I purchaed a dobjo a few weeks back. Dobjo is the name given to the instrument if it was made by Dobro. Dojo is the current name for the Gold Tone instruments. It is indeed not as loud as my banjo but has an interesting tone. I tend to use the Dobjo for slower songs, hymns, etc. It does take some getting used to because the neck is wider and flatter than my banjo, and the strings are much closer to the platter than they are to the head of my banjo. But it has a very interesting sound. Dobro stopped making them when the trademarked name was purchased by Gibson. Mine is 20 years old, and I think they stopped making them somewhere between 1989 and 1993.