Is this a real Dobro?

[Sam Inglis]

Listing claims that this is a 1958 Dobro which was once hired to Eric Clapton. Something doesn't seem quite right about it somehow, but I know very little about resonator guitars. Can any one shed any light?

[Jerry Overstreet]

Looks right to me for a roundneck model. No serial number visible so can't say about the year of build, otherwise appears OK. The first photo in the case has some dark lighting, but that's all I see.

No expert here though.
What are you seeing that makes you think otherwise?

[Fred Treece]

I can’t say for sure what “Circa 1958 Dobro that was once hired to Eric Clapton on 60th” means. It does look like an old Dobro, and a nice case definitely. Without proof, the rest of it is a bunch of awkwardly-phrased BS.

[Michael Lee Allen]

BS because there were NO Dobro guitars made "circa 1958". Sounds good though, like a "1958" Les Paul or a "1958" Strat. The seller is offering nothing else except CDs and DVDs. The language is "awkwardly-phrased" because it's British English. The guitar is in the UK and can't be shipped here anyway. And "hired" translated to American English just means it was rented to Eric Clapton. On his 60th birthday. You'd think he had enough stuff of his own that he wouldn't have had to rent some modified guitar. IF he actually did.
From an interview with Ed Dopera he stated that in 1957 and earlier he made an extended period traveling around the USA, in 1958 he was in Alaska, and in 1959 he returned to California where he worked on the first Zorko electric string basses that later became the Ampeg "Baby Bass". In 1960 he made a few resonator guitars "from scratch" because the Dopera's had not got all the original dies together yet. 1960 to 1962 they made resonator guitars again as "The Original". From 1962 through 1964 they built for and sold through Standel. Mosrite had the rights to the name from 1965 to 1967. The Doperas had the name back in 1968 and used the name Dobro again along with "Hound Dog Original".
So the "circa 1958" is seller-invented BS or "music store expert"-invented BS. Sounds good, might bring in a fool with money. Somebody that thinks any remaining Eric Clapton DNA has some value?
MLA

[Sam Inglis]

Thanks Michael, yes it was the supposed date that confused me. I couldn't find any other examples of Dobro instruments from that period.

[Glenn Wilde]

Yes, it's real, definitely not '58 as others have said. Late '60s or early '70s would be my estimate, whoever bought it knew what they were doing.
The rental history is awesome.

[Mark Eaton]

I came to this thread late, thought I'd click on the link out of curiosity, but whatever it was - it's apparently gone now.

[Mark Eaton]

I gave it another shot and this time I found the sales listing...

The serial number appears to be #1469, which makes it an OMI Dobro from 1973 built in Long Beach, California. I say it "appears" to be #1469. I see it all the time in sales ads with Dobro serial numbers stamped on the headstock, more with prewar Dobros - you might be able to see the serial number fairly clearly in your living room, office or wherever the photo is taken on your cell phone, but it often doesn't translate very well in trying to decipher the serial number online. I always recommend to sellers to type the serial number in the ad so there is no question about it.

It is a Model 60D R or roundneck. For those unfamiliar with Dobro lingo from the OMI (Original Musical Instruments) Dobro era moving forward from 1970, "D" = wood body. Why they chose D, I have no idea.

As Michael explained, they weren't making Dobros in 1958 so apparently the seller grabbed that number out of thin air, or someone gave him the wrong information.

Many people are well versed in minutiae regarding vintage electrics like Fenders and Gibson, or vintage acoustics like Martins and Gibsons, but there is a lot of sketchy and downright incorrect information out there regarding old Dobros.