• You're one step from joining Guitar Discussion Forum - The Fret.
    Create a free account to post, follow threads, and never miss an update.  Sign up free →

Resonator guitars

Guitar Discussion Forum - The Fret

Help Support TheFret.net:

tjcurtin1

tjcurtin1

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
1,994
Reaction score
1
City & State/Province
Plymouth, MA USA
The one guitar I could see adding anytime in the future would be one of these. But there seems to be a world of varieties... I'd be using it played normally (not dobro style), some day working on slide.

So, what does anyone know?
 
I know very little save for lusting for them.

All I've read claim that Nationals are the berries & Beard Goldtones are decent for less green.

http://www.beardguitars.com/

Wood ones are less less expensive & presumably woody sounding. The metal ones look freakin' cool.

There are spiders & tricones & all kinds of others & I don't know what those words mean.
 
Resos

Hey TJ,
Here's a good start for you; http://www.bobbrozman.com/national.html
for a discussion of single cone (biscuit) and tri-cone. Then there is a "spider bridge" reso which many call the bluegrass dobro. All resos come in either roundneck or squareneck. Squarenecks are exclusively played "lap style". Roundnecks are usually played Spanish style but can be played lap style too with minor adjustments.
The difference in tones of the three aforementioned resos is nearly as different as a discussion of the sounds of single coils, humbuckers and P-90's. If you have more specific questions, I can probably narrow things down for you. Fire away and I'll be glad to help.
Personally, I have a mahogany body/copper top spider bridge roundneck reso. One day I'd love to have a metal squareneck tricone.
 
Thanks, guys - I look forward to checking these links out - Yeah, it sounds like a whole new language to be learned!
PBP, thanks for your offer - I'll ping you once I've gotten my feet wet with the general territory, and have figured out what some of those strange terms mean!

I'm really interested in the sounds these guitars produce. If any of you have gotten lessons from Mike Herbert, he's playing an interesting looking/sounding metal body (which also has a pickup) in his vid of 'Hide Your Love Away'. Anyone know what variety that one is?
 
Resonators

TJ......any chance you could post a link to the Mike Herbert clip. I can't seem to find it. Thanks.
 
Hmmm... I have it saved to disc, so it's one of the freebies that he sends you if you sign up for the free lessons.
 
I have a mid-1930s Regal roundneck spider-bridge reso, which is literally the sweetest-sounding guitar I've ever heard or played, but you'd have to get lucky to find one. It has a v-shaped neck, very comfortable to play. I recently bought a Republic tricone, which is a great guitar but very different-sounding. With its brass body it has a sharper sound. It also has a kind of 12-string complexity to it, due I'd guess to the three resonator cones. It is really excellent, and a very good price (compared to Nationals and such!), but the neck is real different from the Regal. People who know more than I do say it's supposed to be like the Nationals; I only know it reminds me of a classic-guitar neck, which is a matter of taste. Frank (the owner) is stand-up; no problems.
http://www.republicguitars.com/triconemodels.html

I myself prefer the spider-bridge ones, as the biscuit-types have a more choppy sound. You can cut off a note and play choppy, if that's what you want, but you can't make a note sustain longer. If you want sharp and choppy, get the biscuit-bridge. Supposedly blues lovers prefer these, but I'm a blues-lover and I prefer the spider-bridge tones. Actually, it's sort of the difference between archtops and flattops, sound-wise, if that helps. I've never been comfortable with lap-style, though I've tried it often enough. There are no real rules about which works for what. They were invented to be fretted normally, just to be louder -- sliding is not required. The different bridges were invented to avoid patent infringements, they both work.
 
Hey TJ,

As a longtime devotee of the delta blues tradition, I wanted to be able to recreate what I was hearing. I do not think that I will ever come close.

I first started using open tunings some years ago and not knowing what I was doing, kept on making mistakes that almost pleased me. For me, the sound of a good accoustic guitar, played with a slide, is hard to beat.

But, then again, I also have one of those metal bodied tri-cones. Go figure?

Steve
 
I have two roundneck resonator guitars. I started with a metal biscuit Johnson model JM-998 pretty good for starting I added a Benedetti pickup on it and it sound quite sweet. The neck is a 14 frets out of the body.

