The other day I was in a guitar shop and found and played a dobro. Whow.
Is there any Stones song, in which anybody played a dobro? I can't remember.

I have a picture of Keith from '72 (live?) with a Dobro or similar.
He must be seated on some kind of chair. Black pants with conchas on them.
Naturaly i don't know what he is playing, but he is sliding.
I'll send you the pic by mail.

Ron plays dobro on "Break the Spell"

open-g:

the shots to which you're referring are 1969 performances in which Jagger and Richards did "Prodigal Son" as a duo...

I know that "Dobro" is actually a brand name...is the instrument the same as a National guitar (immortalized by Paul Simon's "Graceland")?

Are they just brand names for a resonator or a steel guitar? And what's the difference between playing it on a lap or as a conventional guitar?

Finally, why not more use on Stones records--must be on "Stripped" but the examples escape me currently.

"Prodigal Son." What I'd give to hear the Stones have a shot at that one...

Dobro usually reffers to steel guitars with built in resonators....the things that look like the grill on the front of a car. They have a very distinctive sound because of the resonators. The feel is very stiff when finger picking and they are great for slide. National Steel Guitars are what the pro's usually prefer. Dire Straits put a pic of one on the cover of their big album put out in 1985. You can hear how it sounds with slide and fingerpicking on a track called "The Man's Too Strong.....one of many songs featuring steel guitar by many guitar players/bands.

Many guitar makers are now offering Resonator Steel Guitars, although they are not all steel, like a National. Fender has a new line out, reasonably priced with Fender "F" holes and a large resonator.

Lap Steels are basically the neck of a guitar with one single coil pickup, 1 tone , 1 volume control....much like a Telecaster. On these you play mainly slide, although I have seen guys also fingerpick on them. With a Lap Steel you literally put it on your lap and use your slide. Because of the positioning you can control your touch on the strings much better than standing. It is also easier to reach the higher notes on the strings with a lap, but it's a matter of choice, slide on a traditonal guitar (electric, acoustic or resonator) or a lap.

A pedal steel guitar is a whole other animal. Like a lap steel but it involves using pedals to bend the strings that you are sliding on. A very Hard instrument to master. Like playing a slide guitar and a pedal organ at the same time to get the sounds only a pedal steel can make. Ron Wood is very good at pedal steel.

Milo, NYC
I ate the Turkey and the stuffing too

You Gotta Move is the obvious selection of a Dobro on a Stones track.
Nowadays, when you talk about Dobros and National guitars,
you're talking about the same thing. The Dopyera brothers started a company
with another guy called the National String Instrument Company.
Soon after, the brothers split and started a company called Dobro.
Later, the two firms merged and formed National-Dobro.
They're also called resonator guitars due to the aluminum resonators
and the "cone" that gives it its distinctive sound.
Ron Wood uses it on Delia from GSN.
Lennon uses it on John Sinclair from Some Time IN NYC,
George Harrison uses it on Sue me Sue you Blues
Ray Davies uses it on Lola (strumming the intro!)
I think Fleetwood Mac uses it on Oh, Well and the Chain, too.
And YGM and Prodigal Son from the '69 tour.

Some shots of Mick and Keith doing Prodigal Son in 1969...







--- all photos from 1969 (probably Nov. 27 at MSG) by Joseph Sia

Rev. Robert W. said
"the shots to which you're referring are 1969 performances in which Jagger and Richards did "Prodigal Son" as a duo... "
Yes, you're right. I found some more pics by Ethan A Russell. The pic i was referring to was namend "Keith72.gif" so maybe only the dpi resolution was meant...oO

Well you got your questions nicely answerd by Milo Yammbag and tomK - so nothing to needs to be added, exept maybe this link of a shop where you can see & hear samples of all sorts of steel Guitars.
[www.steelguitar.net]

@ browneyedgirl,
did you forget the link?
edit - sorry, I just corrected my browser options



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-08-04 17:01 by open-g.

if you want to hear a great dobro player, listen to Jerry Douglas, on his own or on Alison Krauss and Union Station, he's in her band.
thanks!
DR

Very nice pictures of dobros you can see here:

[www.gibson.com]

Yeah, nice
here's another linkpool for artists and resources:
[www.nationalguitars.com]

They did Prodigal Son AND You Gotta Move on the National Style 4 in 1969.

Mathijs

Hi Friends,

If you've the cd Paint it Blue (1997 with a lot of artiste who played Stones songs)
if you listen "Moonlight Mile" with Alvin HART there you have a dobro ! (also it seems)

All Best

Ronnie plays slide Dobro on "Love in Vain" - the Stripped version:




Rolling Stones - Love In Vain (Stripped)

He is playing it during the break, where Ry Cooder's mandolin would go.

~Ben

Alreadyo over me from BTB has some RW's resonator play

Nationals have a harsher tone and are generally considered to be the best for blues - like Keith's use of them for "Prodigal Son" and "You Gotta Move". Dobros look very similar, but have the bridge set differently (on a "spider"over an internal inverted cone) giving a sweeter tone that lends itself more to country and bluegrass music.

There is, however, no hard and fast rule and the National and Dobro companies have gone through lots of changes and overlaps since the 1930's. Although people associate National with metal bodied resonators and Dobro with wood, in fact both companies have made both. The body material does influence the sound, but it is the style of cone used which determines whether it fits into typical "Dobro" or "National" categories. The quality of the cone has a huge influence on sound and fitting a decent cone to a budget model is the standard upgrade (like putting better pickups on a Squier).

Nationals tend to be round neck for traditional "Spanish" style playing, while Dobros are often square neck for lap-style or "Hawaiian" playing. Again, though, this is not a hard and fast rule and, just to further complicate matters, National make tri-cones which, as the name implies, have three cones instead of the standard single one.

Quote
Mathijs
They did Prodigal Son AND You Gotta Move on the National Style 4 in 1969.

Mathijs

This is a National Style O, it has a sandblasted Hawaian motif on the front and back,it has a single cone, is brass with nickel plating ,has a deep resonant strong tone IMO best played in a open tuning (D/E).Perfect for slide/blues
National also makes a Tricone. Tricones have Spanish necks but most are square necked to be played on the lap. The spanish necked vintage tricones are rarer and thus more expensive than the square necked model. They come in Type 1, Type 2 Type 3 Type 4 and somewhere there is a 3 1/2.The # connotes the etching on the body with style 1 having no etching, 2 has a border, 3 has flowers 4 has elaborate chysanthemum etching and is gorgous. The Tricone is a blend of the art noveau era meeting the art deco era. They were made to produce more volume as were played in the bands of that era which has a somewhat brighter sound, Son House best known for Style O.Johnny Winter plays a tricone
There are many wood bodied Dobros, the wood top is a laminate, similar to a plywood because the top has a hole where the cone is inserted. has a sweeter sound also comes square necked or round neck.
I own a national Style O and a Dobro style 17, I enjoy them immensely. I hope you find one to your liking, imo best not to skimp cause the cheap $300 models dont cut it. A new National Style O or Tricone will set you back a couple grand but worth it cause they're keepers.
Good Luck
RockinBud