Members scottdcoi Posted February 21, 2008 Members Share Posted February 21, 2008 I'm having trouble decoding the serial number on my dobro. i'm wondering the year. d5 073 96. Its a d style, wood body. Some codes i've seen say the last 2 are year digits, but the guy i bought it from said he bought it new in the 80s. This serial number doesnt conform to the 80s code either. Any help is appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scottdcoi Posted February 21, 2008 Author Members Share Posted February 21, 2008 http://www.provide.net/~cfh/dobro.html 1967-1974 OMI Dobro: 101 - 401 1967-1970 402 - 712 1971 713 - 1427 1972 1428 - 2296 1973 2297 - 2372 early 1974 1974-1979 OMI Dobro: Y (#)### D configuration. Y is last digit of the year (if this number is "3" it is actually 1974). 3 or 4 numerals in center are instrument ranking for year starting with 101. D is body type: D=wood, B=brass, M=steel or mandolin. Could maybe fit if body code could be first character? a '75 (d5)? But then there are too many number characters. 1980-1988 OMI Dobro: 8 (#)### yD configuration. 8 is the decade of manufacture (8=1980s). 2 or 3 or 4 numerals in center are serial number for year. Numeral y before letter is last digit of year. Last character is body type: D=wood, B=metal. Doesnt fit because the body type character is first. 1988-1994 OMI Dobro: A# #### yyD configuration. First letter (and numeral) is style. numerals in center are instrument ranking. yy is last two digits of year. Last character is body type: D=wood, B=metal, H=Hounddog, P=solid peghead. Doesnt fit because the body type character is first (D style) and because the year would be 96, outside of the '88-94 code. 1995-1997 OMI Dobro: A(A) (x)xxx yy configuration. First letters are style. numerals in center are instrument ranking. yy is last two digits of year year. Doesnt fit because the first 2 arent letters, there is a letter then a number 1998-current Gibson Dobro: 8 digits ymmddrry configuration First y is last digit of year. mm is month dd is day rr is rank last y is decade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scottdcoi Posted February 22, 2008 Author Members Share Posted February 22, 2008 Anyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alan Roberts Posted February 22, 2008 Members Share Posted February 22, 2008 I believe Gibson currently owns the Dobro name - maybe a call to their customer service would get you an answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scottdcoi Posted February 23, 2008 Author Members Share Posted February 23, 2008 im pretty sure gibson doesnt answer phones on saturdays. Anyone else with a knowledge for dobros know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted February 23, 2008 Members Share Posted February 23, 2008 I'm having trouble decoding the serial number on my dobro. i'm wondering the year. d5 073 96. Its a d style, wood body. Some codes i've seen say the last 2 are year digits, but the guy i bought it from said he bought it new in the 80s. This serial number doesnt conform to the 80s code either. Any help is appreciated. I'm pretty sure the 96 is the year it was made. the 073 is the 73 one made in the D5 series. 1-800 4 GIBSON can confirm this. Customer service is open 24/7. This one will be easy if it's a 96 model, Gibson bought OMI in about 93-94 OMI guitars the last letter was either a D=wood, B=metal, H=Hounddog, or P=solid peghead First letters are style. numerals in center are instrument ranking. yy is last two digits of year year. So yours is a D5 series, the 73rd one made for that year of 1996. I think the guy is lying to ya and a 5 in the D5 might even be a coded model # Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scottdcoi Posted February 23, 2008 Author Members Share Posted February 23, 2008 Could be he was lyin'. He said it was stolen and the guy gave it back to him cuz he felt guilty, but maybe if it is a '96 then the guy who stole it swapped his with a different one. Whatever. Its still a sweet guitar and was got at a great price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RobertStefan Posted April 13, 2016 Members Share Posted April 13, 2016 Can someone out there help me identify this Dobro model and general info? , cant find any catalogues from 1993 ser # A431393D Any help would be appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted April 13, 2016 Members Share Posted April 13, 2016 Can someone out there help me identify this Dobro model and general info? , cant find any catalogues from 1993 ser # A431393D Any help would be appreciated! I believe that is a model 90 woodie 14th fret neck joint too Looks like yours has the biscuit bridge The model 90 came in both wood and chrome bell brass. The plate came in a few different styles too By 1993 Dobro was actually owned by Gibson and might have been made in Nashville and not California. