Somebody (likely here) explained the difference(s) to me at one time but I'm old and I forget stuff. Can somebody help me out again???
Unless......a squareneck is strictly for playing lap steel style, with it laying in your lap and playing with a slide.
Dobros are designed for higher tension tunings like dobro open G, where the two larger strings are tuned up to G and B. I think the strings are heavier also, with a recommended 56/13 for the bluegrass open G, and up to 62/16for regular open D.
Yes, usually. Like a standard flattop or classical guitar, there are endless ways to tune them and no hard rules. But the standard squareneck tuning (low to high) is GBDGBD - two major triads an octave apart. Some people like other open tunings better.Squareneck dobros are tuned differently, correct?
Right. It's not very useful for left-hand fingering.. . . Don't use dobro Open G on a regular guitar!!
Yup. What's interesting is that, much more than other fretted instrument, a squareneck feels like two completely different instruments standing and sitting. You practically have to relearn it if you change from one to another.Unless...Ralf
Too true! I usually don't sing when I'm on squareneck. I manage it on a few songs, but while I'm singing, the playing is highly minimalistic. (That's true on standard guitar and mando, too, but much more so with squareneck. It's not really strumming-friendly.). . . There is a reason that there are not many squareneck dobro players who also sing. Playing one requires your undivided attention.