is my determination of tonal qualities of different woods.

Sometimes even similarly built instruments built with the same wood sounds different. They all have their own live gue to many different reasons ... brace placement, insert types, nut types, thickness of wood, etc. . There is no right/wrong answer here in a way. They ALL have a life of their own.

Do you know what type of inserts are in the Mahogany, and is it an import? I would think seriously about changing inserts before you get rid of it unless it is an import without upgrades. You can't hardly go wrong with a custom Maple though.

I just finished a Mahogany last week that has rather high set up, and it is bright as a bell with tremendous resonance. I can be walking through the room, pluck the strings and when I come back in, it is still ringing a bit. And its loud. I used Locust inserts that I made myself. It is very hard wood and has a good ring when you drop one on the table. The Maple Ebony inserts from Paul Beard are good too, but I like mine. It's easy to change out and you'll want new strings too.

I'd give it a try. If it's an import, it would be a different instrument with quality hardware. It's not necessarily the string height

dobromo!

oops