Dobro 33D Made in USA OMI from 1975

Dobro's history dates back to the early 20th century, when the Dopyera brothers John and Rudy, Slovak immigrants living in the United States, began making musical instruments.

Both engineers and music enthusiasts, they found themselves unhappy with the lack of volume of traditional acoustic guitars, particularly when played in groups. They then looked for a solution to increase the sound volume of these instruments.

And it was in 1926/1927 that they developed a new type of resonator guitar that used a metal cone to amplify the sound. They patented their invention under the name "Dobro", derived from the words "Dopyera Brothers". Furthermore, the term "Dobro" also means "good" or "good" in Slovak, which corresponded well to the sound quality of the instruments they made.

The first Dobro guitar was mass-produced in 1928 and quickly became very popular among musicians of the time, particularly in the blues, country and bluegrass music styles. The distinctive metallic tone of the Dobro resonator became a key characteristic of the sound of many music recordings of the era.

Then, in 1932, the Dopyera brothers separated from their business and founded a new company called "National String Instrument Corporation". They continued to manufacture resonator guitars under the National brand, an equally recognized brand.

For its part, over the decades, the Dobro brand has changed hands several times. It also bought the National brand. In 1970, OMI obtained the Dobro brand name from the bankrupt Mosrite company, allowing the Dopyera family to once again manufacture Dobro guitars using their original name. And it was in 1993 that Dobro and OMI were bought by Gibson Guitar Corporation. The latter continues to produce Dobro guitars and develop new models to meet the needs of modern musicians.

Closely linked to the innovation and passion of the Dopyera brothers for music, Dobro is an innovative, historic brand recognized for the quality of its instruments. Thus, their invention of the Dobro resonator made a significant contribution to the evolution of musical instruments and continues to have an important influence on music today.

Here it is a 33D model which is offered for sale. The case is made entirely of metal and decorated with etched French foliage motifs, mentioned here in the extract from the 1976 Dobro catalog.

(Source: https://bb.steelguitarforum.com )

In a remarkable state of conservation, this Dobro bears witness to the OMI production era, initiated in 1970, before the Gibson takeover in 1993.

In short, a superb Dobro guitar for musicians as well as collectors, or those combining both hats!

Technical characteristics :

• Body: Metal
• Neck: Maple
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Width at nut: 45 mm
• Radius: 9.5"
• Frets: 19 jumbo frets
• Scale: 24.5" (622 mm)
• Profile: C
• Hardware: Chrome
• Country of manufacture: United States
• Year: 1975
• Finish: Natural (neck) / Chrome (body)
• Decorations: Mother-of-pearl inlaid key markers
• Details: Normal signs of wear given its age / Delivered in a more recent hard case

Like all our instruments, this Dobro is fully tuned and completely playable.

It also has pleasant playing comfort.

With a typical Dobro sound, projective, balanced with good sustain, this Dobro will delight blues, country and folk musicians!