Anybody play a resonator like a regualr guitar?

[KATMAN]

I'm not talking about playing a slide and holding it like you would a guitar.I mean strumming it and playing it like you would your acoustic.I've been thinking about doing this when I'll go play with my wife at nursing homes,rather than drag out my Epiphone and bass amp.Yes,it sounds good that way,but I'd like elimate taking everything with me. I know the history of the resonator and how it was made to sound as loud or equal to banjos back before amplication. Has anyone done this recently?

[Fendouglas]

Check out Rod Clements of Lindisfarne - he does it all the time

 

 

[Queequeg]

I play a resonator fingerstyle, without a slide. I never heard anyone strum one before. The Lindisfarne youtube video is a nice song, but they have that resonator so far into the background so as not to really even be heard. Might be a reason for that; I don't know.

Lots of people play resonators without a slide. You need a round neck and set the action fairly low.

This is a recording I did recently on a Dobro Hound Dog resonator of that old Duane Allman chestnut, Little Martha.

[irz]

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[Sangemon]

 

I guess that's why no one plays them that way.

 

And he's not in standard tuning anyway.

[Terry Allan Hall]

Often...just another color in the tonal rainbow!

 

Try one out, see if it works for you, KATMAN...if not, maybe try an archtop guitar (which were also developed for greater volume).

[KATMAN]

Often...just another color in the tonal rainbow! Try one out, see if it works for you, KATMAN...if not, maybe try an archtop guitar (which were also developed for greater volume).

 

I'd love to get a archtop! But I already got a resonator.It may have the action lowered to play chords. I usally have it tuned in Open G.

[kujozilla]

... archtops... greater volume... mine isn't is that a factual statement i mean every dreadnought i have heard is way louder than any archtop I have ever heard

[Gary Blanchard]

I used to play a lot of jug band music and played a resonator like a regular guitar. It had a neat sound either finger-picked or strummed. Due to the more metallic sound, it doesn't work well for everything, though.

[rjoxyz]

I bought a cheap Johnson triolian resonator a couple years ago and use it exclusively for fingerpicking. It just doesn't sound right strummed and I can't play slide. Fingerpicked, it almost has a banjo quality to it. Probably why I don't use it often.

[crashclc]

Mostly I keep mine in open tuning and play slide with it but every now and then I put it back in standard tuning and play it like a normal acoustic. I really like the tone, but TBH I can only take so much of it before putting it back in open tuning. The action and string tension are kind of brutal to use it as a regular acoustic all the time.

[Fred Fartboski]

I have a round neck res. It's quite noisy when strummed like a regular acoustic and grates on the ears after a short time.

[Mike_E_McGee]

I'm converting over to a reso only player. I've got a Tricone and Style O, and I'm hoping to pick up a wood bodied NRP (Duolian homage) next year. I've settled on the Tricone being an open G guitar. I use the Style O for standard and open D at this point. If/when I get the NRP I'll have to decide which sounds best in standard (I assume they'll both excell in open D).

 

I love the tone of reso's. I play a lot of bottleneck blues on them, but they aren't slide guitars, and they aren't blues guitars. They're just guitars for playing music. If you think it sounds good, go for it.

[Freeman Keller]

Blind Boy Fuller played a style O in standard tuning down two steps for all of his stuff (Keep Truckin', etc)

 

I play mine as both a slide guitars and fretted, but remember that with the configuration of the bridge (either a biscut or a spider) the intonation will be terrible - I can really hear that on both of mine with I fret up the neck.