I am not one for hanging on to worldly possessions. My friends and family often become cross with me for handing seemingly random people everything from instruments to the jacket on my back. I am not crazy, I just happened to be paying attention as a kid in Bible study.

²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:21

I would rather my treasure be other people. Dear Old Dad and I have known more than a few pickers who grew old with vast collections of instruments that literally rotted away to punky wood and crusty metal.

One thing I have kept since I was a teenager is my Dobro 33H guitar. If you have read Just This Banjo or watched any of my guitar videos through the years, then you know this brass guitar and I have been to hell and back a few times.

As I posted earlier, I am dragging out both of my resophonic guitars, basically relearning the craft to work around my arthritic and nerve-damaged hands. My steel Dobro 33D was first to get dusted off after nearly two years. I have it tuned to open D, and I am finding the tuning a lot of fun.

I tuned the Dobro 33D to open C. It’s an odd and quirky tuning I discovered years ago when somebody posted a handwritten explanation by John Fahey. I have used it on the banjo and guitar a few times, but today – as much as my hands will allow – I started digging in. The slide really sings in this tuning. It will be a lot of fun discovering what new tricks this battered and worn guitar can teach this equally beat up musician.

Presently, I am in no shape to go in front of a camera. As the warm sunshine gives me a break from this constant pain, I will be using both guitars to continue the new workshop series. When I can find a guitar with a scale and neck profile suitable for my hands, we will move from open to standard tuning while keeping things geared for players with different abilities like myself.

It should be a hoot.