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted April 13, 2016 Members Share Posted April 13, 2016 Pretty much what Mikeo says, the Dobro name was bought by OMI and then Gibson (or maybe different order). Besides the Hound Dog I don't think Gibson is doing much with the brand today but it would be worth checking with them. I know that older Dobro serial numbers are a bit of a can of worms to find anything out about them. I happen to own a 1932 and a 1980 OMI Duolian. Most traditional dobros were spider bridge and had 12 frets but they did make a few biscuits and 14 fretters. Also most dobros were woodies but again, they built a few metal bodies. We tend to thing of National and NRP as the manufacturer of metal bodies biscuits but obviously yours is the exception. There are a couple of resonator specific discussion forums - here is one http://www.resohangout.com/ and you might contact the guy who runs this site http://www.guitarhq.com/dobro.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted April 15, 2016 Members Share Posted April 15, 2016 Pretty much what Mikeo says, the Dobro name was bought by OMI and then Gibson (or maybe different order). Besides the Hound Dog I don't think Gibson is doing much with the brand today but it would be worth checking with them. I know that older Dobro serial numbers are a bit of a can of worms to find anything out about them. I happen to own a 1932 and a 1980 OMI Duolian. Most traditional dobros were spider bridge and had 12 frets but they did make a few biscuits and 14 fretters. Also most dobros were woodies but again, they built a few metal bodies. We tend to thing of National and NRP as the manufacturer of metal bodies biscuits but obviously yours is the exception. There are a couple of resonator specific discussion forums - here is one http://www.resohangout.com/ and you might contact the guy who runs this site http://www.guitarhq.com/dobro.html Back when I bought my 33H, National I don't think was making wood bodies. They could have been, but I didn't have there catalog. Dobro made both wood bodies and metal bodies. I bought my 33H right out of the Elderly catalog, when it was kind of a cheap newspaper catalog bound with a couple of staples. My first 33H came in with a dent in it and I sent t back to Elderly. I spoke with the women that ran OMI, and she sounded very old on the phone. I heard many of the OMI were relatives of Dopyera family and they could have been. I was told it really wasn't a dent, but a welding flex mark, which happened in the manufacturing and welding process. My F60 is a Nashville made one. I bought it from a shop outside of Knoxville. It'as a round neck wood body, and there's not much call for a round neck woodie in TN. It was not very costly, but sounds amazing. The last of the Dobro's were the Houndogs, which were initially made in the USA, then they went overseas Gibson makes no Dobros these days, and no banjos. I think there missing the boat on this too,but I head a lot of the tooling was destroyed or damaged. I bought a F5G mandolin last year and it sounds amazing. National makes a few wood bodies, Deering makes a killer banjo.I was at a local bluegrass fest a few years ago and one of the shops (not local) had at least a dozen nice deering banjos to choose from. The guy was begging to sell almost anything and didn't want to transport them back home. He had a very lovely Deering Boston 5 string and 6 string I was looking at, which he was selling for under a grand. I almost ran to the back, but I can't play the banjo yet. I actually don't know enough about the banjo to make a decision. I do know a few guys in the area that could give me lessons. I'm still working on the mandolin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Old Prof Posted July 13, 2016 Members Share Posted July 13, 2016 With a similar dating, I have the same question (and experience in buying a used Dobro) as Scottdcol, the first post in this thread. I purchased the dobro, with a Dobro logo case about 10 years ago. I was told it was the last year before the company was sold to ...OMI? This is what is stamped onto the end of the headstock: D 12 017 96 The D is very small in size compared to the numbers, in fact it might be something else. However, it is a wood body. I hate to think that I was lied to about the date of manufacture. Can Scottdcol or anyone tell me more about it? Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted July 14, 2016 Members Share Posted July 14, 2016 Well, this is an old thread and I don't think Scottdcol is around. The one authoritative reference on old Dobros is this one http://www.guitarhq.com/dobro.html as I mentioned before - you might be able to contact the mod and get more information. As I also said earlier, tracing old 'bros can be difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Linday Posted December 10, 2019 Members Share Posted December 10, 2019 I have a guitare dobro with no name only the number 9502300can you help me ,I wish to known who make it and the year thanks Linday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dave Arthur Posted January 10, 2020 Members Share Posted January 10, 2020 II've got a wooden Dobroo with a serial number stamped into the top of the headstock the number is A1076. I was old it is from 1928. It's in great playing condition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ray Quintana Posted July 3, 2020 Members Share Posted July 3, 2020 I'd like to see what info I can get on a Dobro that I inherited from my dad. I understand he bought it second hand possibly in the 1930s. It has the identifiable metal resonator and f- style sound holes, but no Dobro logo. The only number I could locate was on the resonator #1896484. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Weirdest Posted November 14, 2021 Members Share Posted November 14, 2021 I have a metal dobro round neck with a big "D" on the back of the body. The end of the headstock has "788" stamp in the wood. Would anyone knows what year it was made? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted November 17, 2021 Members Share Posted November 17, 2021 On 11/14/2021 at 2:08 PM, Weirdest said: I have a metal dobro round neck with a big "D" on the back of the body. The end of the headstock has "788" stamp in the wood. Would anyone knows what year it was made? 1988 . The D metal body round neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ulysses Burns Posted December 7, 2021 Members Share Posted December 7, 2021 I have a Dobro Dobro brand square neck and the number on the end of the stock says D 301. what year is it please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members roger m Posted January 13, 2022 Members Share Posted January 13, 2022 numbers on my dolbro stamped 8 1613 2 D. any help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Timothy F. Jackson Posted April 27, 2022 Members Share Posted April 27, 2022 I have a Dobro number on headstock is D 750 6.what year would it be? Thanks tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted May 2, 2022 Members Share Posted May 2, 2022 On 4/27/2022 at 7:10 PM, Timothy F. Jackson said: I have a Dobro number on headstock is D 750 6.what year would it be? Thanks tim 1974-1979 OMI Dobro: Y (#)### D configuration. Y is last digit of the year (if this number is "3" it is actually 1974). 3 or 4 numerals in center are instrument ranking for year starting with 101. D is body type: D=wood, B=brass, M=steel or mandolin. 1980-1988 OMI Dobro: 8 (#)### yD configuration. 8 is the decade of manufacture (8=1980s). 2 or 3 or 4 numerals in center are serial number for year. Numeral y before letter is last digit of year. Last character is body type: D=wood, B=metal. Woody Body: D 750 instrument made that year of 1976. I think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TSFitz Posted June 18, 2022 Members Share Posted June 18, 2022 I have a dobro guitar, I'm thinking it may be an Epiphone Hounddog but not sure....the only markings are the "DOBRO" and ser # 0901122127 Any ideas who makes this and what it's worth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted June 20, 2022 Members Share Posted June 20, 2022 On 6/18/2022 at 1:02 PM, TSFitz said: I have a dobro guitar, I'm thinking it may be an Epiphone Hounddog but not sure....the only markings are the "DOBRO" and ser # 0901122127 Any ideas who makes this and what it's worth? Around the time Gibson was buying out OMI and the Dobro name. The Epiphone Hound Dogs came out. They are pretty decent instruments made in both square neck and round neck. Probably more round necks were made for the US market. OMI became Gibson's Original Acoustic Instruments. The last of the USA wood bodies Hound dogs have a stick like this. Yours may look more like this, and if it does it will be may by Epiphone Big serial number stamped on the back of the head stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nick Dallett Posted July 8, 2022 Members Share Posted July 8, 2022 (edited) Hi, all. I have another mystery that folks here might be able to help with. I have a metal body Dobro (DM 33H). The serial number stamped in the peghead is: B 233 9 This doesn't match any of the listed schemes. The first letter is definitely a B and not an 8. Any ideas? Edited July 8, 2022 by Nick Dallett Adding pix for context Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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