While My Regal Dobro Guitar Gently Dreams

 

I'm more accustomed  to playing electric guitar.  But during the winter storm, power was down and the cell phone battery was low, so one of the ways I entertained the household was to go unplug.   This guitar is a Dobro style resonator that has a unique sound.  The roots of Dobro story can be traced to the 1920s when Slovak immigrant and instrument repairman/inventor John Dopyera and musician George Beauchamp were searching for more volume for his guitars. Dopyera built an ampliphonic (or "resonator") for Beauchamp.  Dobro is both a contraction of "Dopyera brothers" and a word meaning 'good' in their native Slovak.

Gibson currently owns the registered brand name Dobro.  So even though this guitar is usually referred to as a Dobro, it's actually manufactured by Regal.  This kind of model is no longer made - so in a sense it's unusual to see one play it in public.