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I am a long time resonator fan and have been playing on my 1971 OMI manufactured "dobro" roundneck since is was new. I would like to see if I could change out this roundneck and make a squareneck for it. I would love some advice. I have amateur experience with building guitars but an long in woodworking knowledge. I am up for the challenge but wise enough to not start without a plan in place.

I suppose you could, but they work and sound just fine with the round neck. You could simply add a taller nut.
I'm not familiar with those years but if you do want to swap out the neck you should start by taking it apart and checking out the way the neck is attached. Many times there is a 'neck stick' that passes through the neckblock and attaches to a block on the well. The fingerboard will also be screwed to the top, with the screws covered by inlays in the fretboard.

I have had it set up for slide for years. I had some setup work done on it in past years to improve it some. I really will not even think about this unless two things happen. I will build a squareneck resonator so that I have an instrument to play while I investigate the neck construction of the OMI dobro. However, if my build works well and I like the sound, I may never even do anything with this one. I will keep my options open as I am not really sure I want to modify the OMI dobro from its original condition.

Thanks for your thoughts Mike

I'll just add that the only reason to build (or convert) to squareneck is for dedicated lap play, and the big advantage is that the neck doesn't slide off your lap when you play sitting down. A square neck may be incrementally stronger, but frankly I think the roundie (with a neck stick) is pretty strong joint.

I have a 1932 round neck Dobro that I go back and forth between playing lap and Spanish style - I simply use a nut extender and tune to high bass G when I want to play lap style. I did reset the neck angle a few years ago when I replaced the cone (it is a matter of shimming the stick) and since then it is very stable. If I was going to make this a dedicated lap guitar I probably would replace the nut extender with a tall bone nut and maybe tweak the string set but I do like being able to easily go back to Spanish if I want to.

If you do decide to build a squareneck there are good plans available.

Hi, this is my first post to the board (been a lurker for a long time) and I figure replying to this post is a good place to start.

I am in the process of doing a conversion on an old (mid-30's) Dobro from a round neck to a square neck. The instrument was a basket case that a friend has had for years. It was his primary guitar (it had been converted over to lap style with a nut extender) until the neck stick gave way and the fingerboard peeled off the neck (I will attempt to include pictures also).



The neck stick was not glued to the neck which doesn't make sense to me. Maybe someone else can chime in on how these are normally built, but by not being glued, it seems that the stress from the strings over time finally peeled the fretboard off. This guitar had been worked on before and I'm not sure what all had been done to it.

My friend knew I had built a couple of squareneck resos so he asked if I would be interested in building a new squareneck for this guitar and I agreed. He also said that he didn't want to spend much money on it so we decided to try to salvage the fretboard and head plate to save the cost and to preserve some of the old vibe. Fortunately, with a little heat from a heat blanket both came off pretty easily.

For the new neck I wanted to integrate the neck stick into the neck construction itself so there wouldn't be similar failure down the line. I found a piece of mahogany at Gilmer Woods in Portland that was not quite good enough for their neck stock (reducing its cost considerably) but worked fine for what I was doing. I cut it up the board so that the center laminate was longer than the two outer ones and this extension became the neck stick.



Next, I glued it up and cut it out.



It probably would have been a lot less work to just use a new fingerboard and head plate because I had to be careful of the finger board binding and I had to cut the slotted head stock to match the old head plate. Doing it was actually pretty easy, it was all the hemming and hawing that I did to figure out how to accomplish everything without buggering up the parts. Anyway, it turned out pretty nice. I was really trying to save the old dobro decal but it got progressively more and more damaged as I went along and I finally sanded the head plate smooth. My friend was able to round up another Dobro decal which will be attached after buffing.



I put everything together and test fit it onto the body and all looks good.



I am in the process of putting the finish on the neck. I tried to color match the new neck to the body as well as I could (this is my first attempt at a burst finish) and am fairly pleased with the results. I used EM6000 for the finish and am currently waiting for the neck to fully cure prior to final buffing.



Once I get everything together, I'll post a final shot.

This was actually a pretty straight forward project. The only thing that I came across that kind of stumped me was that I needed to put a ~2 degree neck angle on the new neck heel to get everything to go together. When I designed the new neck I figured that the roundneck was built like I would build it, with the neck angle on the heel of the neck, this would mean that I would not need a neck angle on a squareneck. But, it turns out on this guitar that the top and sides were not square (remember this is a resonator and they usually don't have domed tops) which created the neck angle on the round neck. Again, historically, I'm not sure if this is normal with old Dobros or not.

Hope this helps or provides some ideas on how to approach the project if you were to make a new neck for your reso.

