One of the resonator guitars at the Loud & Clear Show at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento is a back-to-back double-8 guitar. I can just see it now: C6 on one neck and E9 on the other, and flipping it over in the middle of a song. Good fun.
There are a number of 8-string Dobros floating around. Ten-string ones too. You're right, though. Would be great if Regal or Johnson or somebody came out with one.
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Pete
www.petegrant.com
7 or 8 string resonator guitars
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Pete Grant
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IMHO, I'd guess it has to do with the popular G and A tunnings.
8-strings are best tuned to C-6th, E-6th, E-7th, etc. Since it seems as if most players use resontors for Bluegrass, they tend to shy away from an 8-string which sounds more like a steel in those tunings.
The 7-string really came from the 7-string lap steels of the 30s and 40s and works well in an E tuning but, as with the 8-string, it too falls hard on the ears of the Bluegrass players, especially those who play in G tuning like a banjo.
Mike Auldridge has a great 8-string CD and three of Shot Jackson's CDs,with him playing his 7-string are still in print. One of the three was from his last session.
I kind of like playing my 7-string since I create a different sound than what most people expect from a dobro. But the bottom line is my band leader likes it.
8-strings are best tuned to C-6th, E-6th, E-7th, etc. Since it seems as if most players use resontors for Bluegrass, they tend to shy away from an 8-string which sounds more like a steel in those tunings.
The 7-string really came from the 7-string lap steels of the 30s and 40s and works well in an E tuning but, as with the 8-string, it too falls hard on the ears of the Bluegrass players, especially those who play in G tuning like a banjo.
Mike Auldridge has a great 8-string CD and three of Shot Jackson's CDs,with him playing his 7-string are still in print. One of the three was from his last session.
I kind of like playing my 7-string since I create a different sound than what most people expect from a dobro. But the bottom line is my band leader likes it.