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The lap steel guitar and dobro share a lot of similarities, however they both have distinct sounds. Taking a closer look at their differences is a great way to understand more about each instrument.
Dobros and lap steel guitars are both played horizontally, with the long surface area of the guitars’ bodies being parallel to the ground. Lap steels are generally played on your lap, while dobros are commonly played by a player standing up (using a strap to hold the dobro), or on their lap.
Both instruments are played with tone bars, however lap steel guitar is usually considered an electric instrument, while dobros have more acoustical properties.
Let’s check out more of the differences and similarities between these two instruments…
A Little History
Lap steel guitars and dobros both share historical roots with Hawaiian steel guitar, which was invented in the late 1800s. Joseph Kekuku is often credited with inventing steel guitar because he helped bring to realization that moving a steel object across the strings of a guitar can produce a variety of interesting sounds.
As steel guitar evolved, so did the physical properties and designs of the instruments that were built for this type of playing. Lap steel guitars eventually made use of pickups to amplify them through amplifiers, and were usually designed with solid bodies much like electric guitars.
A dobro is often a broader word for describing instruments that have resonators built into them, and these have more acoustical properties compared to lap steels. Although there is a Dobro brand of resonator guitars as well, the name has become synonymous in many ways among musicians to describe wood instruments that have resonators (hence “dobro” instead of Dobro).
What Do They Sound Like?
Both lap steel guitars and dobros make use of similar playing techniques, where a player uses a bar to sustain notes and often slides into them. The most noticeable difference in sound is that a lap steel guitar sounds more similar to an electric guitar in tonality, while dobros have a more projecting acoustic quality to them.
The resonator’s cone helps amplify a dobro’s sound, and it has a certain rustic and metallic tone (while still having some warmth to it because of its acoustical nature). Lap steel guitars can often sound more bright and twangy, and are often heard in country and western swing music.
However, both the lap steel and dobro have a projecting tone that can cut through a mix of instruments well. Lap steel guitars often have hotter pickups than regular guitars, which can make them sound more present and forward in the music.
Dobros also have this quality of sound, however this is due to the resonator of the guitar instead of pickups. Usually if a dobro has pickups, the pickups are designed for acoustic instruments and often utilized through a PA or acoustic amp.
The unique, projecting tone of dobros has become especially popular in bluegrass music. Alongside mandolins, banjoes, and acoustic guitars, dobros are often found in bluegrass groups.
Playing Techniques & Styles
Most lap steel and dobro players use finger picks and thumb picks to play notes, which helps project the sound and provides more sustain for the notes being played. For both instruments, it is also important to mute strings with your picking hand that aren’t being played, or they will unintentionally make sounds as the bar is moved along the strings.
Also, because of the fretless nature of both instruments (since a bar is used instead of the fingers for “fretting” notes) you need to dampen the strings behind the bar to prevent unwanted overtones from ringing out.
Lap steel guitarists will often slant the bar to voice different musical intervals at positions on the neck of the guitar, although this is possible for dobro as well. It depends on the style of playing and music, but dobro players will often make more use of sliding techniques and open strings. However, both instruments are equally adept and versatile for these playing approaches.
Tuning Differences
Most dobros are tuned to an open G tuning, where the notes are G, B, D, G, B, D from lowest to highest. Lap steels often make use of the C6 tuning, however there are many players who customize their lap steel tunings, so lap steel tunings often vary more than dobros.
Also, many lap steels have more than six strings. They can also have multiple necks and tunings built into one guitar. It can be common to see a lap steel guitar that has two necks (called a “double neck”) with eight strings on each neck.
Lap steel tunings will often sound more jazzy and Hawaiian (a swing type of sound) than dobros when all the strings are strummed in the open position. This is because many lap steel tunings include the major 6th tone of the open tuning’s major chord, which gives it a brighter, characteristic tonality.
Why Aren’t Lap Steel Guitars Played In Bluegrass Music?
Although it is technically possible to use a lap steel guitar in bluegrass music, the genre traditionally focuses more on acoustic instrumentation. This makes dobro a great option for playing “slide” in bluegrass music, even though the instrument usually uses a bar.
Dobros are often referred to as a type of slide guitar, and lap steels are usually considered steel guitars. However, both instruments can make use of playing techniques in which a player slides into notes to articulate them in expressive ways. This is what makes both of these instruments so characteristic in tonality, and why many listeners are intrigued by their sound.
Many bluegrass groups will have a dobro player that plays standing up, so that they’re able to sing harmonies around the mic. Since a bluegrass group will often share a microphone for vocals, this enables the dobro player to have the same standing aesthetic as the rest of the players.
Choosing Between Lap Steel and Dobro
Deciding which instrument to play is often a matter of personal preference and musical tastes. Lap steel guitar can sound great through electric guitar amplifiers, especially with distortion, and can be a better choice if you’re looking to play more rock n’ roll or blues rock styles of music.
The acoustical properties of dobros are great if you’re looking to play with less gear and in more natural surroundings, as they have a lot of inherent volume without amplification just like an acoustic guitar. If you plan on busking with an instrument, the dobro may be a better choice than lap steel because it doesn’t always need an amplifier that requires a power supply to be heard.
Also, it is important to realize that different songs can benefit from the various tonalities of these two instruments. For some Americana music, with bluegrass and blues influences, the dobro can add a nice sound that fits well within the song.
However, the lap steel can work equally as well for many styles of music. It has the added benefit of reverb that can sound full, ethereal, swampy, etc. if run through an amplifier. Keep in mind though, that you can amplify a dobro through an amp if it has a pickup installed. Dobros tend to sound more natural through acoustic amps, however some electric amps can work well too.
For more info on various types of slide guitars, click here…