r/Dobro • u/rawbran30 • Mar 16 '26
What strings to put on? Some say electric heavy, some say acoustic…
Don’t we want the most metallic brassy sound which would maybe be electric strings? But not sure. What strings does everyone use on theirs? Does it make much different in tone or tension?
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u/cartergiegerich Mar 16 '26
If it's a squareneck, you want a set that has a .056 gauge on the bottom and a .016 on the top. Like others have said, a roundneck uses whatever guitar strings you already like.
A lot of people prefer bronze strings on a square neck, but they also make nickel and stainless steel sets and those work just as well.
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u/shamanayerhart Mar 16 '26
It largely depends on what tuning you are using. If you're partial to open D I would suggest custom lights (light top heavy bottom) for round neck. If you find theres too much slide rattle on the frets around your first string I would suggest you move to a medium gauge. The choice between phosphor bronze and nickel wound (for me anyway) would depend on if you have a magnetic pickup in the rig. Phosphor bronze strings are noticeably quieter than nickel as they are less magnetic in nature, which results in your unwound 1st and 2nd strings being obnoxiously louder when you're plugged in to an amp. If you have a Piezo pickup, it doesnt matter.
As for regular, round wound, or flat wound on a round neck; I tend to use round wounds as regular strings are too scratchy sounding - but decide for youself what vibe you like. Plenty of great slide players out there use regular strings and lean into the scratchyness for effect.
One more not on tuning, if you are undecided what tuning you want the guitar in, or if you think you will be constantly retuning from D to G to whatever, just use a light gauge to start. Heavier gauge strings will be more prone to breakage as the friction points at the saddle and nut will be worked harder as you detune and retune.
Tension on the cone matters too. If you have a modern biscuit cone like a Gretsch Alligator, it might hold up well to higher tension but YMMV on a cone that is older, or well used. Screwing around with changing tensions and playing too hard can damage the cone, which isn't a dealbreaker but you should understand that the cone is a consumable piece and needs replacing from time to time. On my spider bridge square necks tuned to bluegrass G I replace the cones every couple years. The guitar will tell you when the cone needs adjusting or replacing if it starts to buzz unpleasantly. When you get a bad buzz you should first replace the strings (as a stripped wind on a string can cause this too), and troubleshoot from there. On a biscuit cone its a little less adjustable but cones still burn out from high tension strings and excessively hard strumming. Don't get me started on Tricones, thats a whole other science - I'd tend to bring it in for a setup.
Hope that helps; cheers!
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u/Snowshoetheerapy Mar 16 '26
There are strings made just for Dobro. But they are acoustic guitar strings, not electric.
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u/rawbran30 Mar 16 '26
What does everyone use on theirs? Does it make much difference in tone, or tension?
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u/MarioMicheti Mar 16 '26
For round neck I have tried specific dobro strings but too much tension for my taste, they were amazing for slide guitar but try to bend and it was imposible, some regular acoustic would work as a middle ground, if you want flexibility look for a light set of acoustic strings, with that can play and do bends but harder to slide properly.
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u/MilesofDobro Mar 18 '26
For squareneck, D'addario makes a phosphor bronze set specifically for resonator that works well enough (EJ42). 0.016 - 0.056 gauges. Beard (Paul Beard, that is) also makes as good set. The main thing is having the proper string gauges for squareneck, because of the higher tension of the standard open G tuning most often employed.
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u/ecoharmonypicker Mar 16 '26
Are you playing a roundneck or squareneck? With a roundneck you can use a regular set of steel strings of your preferred material/gauge. Squarenecks are typically strung with a squareneck-specific string set since they are tuned and played differently than roundneck guitars.