❌SOLD❌Dobro Model 60D-S Square Neck Shaded, 1988

This Dobro Model 60D-S Square Neck Resophonic guitar with shaded finish was built during 1988 in Huntington Beach, CA by OMI, the Original Musical Instrument Company. OMI was founded in 1967 by two surviving brothers of the Dopyera family, Rudy and Emile.

This Dobro Model 60D-S Square Neck guitar dates to 1988, based on the serial number stamped on the top of the headstock. It is in overall good condition, with a thin, somewhat oxidized finish. Not surprisingly there is no fret wear! The resonator cover has a few marks but these are entirely cosmetic. The construction is largely Maple Laminate (some models used Birch laminate for the bodies), with a Maple neck and an Indian Rosewood fingerboard.

Sold without case, but we have both hard and semi-rigid cases available.

John Dopyera was a luthier in Los Angeles in the 1920’s. He was approached by musician and promoter George Beauchamp with a request for a much louder version of the guitar. Dopyera came up with an all-new design for a metal-bodied guitar with a bridge resting on three spun aluminum cones. That design launched the National String Instrument Corporation with Beauchamp and John’s brothers Rudy and Emile, among others. Many of the The metal components were made locally by an expatriate Swiss engineer by the name of Adolph Richenbacher; his work branched off into what is now the Rickenbacker International Corporation.

Dopyera soon left to form DoBro with his brothers Rudy and Ed. The two companies competed for a time, but in 1932 Dobro re-joined National and within a short time had merged the two, and in 1939 the Dobro brand disappeared. Because of their use of aluminum, all resonator instrument production ended by 1942, the materials diverted to the war effort. The company changed again, now named Valco, with products including amplifiers under many names.

In 1954, Rudy and Ed Dopyera re-started the company under the name DB Original, at first using old stock materials. The Dobro logo seen on this Dobro Model 66s was introduced around 1962. In 1966, the company was sold to Semie Mosley of Mosrite guitars, but by 1968 was bankrupt. Just before this, Ed and Rudy, with Gabriella Lazar formed OMI, the Original Musical Instrument company, and started building Hound Dog branded guitars. OMI finally obtained the rights to the Dobro name in 1970. OMI was sold to the Lizaks in 1984, and then to Gibson in 1993. Over this history, many changes were made to the location of production facilities.