imported>Crywalt at 21:21, 10 September 2025

2025-09-10T21:21:32Z

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{{Short description|American guitar brand}}
{{For|the instrument in bluegrass and blues music commonly called a dobro|Resonator guitar}}
{{Other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Dobro Manufacturing Company
| logo = Dobro logo.png
| logo_size = 150px
| slogan =
| vector_logo =
| type = [[Privately held company|Private]] (1928–1937)<br/> [[Brand]] (1940–present)
| genre =
| foundation = 1928
| founder = [[John Dopyera]]
| fate = Merged with [[National String Instrument Corporation|National]] to form "National Dobro Co." in 1935,<ref name=part1/> brand then used by [[Valco]] and other manufacturers
| defunct =
| location_city =
| location_country = United States
| origins =
| key_people =
| area_served =
| industry = [[Musical instruments]]
| products = [[Resonator guitar]]s
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| num_employees =
| parent =
| subsid =
| owner = [[Gibson (guitar company)|Gibson]] (1993–present)
| homepage =
| footnotes =
}}

'''Dobro''' ({{IPAc-en|d|oʊ|b|r|oʊ}}) is an American [[brand]] of [[resonator guitar]]s owned by [[Gibson (guitar company)|Gibson]] and manufactured by its subsidiary [[Epiphone]]. The term "dobro" is also used as a [[generic term]] for any wood-bodied, single-cone [[resonator guitar]].

The Dobro was originally a [[guitar manufacturing]] company founded by the [[Dopyera]] brothers as the Dobro Manufacturing Company. Their guitar design, with a single outward-facing resonator cone, was introduced to compete with the patented inward-facing tricone and biscuit designs produced by the [[National String Instrument Corporation]]. The Dobro name appeared on other instruments, notably electric [[lap steel guitar]]s and [[solid body]] [[electric guitar]]s and on other resonator instruments such as Safari [[resonator mandolin]]s.

==History==
[[File:Dobro style37 tenor guitar.jpg|thumb|upright|Dobro–style [[tenor guitar]], 1934]]
The roots of the Dobro story can be traced to the 1920s when Slovak immigrant [[John Dopyera]], instrument repairman and inventor, and musician [[George Beauchamp]] were searching for more volume for Beauchamp's guitars. Dopyera built an ampliphonic (or "resonator") for Beauchamp, which was patented in December 1929.<ref name=part1>[http://www.vintageguitar.com/1803/supro-guitars-and-amplifiers-part-i/ Supro guitars and amplifiers] By Michael Wright on Vintage Guitar</ref> In mid-1929, Dopyera left the [[National String Instrument Corporation]] to start the Dobro Manufacturing Company along with his brothers Rudy and Ed, and Vic Smith. National continued operating under Beauchamp, Barth et al.<ref name=part1/> ''Dobro'' is both a contraction of 'Dopyera brothers' and [[wikt:dobro#Slovak|a word meaning 'good']] in their native [[Slovak language|Slovak]], but also in many other [[Slavic languages]]. An early company motto was "Dobro means good in any language." In 1930, the Dobro company name was changed to Dobro Corporation, Ltd., with additional capital provided by Louis and Robert Dopyera. Dobro was, during this period, a competitor of National.<ref name=part1/>

The Dobro was the third [[resonator guitar]] design by Dopyera, but the second to enter production. Unlike his earlier [[tricone]] design, which had three ganged inward-facing resonator cones, the Dobro had a single outward-facing cone, with its concave surface facing up. The Dobro company described this as a bowl-shaped resonator.

The Dobro was louder than the tricone and cheaper to produce. In Dopyera's opinion, the cost of manufacture had priced the resonator guitar beyond the reach of many players. His failure to convince his fellow directors at National String Instrument Corporation to produce a single-cone version was a motivating factor for leaving.

Since National had applied for a patent on an inward-facing single cone (US patent 1808756),<ref>{{Cite patent
| country = US
| number = 1808756
| status = patent
| title = Stringed musical instrument
| pubdate = 1931-06-09
| gdate = 1931-06-09
| fdate = 1929-03-11
| pridate = 1929-03-11
| inventor = Beauchamp, George D.
| invent1 = Beauchamp, George D.
| invent2 = 
| assign1 = 
| assign2 = 
| class = 
| url = https://patents.google.com/patent/US1808756A
}}.</ref> Dopyera developed a design that reversed its direction: the guitar's bridge rested on an eight-legged cast [[aluminum]] spider sitting on the perimeter of the cone (US patent 1896484),<ref>{{Cite patent
| country = US
| number = 1896484
| status = patent
| title = Musical instrument
| pubdate = 1933-02-07
| gdate = 1933-02-07
| fdate = 1932-02-01
| pridate = 1932-02-01
| inventor = Dopyera, Rudolph
| invent1 = Dopyera, Rudolph
| invent2 = 
| assign1 = 
| assign2 = 
| class = 
| url = https://patents.google.com/patent/US1896484A
}}.</ref> rather than on the apex of the cone as it did in the National design.

