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Author
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Topic: Tailpiece on one of Jerry Douglas' Dobros
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Keith DeLong
Member From: Dartmouth NS Canada
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posted 18 August 2003 08:18 AM
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I saw Jerry Douglas on the Opry a few weeks ago and one of his Dobros looked like it had a tailpiece that allowed you to change tunings on the fly. Anybody know anything about this? |
D Schubert
Member From: Columbia, MO, USA
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posted 18 August 2003 10:37 AM
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Hipshot (Dave Borisoff) makes several products that could be adapted for this purpose. The Hipshot is primarily intended for Telecasters. It has an "axle" where one or more levers can be mounted. The most common attachments are a b-bender (raises B to C# via a hip lever) and a drop-D cam that takes the low E down to D with a snap, not a smooth movement. Going back 15 years, I kept adding stuff to mine, and eventually switched it from my Tele to a round-neck Dobro with very little trouble (replaced the existing tailpiece w/o any drilling, as I recall). Eventually removed it and sold it. They also make a Trilogy brige that fits Stratocasters, that allows for each string to be tuned to three different notes. Very tricky, and probably not a bolt-on fit like the Hipshot. I read where JD had been using a minimum of two Dobros on stage -- one in G and one in D -- but maybe he's experimenting with alternatives. |
Earnest Bovine
Member From: Los Angeles CA USA
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posted 18 August 2003 02:10 PM
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More than 20 years ago, when Dave Borisoff was in Los Angeles, he tried to put something like the Hipshot Trilogy bridge(not actually invented yet) on a Dobro. But the Dobro required too much metal reinforcement. It ruined the tone and he gave up on adapting it to the Dobro. |
Mike D
Member From: Phx, Az
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posted 18 August 2003 02:36 PM
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At a festival here in Phx I met a guy who had built an automatic, electrically powered tuning changer that used little servos to alter the tunings. Would have been kinda cool if it didn't weight 5 lbs and need a 6v latern battery to go with it.  |
Bob Stone
Member From: Gainesville, FL, USA
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posted 18 August 2003 02:37 PM
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Is this what you saw? Looks like a bunch of fiddle-style fine tuners to me. Hard to tell from this one photo though.
Jerry Douglas answering questions after the Master's Workshop.[This message was edited by Brad Bechtel on 19 August 2003 at 08:41 AM.] |
Stephen Gambrell
Member From: Ware Shoals, South Carolina, USA
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posted 18 August 2003 04:01 PM
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I think Ivan Guernsey's tried the Trilogy on a guitar, but I'm not sure if it's available.
He played some stuff for me over the phone, and it sounded pretty doggone good. |
Michael Brebes
Member From: Northridge CA
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posted 19 August 2003 07:40 AM
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That is a Hipshot Trilogy bridge for dobro. I believe it is on their website. It was on their handouts at the LA NAMM show, but they didn't have one there. To make it work well atleast the bridge, if not the nut-like in the pic, need to be changed so that the strings won't bind up with the tension change. |
Bob Stone
Member From: Gainesville, FL, USA
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posted 19 August 2003 08:07 AM
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Gazooks!Here's the Hipshot TMB5 for reso:
http://www.hipshotproducts.com/tmb/tmb1.htm [This message was edited by Bob Stone on 19 August 2003 at 08:18 AM.] |
Keith DeLong
Member From: Dartmouth NS Canada
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posted 21 August 2003 07:06 AM
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Yes, Bob, that's what I saw, and thanks to everyone else for your info. It would probably need the roller nut to stay in tune. I'd be curious to know what changes Jerry uses with it, there are all kinds of possibilities. |
Chuck Fisher
Member From: Santa Cruz, California, USA
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posted 21 August 2003 12:54 PM
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Thats looking like the trilogy to me, I have one on my lap steel, its quite adjustable, I get C D DADGAD E E7 Em7and G low bass out of it, C6 seems undo-able as guages are too different. I have a 22 7/8 scale with 56-13 guages BTW He has the hipshot roller nut too. Good juju for sure.[This message was edited by Chuck Fisher on 21 August 2003 at 02:51 PM.] [This message was edited by Chuck Fisher on 21 August 2003 at 10:14 PM.] |
Michael Brebes
Member From: Northridge CA
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posted 22 August 2003 07:33 AM
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If I remember, another part of it is having a bridge with a graphite top on it so the strings can slide there as well. Of course that wouldn't be viewable in the picture. |
Chuck Fisher
Member From: Santa Cruz, California, USA
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posted 22 August 2003 03:04 PM
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The Trilogy setup on my lapsteel has a delrin bridge-bone, the breakove angle is very slight, so it doesnt stick to strings much, dunno how that would fly on a reso, however. The roller nut is cool, Dave at Hipshot is threatening a roller bridge with the same design but with th trilogy's .410 spacing. That surely would not work on a reso. Hipshot is well made and Dave is a good guy for sure. |
Tony Dingus
Member From: Kingsport, Tennessee, USA
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posted 31 August 2003 08:11 PM
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I think Jerry uses this guitar for D & F tuning, Man of Constant Sorrow (F)and Monkey Let the Hogs Out (D), he probably plays both
tunes on ever show so that cut down on taking one more guitar. This is just my thoughts on the subject.
Tony
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John Billings
Member From: Northfield Center, Ohio, USA
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posted 01 September 2003 09:41 AM
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I have a 5 lever Hipshot on one of my 6-strings. I have tried roller nuts, and built a roller Tele bridge using Schaller roller saddles. I have come to the conclusion that the rollers are tremendous tone-robbers! My luthier, Kurt Wright, has proven to me that if the nut and saddles are properly cut and smoothed, that the issue of staying in tune while using a Hipshot is a non-issue. After he worked on my guitar, it stays in tune perfectly. I do lube all slots, nut and bridge, with graphite and a little Vaseline. John Billings |
Jerry Tillman
Member From:
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posted 03 September 2003 05:09 AM
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I do a lot of string bending on my teles and started using pencils to lube all string contact points.It works great and you can put it right where you want it to go.I also put it on my pedal steel nuts and changers and feel it helps there also.There is a lot of tension at the nut on all guitars when you start pulling and bending strings and it gets overlooked when your attention is on the brigde problems.I have a parsons-white string bender that drags the b string over the stock tele bridge a whole step with no tuning or tone problems as long as I keep the pencil lead on the bridge and nut.I do it when I change strings and maybe once in between.One other place to lube on string through the body guitars is where the string gores through the hole and into the body of the guitar.That hole should be smooth and lube with pencil lead also.Sorry for the long post.I do half and whole step bends all night while I,m playing and these steps help me to stay reasonably in tune,whatever that is.Thanks,lakeshrk. |
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