Reso/tone bar advice, please.

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

I have owned a Dobro (a standard wood-bodied 1980-ish D60 - or so I'm told) for nearly twenty years and, before last month, had never attempted to actually play it! I saw it in a music store in VA during my first year working in the US and thought 'I should have one just in case...'

Well, 'just in case' is where it stayed until recently. I was just doing 'Lost Highway' (Hank Williams bio) and the MD needed me to play some 'reso' so I took the plunge.

GBDGBD, of course, and I quite enjoyed myself! I won't say that I'm yet threatening Jerry Douglas' throne but I became absorbed with its contrast to pedal steel.

My question: The Dobro came with a Stevens bar but I hate it. It feels too small for my rather large hand. I found that my hand was muting the strings on either side of the Stevens. I ended up using a Dunlop 3/4" steel bar which filled my hand nicely but wouldn't allow accurate pull-offs due to the rounded end.

Is there a bar available with more body-mass than the Stevens? I don't think I can play what I want to play with the Dunlop so I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

I think my Dobro sounds really good. I had good feedback from a couple of people attesting to its tone 'in the house' so I think it served its purpose for the run of the show. Now I'd like to make some progress.
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Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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Scott Duckworth · From: Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies

Dumb suggestion.. try turning the Dunlop bar around...
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Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
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I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus!

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Ermmm - why not?

I didn't think of that! Embarassed

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Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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James Hartman · From: Pennsylvania, USA

Pretty sure Shubb makes a variety of different lengths in that style. Their SP1 is around 3.5" Quite a few different manufacturers of 'Stevens' type bars out there making them in different sizes and shapes.

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

It's not so much the length as it is the body of the bar. The 3/4 inch Dunlop fills my hand nicely (although I prefer the BJS 15/16" for PSG) and I can play without accidentally muting strings.

Of course the channels on a proper Reso bar help for picking the bar up quickly.
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Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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Mark Eaton · Posted 15 Nov 2017 8:42 am

Check out Charlie's bars. Charles McClary is in Alabama, in retirement from as I recall a career as a machinist, he developed an outstanding dobro capo and has since followed with a very high quality dobro bar. These are typically a little beefier than some of the other designs out there.

Charlie's a good man, and very pleasant to deal with.

https://www.charliescapo.com/

When playing "dobro-tuned" lap steel (Open G and Open D) and sometimes resonator, though my go-to bar for that is a Scheerhorn, I have been using Bill Asher's bar. It is beefier, and a little more bulky than the Scheerhorn. Bill and his wife Jessica are also wonderful folks!

https://asher-guitars-lap-steels-store.myshopify.com/collections/all-accessories/products/asher-chrome-plated-cold-rolled-steel-slide-bar-super-nice
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Mark

Brad Davis · From: Texas, USA

If you have large hands maybe try Dunlop's Long Dawg?

Nathan Laudenbach · From: Montana

If the Stevens bar was the only bar known to man, I bet you would figure out how to make due. IZ played a soprano uke for crying out loud! Of course I won't touch anything but my "fat black" Clinesmith polymer bar.

Scott Duckworth · From: Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies

I had one of the Shubb bars with the curve on the end, thinking it would be better to play those individual notes. Turned out I hated it.
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Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
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I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus!

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Mark:

I like the look of Charlie's capo and I'm ordering one. His bar looks nice too but I wish he'd posted the dimensions. Perhaps I'll contact him. If it's any taller than the Stevens that would do it for me.

Scott:
I've had moderate success with turning the standard 3/4" Dunlop bar back-to-front. I have to remember that I'm new to resonator guitar so the shortcomings are perhaps more my fault than that of any gear I'm using.

Thanks to everyone who has responded.
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Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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Mark Eaton · Posted 16 Nov 2017 11:24 am

Good move on the capo Roger, tell Charlie I sent you.

RE the bar there is in fact a FAQ section and questions are answered regarding the dimensions, look for FAQ in blue on the top right of your screen and click on it:

https://www.charliescapo.com/
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Mark

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

He replied to my inquiry and told me that the bar is one inch high. The Stevens bar is maybe 3/4" so I took the plunge.

Capo and bar are on their way to me. I'll let him know you put me on to him. Thanks.
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Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Even if it's taller you may find it to be lighter - unless you ordered an extra long one.

In my experience the Steven Steel is the heaviest stock bar available.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

I have gone with Charlie's bar and capo.

The bar fills my hand nicely, is higher in profile than the Stevens and is hefty enough to produce a good tone.

His capo is a brilliant design. While I don't expect to be using this very much it'll serve me well should the need arise.

Both came to about $165 which is a bit pricey, but they have solved the problems caused by my fat fingers!

Thanks for all the contributions.
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Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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John McClung · From: Olympia WA, USA

I don't play much Dobro these days, but when I did I alternated between a standard BJS pedal steel bar, and the Shubb SP-2, with the curved nose. You can push that bar forward like a PSG bar, and I like that. A square tipped Stevens bar gets an entirely different sound, and leads to a different style of playing, it seems to me. I was just trying to adapt my steel skills to Dobro, so I wasn't a purist by any means.
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Stu Schulman · From: Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)

Like McClung I'm mainly a PSG player but find myself playing a lot of Dobro these days,I recently bought a bar from my pal Cindy Cashdollar and it's sort of like a Stevens with a rounded off end,I wish that I knew how to post a picture but I haven't been able to post one in a while,Cindy said that a machinist makes these for her,I also used to use the Shubb with the rounded nose,Cindy's bar is thicker!

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Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952.

Stu Schulman · From: Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)

I figured out how to post my photos,I set my camera on the smallest size photo resolution,then send it to my phone then send it to the forum...rejoice!
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Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952.

Bill McCloskey · From: Nanuet, NY

I play nothing but dobro. I'm trying to imagine how you are muting strings in front of the bar? Perhaps it isn't a problem with the bar but your grip on the bar? Your forefinger should be on top of the bar, not on the sides, like with a rounded bar. I use two bars pretty much exclusively: The Beard 2010 and the Scheerhorn steel.

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

And you *should* be muting strings behind it.

A rounded-tip bar is only useful if you plan to play nothing but slides. Hammer-on's and especially pulloffs require a squared-off bottom edge - most pulloffs are actually slight "snapping" action down and towards you (essentially picking the string with the bar), which is impossible with a round tip.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional

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