Ron

Very nice!
The neck stick should have been glued in but sometimes that 'old world craftsmanship' we hear so much about wasn't so crafty. These were factory guitars and sometimes things were missed, like the missing steel that was supposed to go in the neck of my 1930 National El Trovador.
Route for steel bar...Check!
Install steel bar.......mmm, lunch time!


BTW, I make reso necks like that all the time. You can use use flatsawn wood and it removes the hassle of routing and makeing/gluing the neckstick, not to mention having to remember to glue it.

Nice work Ron,

I am encouraged by your success. It helps boost my confidence that I can replace mine. It is nice to see something almost dead brought back to life ( not intending to be too cosmic with that remark).

I agree with your theory concerning "old work craftsmanship" Mike, but I think the "old world" they (whoever 'they' are) were referring to was prior to the 20 century. Mass production does have its positives and negatives. Maybe yours was build on a Monday or Friday. lol

I will remember both of you and get advice when I am ready to tackle this conversion. Thanks for sharing your wisdom and experiences.

Ken

Thanks guys.

You mean there was supposed to be a steel bar in the neck? The old round neck didn't have any type of reinforcement in it.

Mike, do you use the neck stick style necks on your square necks also? I was wondering about this the other day. Most modern builders (of squarenecks at least) seem to have abandoned the neck stick that screws into a block placed under the cone. This was my first experience playing around with one and it was pretty amazing how solidly the neck was attached even without the neck screwed to the block. If the joint is tight, the neck is quite solid even as the strings are brought up to tension. Seems like the geometry of the neck stick would reduce the tendency to oval the top at the cone potentially reducing some of the bracing required in the top and reducing weight. Oh yeah, I've always been impressed by your resonator designs, particularly your wood bodied tricones. Most excellent!

Ron

You mean there was supposed to be a steel bar in the neck? The old round neck didn't have any type of reinforcement in it.

My Trovador had a nice little mortice routed, but nothing put in it. Stupid neck was bent like a banana after 70 years of that.

Mike, do you use the neck stick style necks on your square necks also? I was wondering about this the other day. Most modern builders (of squarenecks at least) seem to have abandoned the neck stick that screws into a block placed under the cone. This was my first experience playing around with one and it was pretty amazing how solidly the neck was attached even without the neck screwed to the block. If the joint is tight, the neck is quite solid even as the strings are brought up to tension. Seems like the geometry of the neck stick would reduce the tendency to oval the top at the cone potentially reducing some of the bracing required in the top and reducing weight. Oh yeah, I've always been impressed by your resonator designs, particularly your wood bodied tricones. Most excellent!

I don't really build square necks but on wood round necks I typically build in the 'neck stick' as a permanent brace and bolt the neck on. Less hassles. Nothing wrong with the old system though. I use the neckstick on metal bodies.

Thanks for the nice comments.

Ron or MIke

Can either of you point me to something out there in print that breaks down the structure and construction principle of the resonator guitar more clearly without the need to disassemble my only instrument. I am a very visual learner. Unlike some of my gender, I am not afraid of a map for guidance. I would appreciate any citations for this.

Ken

Ken,

The article that got me going was by Gary Dusina. I would do a search here, at the MIMF forum and/or at the ResoNation forum to find the actual article. This article has the basic structure and build sequence documented. I would also just poke around and look for pictures of peoples builds here and at the MIMF.

Stewart MacDonald used to have the instructions for their squareneck reso available on their website, you might check that also.

I built a Beard Kit to start which was pretty straight forward then built a second reso based on the same design (R body) from scratch and incorporated some of the techniques from the Dusina article and from general guitar building topics (open sound well, side bending, neck construction etc) on forums and books. The next reso will be a large body, open sound well but that idea is sitting in the queue as I build my first acoustic (parlor guitar). For me the big thing with reso's is the setup. A good cone, good cone support structure, good spider and a properly fit spider and bridge are the keys to a good sounding reso. I'm still trying to figure out how to do a consistent setup that I am happy with (but that's part of the fun and challenge of building!).

Hope this helps and have fun with it.

Ron

Ron

Thanks for the information. I will find that article and if STEWMAC still has the on their web. The OLF forum has been kind ot me and I go there for so many ideas.

Yes, consistency is the key to a lot to things. They say it takes 10,000 hour to become a master. You close? I am sure not... LOL

Ken

Ron,

I may sound like a newbie here. But have you ever seen or heard of anyone building a resonator box from cherry. I know the cherry finish but most I have seen are not solid cherry. The reason I ask is because I received a quantity of quarter and flat sawn cherry and was wondering about the chance of building a box from it.

Lots of maple boxes out there and cherry is very similar. Should work fine.

Mike,

Thanks for the encouragement for the cherry box. Now all I have to do is determine my level of patience to wait out the year for the air drying and in-shop stablity or find a kiln and dry it sooner. Sooner would mean building a kiln or paying to have it done. Who said guitar building does not reveal a person's character? Patience or immediate gratification? We shall see.

