Dobro string spacing... help, please

James Hartman · From: Pennsylvania, USA

I have a metal body round-neck dobro from the mid '70s. I'd mainly played it lap style with the strings jacked up, although it's actually been in storage for years. The round neck doesn't really like the tension with the strings raised and in any case, was badly damaged some years ago in a flood.

So, I'm going to have a new square neck made for it by a local luthier. Which raises the question of string spacing at the nut. I figured I'd go with whatever has become standard for square necks and looked on some manufacturer websites for specs. Scheerhorn states nut width 1.875". Taking that literally as nut width, not string spacing, I'm not sure exactly what the Scheerhorn spacing is. Paul Beard, somewhere, mentions 8.5mm string to string spacing. Either of the above would no doubt be fine. Coincidentally, my two favorite lap steels are almost exactly 1.875" overall spacing from 1st to 6th string, at the nut.

Since I've played the round neck dobro in past with quite narrow spacing, but feel more comfortable with the wider spacing on the electric laps, I'll go for wider. Just not sure how much wider. Anyway, thought I'd solicit comment from dobro players here. Do the specs I cited sound right? Any Scheerhorn or Beard owners wish the spacing was different?

Thanks for any help!

Howard Parker · From: Maryland

The Beard spec is:

6 str spacing at nut = 8.75mm
spacing at bridge =11.5mm

Nut width = 1 7/8

Pretty much the standard with new builds. Great note separation.

h
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Howard Parker

03\' Carter D-10
70\'s Dekley D-10
52\' Fender Custom
Many guitars by Paul Beard
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James Hartman · From: Pennsylvania, USA

Thanks, Howard, for your input.

Just to clarify, the 8.75mm you cited is center to center string spacing? Otherwise, 8.75mm measured edge of string to edge of string, the math doesn't work if it's to fit on a 1 7/8" wide nut. Even so, seems like the outer strings will be awful close to the edges of the nut.

Or did I screw up the calculations? Math, not my strong point.

Howard Parker · From: Maryland

James Hartman · From: Pennsylvania, USA

James Hartman · From: Pennsylvania, USA

Meant to ask, also, what's typical string height, at the nut, on a Beard?

Howard Parker · From: Maryland

The height is determined by the coverplate's palm rest.

Paul makes his own coverplates with a very high palm rest. Even with that height the action is high enough that only one string at a time can be removed when changing a set.

So, the short answer is, with your hardware, high enough that the strings don't touch the palm rest when the guitar is at pitch or- as high as you can get it. Very Happy

h

Mark Eaton · Posted 26 Jan 2015 10:59 am

James asked the typical string height on a Beard (squareneck).

Just a guess, but I'm thinking of 3/8" at the nut.

There might be a variance among different builders of squareneck resonators of about 1/8" - I'm thinking the majority use a string height at the nut of 3/8" but I have come across some guitars that are 1/2" height at the nut.
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Mark

Greg Booth · From: Anchorage, AK, USA

My Scheerhorn string height is 7/16" at the nut. I have played at least one Appalachian with 1/2" high action at the nut. I find 7/16" to be ideal and think that many modern dobros are about that high.
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Mark Eaton · Posted 26 Jan 2015 8:35 pm

7/16" - must be the Scheerhorn 'tweener size, like having all those different waist size on Levi's at the department store.
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Mark

James Hartman · From: Pennsylvania, USA

Yes, my question was specific to height at the nut.

Obviously so long as it's high enough the strings aren't hitting the fingerboard under bar pressure, it works. But I imagined builders had arrived at a more or less standard height that seems optimal without creating too much leveraged stress on the instrument.

The 3/8" - 7/16" cited here is pretty much what I'd expected.

At the other end, as Howard pointed out, there are predetermining factors. Although, no palm rest on this instrument; I removed it years ago to facilitate palm muting.

Thanks, guys, for all the input.

James Hartman · From: Pennsylvania, USA

Soon to drop off my dobro for its make-over. Final review of the specs I've arrived at; and thanks for info offered here.

I wanted to revisit the issue of string height at the nut. 3/8" and 7/16" were suggested as modern standard height. 1/16" more or less probably doesn't make a very noticeable difference. But, I thought I'd ask whether any of you guys feel strongly that the higher or lower spec is more desirable.

Thanks!

Dave Thier · From: Fairhope, Alabama, USA

James Hartman · From: Pennsylvania, USA

Dave Thier · From: Fairhope, Alabama, USA

James, A builder could give you a good discussion on this topic, but it seems that 7/16 in. seems to be the sweet spot. If you found out later you wanted 3/8 for some reason, it could be lowered.

James Hartman · From: Pennsylvania, USA

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