When it comes to learning the basics of Dobro and resonator guitar, what better teacher could you ask for than Jerry Douglas?
The Dobro and lap steel master has played with everyone from Alison Krauss & Union Station to Ray Charles, Paul Simon, Tommy Emmanuel, Jason Isbell, and even Halsey for her 2020 Saturday Night Live performance.
In our video above, he explains Dobro beginner topics like open tunings, finger picks, the Hipshot DoubleShot multiple tuning system, and more. (He recently launched an online course called The Resophonic Guitar With Jerry Douglas, which you can find here.)
In our video, Douglas also announces the launch of The Official Jerry Douglas Reverb Shop, where you can find resonator guitars, lap steels, pedals, and amps and more he's used throughout his career.
Included in the shop are:
- A Scheerhorn R-Body used on recordings with Peter Rowan, Mark O'Connor, Roy Husky, and Alison Krauss & Union Station. "I was playing only Scheerhorns for a long time," Douglas says. "I think this is the first rosewood spruce-top Tim [Scheerhorn] made. He is one of the preeminent resophonic guitar builders of our lifetime."
- A Scheerhorn Hawaiian used on recordings with Alison Krauss and Douglas' solo album Restless on the Farm. "Both Tim Scheerhorn and I loved the sound of the original Wiessenborn guitars. Everything he made was a work of art, and so he made me this amazing copy and an early Weissenborn," Douglas says.
- A Gibson Lap Steel he got directly from the company and used to record Maura O'Connell's Wandering Home.
- A 1936 Gibson EH-100 Hawaiian Lap Steel that he played on The Whites' "Blue Letters" from Old Familiar Feeling, along with many other records made with that group.
- Multiple pedals, including a Hughes & Kettner Replex, Boss CH-1 Super Chorus, Fishman Jerry Douglas Signature Aura, and more—all used on The Jerry Douglas Band's 2017 What If Tour.
Watch the video above to hear Douglas explain the basics of Dobro guitar-playing, then head over to The Official Jerry Douglas Reverb Shop.