John Dopyera ( Slovak: ''Ján Dopjera''; 1893–1988) was a Slovak- American

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

, and maker of stringed instruments. His inventions included the

resonator guitar A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar (often generically called a " Dobro") is an acoustic guitar that produces sound by conducting string vibrations through the bridge to one or more spun metal cones (resonators), instead of to the guitar' ...

and important contributions to the early development of the

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

Early life

John Dopyera was one of ten siblings born at the close of the 19th century. His father, Jozef Dopyera, was a

miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

in Dolná Krupá,

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, to which they had moved shortly after John's birth. A gifted musician, Jozef constructed his own violins, which were popular in Slovakia for their craftsmanship. Under his father's tutelage, John built his first

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

while still a young boy. In 1908, concerned that was imminent in Europe, the Dopyeras emigrated to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In the 1920s, Dopyera opened a stringed instrument shop in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where he built and repaired fiddles, banjos, and other wood stringed instruments. Around this time, Dopyera patented several improvements to banjo construction.

Middle years

In 1925, Dopyera was asked by

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

instrumentalist (and, later, pioneer developer of electrically amplified instruments) George Beauchamp to create a guitar that could be heard over other instruments played in ensemble. Dopyera invented a guitar with three aluminum cones called resonators (similar to diaphragms inside a speaker) mounted beneath the bridge, this producing a sound much louder than ordinary acoustic guitars, along with a bright metallic tone. Dopyera, and his brothers Rudy and Emil, along with other investors, founded the ''

National String Instrument Corporation The National String Instrument Corporation was an American guitar company first formed to manufacture banjos and then the original resonator guitars. National also produced resonator ukuleles and resonator mandolins. The company merged with ...

'' to manufacture this new type of "resophonic" guitar, which was sold mainly to musicians working in cinemas and jazz clubs. Several years later, the brothers left the corporation to start their own companuy,

Dobro Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally a gui ...

, the name they also gave to the instrument, a portmanteau of 'Do', from Dopyera, and 'bro', from brothers. In a felicitous coincidence of language, 'Dobro' means 'good' in Slovak, and their slogan was: ''Dobro means good in any language!''

Later years

In 1932, working together with Art Stimson, Dopyera invented a new type of guitar design later recognized as the first industrially produced electrified Spanish guitar. Dopyera also invented a string-gripping device for acoustic guitars, the forebear of the one used on all guitars today. Dopyera's later patents included resophonic additions to nearly every string instrument, continued patents for the designs of banjos and violins, including the unique Dopera Bantar, which was a cross between the 5-string Banjo and 6-string Guitar. Dopera Bantars, though extremely rare, were used by a few influential performing artists of the 1960s, including

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

. At this time, John deleted the 'Y' from his name, considering the simpler spelling easier for the public to understand and pronounce. A patent for an

electric violin An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fi ...

was also registered around this time. In 1961, the brothers patented the Zorko bass, and sold the design to Ampeg, which produced the Baby Bass from 1962 to 1970. John's brothers later moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, where they made millions of dollars working with the

Valco Valco was a US manufacturer of guitar amplifiers from the 1940s through 1968. Apart from its original products, Valco also commercialised electric and acoustic guitars and basses through its subsidiary companies. History Valco was formed ...

music company and other business interests, while John chose to remain in

and continue making instruments. Jonh never attained great wealth, and was notable only among a small circle of people who knew he was the inventor of the resonator/resophonic guitar. He died in 1988 at the age of 94, having registered some 40 patents.

Legacy

The Dobro resonator guitar was fundamental to the evolution of bluegrass music. The design crossed musical boundaries, proving equally at home in folk, rock, country, blues and jazz. In 1992, Slovak blues guitarist Peter Radványi co-founded the Dobrofestival in western Slovakia's

Trnava Trnava (, , ; , also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of the Trnava Region and the Trnava District. It is the seat o ...

, a week-long gathering of resophonic guitar enthusiasts, including some of the best bluegrass, blues, and Hawaiian guitar players in the world. The last Dobrofest was held in June, 2008. There is a small museum in Trnava called the Dobro Hall of Fame.

References

External links