Dobro Bass

A few weeks ago I got a new bass. It's a bass that most of you have probably never heard of, or even heard the sound of. Even many of my fellow bass and guitar players are unaware that these exist. It has a very unique sound, similar to it's guitar brethren. It is the Regal Dobro Bass.

As some of you may know acoustic bass guitars are not known for their volume. Most acoustic bass guitars cannot not even be heard when matched up acoustically with an acoustic guitar. This bass, however, is very strong in the mid-range. For those of you who don't know much about frequencies and equalization, the mid-range is what helps give presence to the sound. Which in this case allows the dobro bass to punch through and actually be able to stand up against acoustic guitars, volume wise.

Seeing as this is an instrument that very few people have heard. I decided to take a few recordings of it and share my experience with it here.

Micing a dobro bass is very similar to a dobro guitar. Micing the sound holes gives you a very boomy, low end sound. Micing the cone gives you that very twangy, signature dobro sound. Placing the mic several inches away and pointing it towards the cone gives you a more round dobro sound.

All of these recordings are single mic set-ups in each of the positions I mentioned above. As well as the three positions I have also recorded various playing techniques to give you a better well rounded idea of how it sounds.

The first set of recordings is with the mic positioned at one of the sound holes.

Dobro Bass Sound-hole Pick by Googe

Dobro Bass Sound-hole Finger by Googe

Dobro Bass Sound-hole Slap by Googe

Dobro Bass Sound-hole Flamenco by Googe


The second set of recordings is with the mic positioned at the cone, just behind the bridge.

Dobro Bass Cone Pick by Googe

Dobro Bass Cone Finger by Googe

Dobro Bass Cone Slap by Googe

Dobro Bass Cone Flamenco by Googe


The final set of recordings is with the mic positioned 6 inches from the guitar, facing the cone.

Dobro Bass 6-in Pick by Googe

Dobro Bass 6-in Finger by Googe

Dobro Bass 6-in Slap by Googe

Recording Notes: Recorded with a Shure SM57 into an Mbox2