Here is a clip with that guitar


Recently (last july) I bought an old National Duolian guitar (from the 30's) and it's a killer. The neck is a 12 frets out of the body so the playability is slightly reduced compare to the Johnson but who cares to get higher than the 12th fret ;)

Here is a clip with that guitar




Alternative choice to expensive vintage guitars can be found with the Reso Republic line or the Michael Messer line of instruments which are pretty good and cheaper than an old National or a brand new Beard
 
tjcurtin1 said:
Ah! I was waiting for Jipes to join in on this thread! Thanks for the info and clips - great!
Click to expand...

You're welcome ;) Strange enough the e-mail automatic replies doesn't work so I have to keep an eye on the threads :thwap:

if you need more info on resonators I'm on a french specialized forum and can ask more specific question for you ;)
 
Thanks, Jipes. I think that next step is to get my hands on a few and try them out. Yesterday I played a couple of wood bodies and was surprised at the lack of twang... (a Dobro, a Jay Turser and a Fender) so I need to find some metal bodies to play.

Then I have to win the Fret raffle (hey, how's that going, anyway?) in order to have the money and an excuse...
 
tjcurtin1 said:
Thanks, Jipes. I think that next step is to get my hands on a few and try them out. Yesterday I played a couple of wood bodies and was surprised at the lack of twang... (a Dobro, a Jay Turser and a Fender) so I need to find some metal bodies to play.

Then I have to win the Fret raffle (hey, how's that going, anyway?) in order to have the money and an excuse...
Click to expand...

TJ the Fender unfortunately don't have a good reputation they really lack sonic qualities and the Cone (esential part in a resonator) is a poor chinese copy.

If you were not satisfied with a Dobro (actually Gibson) then you need to go to a brass or steel guitar. The Messer series seems to have a very good press as well as the miniolian from Republic Resonator. An othe brand which has the favor of many steelers is Ozark they have metal bodies model and some are equiped with a built-in microphone

Hope that helps ;)
 
What slide are you using there Jipes?

I noticed that you played without fingerpicks but the guy on that last clip used them. I'd play without them first.
 
I play a bottleneck made up from an Italian bottle the glass quality is very good and it has a nice sustain. I do play from time to time also with brass slide that I like. As a fingerpicker from the start I tend to use my bare fingers because I have more feeling with them than with the metal picks.

All depends on what volume you want to generate but lot's of delta blues players weren't using such appendixs so :D

i play from time to time with a thumbpick if my flesh is getting worn out :rotflmao:
 
Resos

TJ,
Try a GoldTone/Beard or Wechter-Scheerhorn wood-body before you write off wood bodies. The Fender is an embarrassment and the Gibson Dobro is not held in high esteem either. Regal makes some nice wood bodies too. The GT/B and W-S are very well thought of by "dobro" players.
GT/B and Republic both make nice metal-bodied resos. Check out www.elderly.com under New Instruments and then Resonators to give you a better idea of what's out there. They sell a large selection of resos.
 
Resonator Guitars

This is the reso that I have, no affiliation. Mine has a copper top, not brass:
http://www.libertyguitars.com/fa100.htm

I didn't want a "pure" wood-body, I wanted something "in between". If I get another reso, I'd probably get a brass tri-cone as that interests me.
And I wouldn't say NO to a metal body biscuit cone (the sterotypical blues machine) either.
What are cool looking (and probably sounding too) are wood body biscuit cone resos (usually called Triolians I think). Gives a mellower/warmer sound than metal but with the "insistent" sound of a biscuit cone. Hmmmm...like one of these: http://www.libertyguitars.com/LIB100.htm
 
Last edited:
tot_Ou_tard said:
Do the Resonator-player Fretters have a preference in regards to wood/metal-bodied resonators. If so, why?
Click to expand...

I tried to give the best sound description I could in my previous post, but as far as preference -- as much as I like the brass-bodied Republic tricone (a LOT!), I'd still take my old Regal wood-bodied spider-bridge. The sound is sweet, focused and powerful; everything I like. The Tricone has so many sounds going on it's just not as versatile (at least for me!). To my ears, it's sort of like the difference between a 6-string and a 12-string. The 12 is amazing, but it's just not as versatile.
 

Similar threads

B
Carl Martin's Dual Compressor Limiter (demo/review)
Replies
0
Views
251
Brian Johnston
B
R
My Guitar Herd
Replies
17
Views
1K
Alan
A
marnold
I'm very confused (G&L USA Legacy content)
Replies
0
Views
178
marnold
marnold
duhvoodooman
Been buying inexpensive guitars for the past couple of years...
Replies
7
Views
1K
Age
Age
marnold
NGD(S): Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
2
Replies
32
Views
6K
tjcurtin1
tjcurtin1

Latest posts

Back
Top