Dobro Standard, Model 55

Named after its 55-dollar retail price and developed by John Dopyera (1893 – 1988) and George Beauchamp (1899 – 1941), this 1931 Dobro Model 55 Standard square-necked resonator guitar uses ampliphonic aluminum cones embedded inside the guitar’s body to project sound—a method that preceded electric pickup technology. While this part of the guitar is entirely metal, the rest is made of various hardwoods in order to bear the increased resonance and volume generated by the aluminum resonator. Hawaiian and Blues guitarists favored the Dobro because of its fuller and louder sound, and soon made it extremely popular. 

The brand name Dobro comes from combining founder John Dopyera’s last name and “brothers,” for his siblings, Rudy and Ed. Dobro also means “good” in Dopyera’s native Slovak language. Today, the term “Dobro” is commonly used for any wood-bodied single-cone resonator guitar.