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Reso players: Do you ever play in standard tuning?


KATMAN

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I know most resonator players play in a open tuning.I read before ampflication,the resonator was used in jazz and bluegrass bands.This was before the dreadnaght was invented.The reason I asked is ny wife oftens sings in nursing homes.She doesn't play anything,though I've been tring to get her to.I don't want to drag my regular guitars and a amp along,so I wanted to take my resonator and tune it to standard and play it like that.I think it wll be loud enough for them without dragging my amp around.What do you all think? Yay or Nay?

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Absolutely! Assuming a round neck, reso's are NOT slide guitars, or blues guitars, they're just guitars. You can play anything you like on them. Right now my Style O is in open D with very heavy strings, and my tricone is in standard with 13-56's. I'd really like to get a third so I can keep 1 in d, 1 in g, and 1 in std.

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FWIW, I don't think you need a reso or a dread for volume. Tiny violins project like crazy, right?

 

I was playing my little 1920's parlor, and my wife asked me why I was playing so loudly.

 

Feather light and projects like a cannon. The nursing home would dig it. :)

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Almost never.

However, Blind Boy Fuller and others did play in standard tuning (actually Fuller was two step down) - there is no reason not to. The other evening a very talented player was at my house and he was quite taken by the wooden tricone. He played it in every tuning and style imaginable - including some jazz and modern styles (I've never heard a reso in DADGAD doing Michael Hedges slap style). One problem that he had is that he bends so much he would pop the strings out of the saddle slots.

However, a couple of quick questions. Resos typically have a loud nasty bark - is that the sound your wife would want in a nursing home? And secondly, most of the time the action on a reso is set a little on the stiff side and frequently they are strung kind of heavy - are you comfortable playing a guitar set up that way (without a slide)? Lastly, most resos have pretty bad intonation and actually don't sound very good above the 5th or 7th frets - will that be a problem with yours?

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A good old dreadnought will do the job perfectly well.

 

 

Yes,but the loudest unplugged guitar I have is the cedar top Takamine.While it's plenty loud enough for me,I don't think it would do good in a big crowd.

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