[[File:Spider resonator.jpg|thumb|left|"Spider"-shape resonator detail]]
In the following years, both Dobro and National built a wide variety of metal- and wood-bodied single-cone guitars, while National also continued with the tricone for a time. Both companies sourced many components from National director [[Adolph Rickenbacher]], and John Dopyera remained a major shareholder in National. By 1932, the Dopyera brothers had gained control of both National and Dobro, which they merged to form the National-Dobro Company. By the 1940s, National-Dobro had been purchased by [[Valco]].<ref>McMahon, Chris (17 October 2013). [https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/19828-the-guitars-that-chicago-built "The guitars that Chicago built".] ''[[Premier Guitar]]''.</ref> Valco ceased production of Dobro-branded guitars after [[World War II]]; however, the Dopyera brothers continued to manufacture resonator guitars under various other brand names.<ref name=gibsonhistory>{{cite web|url=http://www.gibson.com/press/brands.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705173909/http://www.gibson.com/press/brands.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 July 2014|title=Gibson brands|date=5 July 2014}}</ref>

In 1964, the Dopyera brothers revived the Dobro brand name. They sold the name to [[Semie Moseley]] in 1966. In 1970, the Dopyeras' [[Original Musical Instrument Company]] (OMI) yet again reacquired the Dobro name.<ref name=gibsonhistory /> In 1993, the [[Gibson (guitar company)|Gibson]] Guitar Corporation acquired OMI along with the Dobro name.<ref>US Trademark Registration Number 0950801, January 16, 1973</ref> The company became Gibson's Original Acoustic Instruments division, and production was moved to [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]] in 2000.<ref name=gibsonhistory /> {{As of|2012|February}}, Dobros were manufactured by Gibson subsidiary [[Epiphone]].<ref name=products>{{Cite web
| title = Epiphone Bluegrass instruments
| url = http://www.epiphone.com/Products/Acoustics/Bluegrass.aspx
| website = www.epiphone.com
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120213153543/http://www.epiphone.com/Products/Acoustics/Bluegrass.aspx
| archive-date = 13 February 2012
| url-status = dead
| language = en
| access-date = 28 October 2019
}}
</ref> {{As of|2023|January}}, Dobros were not listed on Epiphone's website.<ref>{{Cite web
| title = Epiphone Bluegrass collection
| url = https://www.epiphone.com/en-US/Collection/bluegrass
| website = www.epiphone.com
| language = en
| access-date = 23 January 2023
}}</ref>

The Dobro was first introduced to country music by [[Bashful Brother Oswald]], who played dobro with [[Roy Acuff]] starting in January 1939.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=T5ZvV5egY2oC&dq=roy+acuff+first+dobro&pg=PA213 ''Complete Dobro Player''] by Stacy Phillips, p. 213 – Mel Bay Publications, Inc. (2015) – {{ISBN|978-0786692026}}</ref>

The first and second prototypes of the Dobro created by the brothers reside at the invention's birthplace of Taft, California, in a museum about the town's oil production history.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.taftmidwaydriller.com/article/20111110/NEWS/311109982 |title=Museum in Taft, California |access-date=2020-01-12 |archive-date=2021-08-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803070820/https://www.taftmidwaydriller.com/article/20111110/NEWS/311109982 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On June 19, 2019, a 1933 Dobro Resonator Guitar Model 27, owned by [[David Gilmour]], was sold at auction for a record $112,500.<ref>{{Cite web
| title = Live Auction 16980 – The David Gilmour Guitar Collection: Lot 39
| url = https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-dobro-los-angeles-circa-1933-a-resonator-6198101/
| website = www.christies.com
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230123111038/https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-dobro-los-angeles-circa-1933-a-resonator-6198101/
| archive-date = 23 January 2023
| url-status = live
| language = en
| access-date = 23 January 2023
}}
</ref>

== Epiphone Dobros ==
Existing and past models of resonator guitars manufactured by the Gibson Company are:<ref name=products/>
* [[Original Musical Instrument Company|Hound Dog]]
** Round neck
** Deluxe round neck
** Deluxe square neck
** M-14 metal body
* [[Gibson (guitar company)|Gibson]]'s Phil Leadbetter resonator series

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Dobro-guitars}}
* [http://www.resoguit.com/getz/prewar.pdf History of the Pre-War Dobro] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803070821/http://www.resoguit.com/getz/prewar.pdf |date=2021-08-03 }} by Randy Getz

{{Gibson Guitar Corporation}}
{{Guitar brands}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Gibson acoustic guitars]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1928]]
[[Category:Gibson Brands]]
[[Category:Resophonic instruments]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1928]]
[[Category:Musical instruments brands]]

Dobro - Revision history

imported>Crywalt at 21:21, 10 September 2025