Acoustic Guitar: Scheerhorn Guitars

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Scheerhorn Guitars
Unhappy with the way his own resonator guitar performed at jams, Tim Scheerhorn set out to redesign the instrument. Eighteen years later, his instruments are chosen by many of the hottest players around, and he continues to push the envelope of resophonic design.

By Steve Romanoski

The Dobro resonator guitar came into existence in 1928. Constructed with a metal resonator and cone assembly that connected to a laminated sound chamber (which was glued to both the top and the flat back of the guitar), the original instrument had a box-like shape and relied almost completely on the “spider” bridge (an eight-pronged assembly that connects the saddle to the inverted cone) to create its sound. John Dopyera, who developed the Dobro with his brothers (the name stood for “Dopyera Brothers”), once commented that the less vibration there was within an instrument, the better its tone would be. But over the years, many players have felt that the Dobro’s tonal potential and dynamic range could be improved. Many decades later, Tim Scheerhorn is among a cohort of luthiers who, in their efforts to develop the Dobro, have changed the nature of the resonator guitar. As an instrumentalist, Scheerhorn felt that Dobros didn’t project well enough through the din of the bluegrass jams in which he played. “It was very difficult for me to be heard in a jam session,” he recalls. “I wanted it to function better.”

Scheerhorn, who was headed for a career as an engineer designing automation equipment before deciding to become an instrument builder, wasn’t looking to redefine the resonator guitar. But, beginning in 1988, Scheerhorn applied his engineering know-how to the task, and by 1994 he had quit his day job and begun building full-time. The result is an instrument that many players agree has set new standards for squareneck resonator guitars in terms of projection and tonal clarity.

MORE TONE WITH INTERNAL BAFFLES
Although he wasn’t the first to come up with the idea, Scheerhorn refined the use of internal baffles in resonator guitars. “I wanted a baffle that I could install in the guitar at the final assembly stage,” he notes. This enabled him to reposition and shape the baffles—immediately after the guitar’s construction—into a form that would amplify sound to the greatest degree possible, allowing Scheerhorn to achieve the radically improved sound projection he sought.

After much experimentation, Scheerhorn found that using a ramped, parabolically curved baffle that starts at the waist of the guitar and curves forward to the neck block inside the body gave the instrument the greater sound projection he was after. “My first baffles were made out of aluminum,” he notes, “because it’s easy to fabricate and bend. But I kept hearing zingy overtones that weren’t produced by the bridge or the nut. I found out that they were due to the suspended aluminum inside the guitar.” After he devised a prototype with plastic baffles in it, he recalls happily, “the zing went away!” Scheerhorn’s baffle design also boosted the instrument’s ability to project by eliminating the traditional, bulky soundwell chamber, which holds the resonator assembly and reduces acoustic output by compressing the sound.

New soundholes also became a key element of Scheerhorn’s design. The original Dobro directed the airflow—and sound—through two small screens mounted on the face of the guitar. This limiting of the sound prompted Scheerhorn to think about ways to create a less restricted airflow within the guitar. “I didn’t want to stray away from tradition,” he says, “but I decided to use f-holes to give me more square inches of opening [on the top of the guitar] without the screen impinging upon it.” The design has become so popular that most of Scheerhorn’s guitars now include them.

A NEW BODY SHAPE
Another innovation from Scheerhorn’s shop is what he calls the “L” or large body. “In its basic dimensions,” he says, “it’s about a half-inch longer, from the tailpiece to the neck, than the standard Dobro, about a half-inch wider in the waist, and a quarter-inch deeper.” This design, originally suggested by modern Dobro master Jerry Douglas, increased the depth of available tone. While Scheerhorn builds instruments to his customers’ requests (which include custom body sizes), the L body is now his most popular option.

Because Scheerhorn believes that the sturdy construction of original Dobros restricted their tonal quality, he began to alter the design by borrowing methods from traditional guitar construction, such as building with solid tonewoods and an arched back, both of which make for a more vibrant instrument.

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This article also appears in Acoustic Guitar, August 2006

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