While I am on this topic, I also have a quantity of walnut on stickers at the moment. None of the boards are wide enough for a two piece plate. I know that three piece backs are common, but on a resonator what would be the result of a three piece top? How much does the top effect resonator tone?

Ken

Hi Ken,

Cherry would make a fine reso. I believe I have may have actually seen one at a ResoSummit at one point in time. Figured cherry would be even better

Don't see why a three piece top wouldn't work if you can match things up to look nice. Again, a reso is more of a speaker cabinet so you are not as concerned about the acoustic properties (especially with the top).

To follow up with my post above, I finished up the squareneck for that old Dobro. Turned out pretty nice but I still need to get my level sanding technique down. Still have not gotten that glassy surface yet, but I think it looks pretty good. The EM6000 has a little bit of a blueish tint to it over the dark areas which is a bummer. I'm hoping that as it cures more (I let it cure for 3 weeks prior to leveling it and polishing) this will gradually go away (that was the case with a KTM-9 finish I did a while back). Anyway, here are some pics of the finished Dobro.
Ron

Ron,

That looks very nice. Like I said earlier, I am always thrilled to see a fine instrument brought back to life, even more when it is a reso. I hope I can get my skills to that level. I do not worry as much about the woodworking aspect as that is solidly in my comfort zone, but as with many finishing is my weak spot. Do you have a preferred finish technique?

I am thinking about building a small kiln to get some of that walnut and cherry ready to be used for a resonator. I thought as much for the possibilities of a 3 piece top but really do appreciate the confirmation. It will be interesting to see may develop when that wood is ready. I just hope I can find enough with good straight grain. I guess that is what we all like to see.

I have the plates, sides and neck materials for my first resonator build in the shop now. I will give it some time to settle and then begin working on it. I am going to purchase the plans for a squareneck from ResoNation, but I see it uses a bolt on neck and not a full stick. I wish I could find plans for a "dobro" build. I will look on the MIMF website and see what they have.

Ken

MIke,


I was checking out the MIMF site for plans and ideas for my resonator build and keep seeing this Mike Dotson guy's name coming up. Wouldn't be you would it?

Ken

Might be....

Well that is good to know, Mike. Your work and posts speak highly of your skills.

I am experience (not old, like experienced better) enough in life to honor and respect the talent of others. I need some advice. I have my wood and am ready to begin serious building on my resonator but, being such a traditionalist, I am undecided about the neck construction. It seems that bolt-on necks have become such the standard that you can't find information about "dobro" style neck-stick construction short of reverse engineering my 71 OMI dobro. I have searched the MMIF without success. I really am not ready to disassemble my guitar (besides what would I play in the meantime). Is the the desire to be traditional just folly on my part? Should I play it safe and go with the bolt on for the first build and save the neck stick adventure until later? I would really like some input from more knowledgable builders than myself. I want this to be rewarding and not so frustrating that I am sorry I decided to start.

Any advice ( short of "you are crazy for even considering this project" Heck I know that already! ) would be appreciated.

Oh, you're way too kind, but thanks.
I don't think there's any real advantage in the old style of construction/attachment, at least not in wood bodies. Bolts are simple and work great.

Mike,

Thanks for the advice. Okay I will build the first one or two with bolt on necks. I do want to try the traditional construction sometime but will wait until I can take mine apart and study it. I am a very visual learner, and if I do that, the first hand knowledge will help me more. It is possible my indecision was just my brain's way of justifying procrastination on beginning this project. When my beard plans get here I will get started.

Thanks for the advice and suggestions. Do mind if I add you to my friends? Not sure why we have that on this forum but I guess we can never be too friendly.,

Ken

I think you'll be happy with the bolt-on.
Fine with me on the friend thing.

I just got the Beard blueprints for the resonator. I look forward to getting started on it. The plans are nicely detailed. This one is going to be all mahogany. It will be a good start.

MIke or Ron,

I am getting ready to glue up my neck stock. My neck material is not the best quartersawn stock (I really thought I did a better job of picking this out-so much for my visual skills). I have two 4/4 x 3+x36 " sticks. If I lay them out to use the 3+" as my fingerboard surface and then glue on a short piece for the heal I have a good blank. However, the grain is running more flatsawn than quarter. With the strength of lamination and a metal truss, do I have a strong enough blank?

I am going to shoot the top and bottom plate edges and glue them up this week. Except for the neck blank question, beginning layout looks pretty straight forward.

I am sure I will have more questions when it comes to soundwell location. The beard plans are complete but I can see a challenge in getting the soundwell located properly. The Dusina article uses open sound posts for support so is not much help with soundwell issues.

Ken