Members KATMAN Posted March 2, 2007 Members Share Posted March 2, 2007 I saw one the other day for $350.I thought it looked cool,kind of nostaglic.Are these worth the money? I mean I know about the National,but for $350,what are signs of a bad resonator guitar? Do they have the same kind of set up on them like the regular dreadnaught? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted March 2, 2007 Members Share Posted March 2, 2007 Kat, shoot me an e-mail addy via PM and I'll send you a little ditty that I wrote called "Resonators 101" - it has a bunch of background information and links, and answers a lot of really basic questions. To answer your specific questions - yes and no. In my limited experience the inexpensive asian imported resonators can be an OK introduction to this style of playing, and for that they are great. However, when compared to some of the more expensive reso's they can be pretty underwhelming. The feeling is that their quality has improved over the years, but you also hear of owners doing some upgrades after they have them for a while. The most common upgrade is to replace the cone with either a National or Quarterman. If you buy a biscuit style and it has a plastic biscuit, changing to a maple one (or the really cool new carbon fiber one I just got) is a worthwhile upgrade. Frequently the action can use some tweaking (up for slide, down for fretted) and it is very different than working on a normal acoustic. Every reso has terrible intonation - there are a few things you can do but it really doesn't matter for slide. Most reso's buzz - cone covers, trapeeze, spiders (if thats the kind you are getting) and the inexpensive ones seem to be worst (it just means you need to spend time chasing and fixing them). I'll also add my personal bias - the configuration of the fingerboard. Most inexpensive reso's are 14 fret clear, narrow fretboard (1-11/16) with some radius (16"). This is just like, say a Martin dread, and works really great for fretted playing. Most of the expensive reso's are 12 fret (often slots), wider fretboard (my woodie is 1-7/8) and pretty flat (20 inch). This is much easier for me to play slide on and IMO, a reso is made for slide. When you add to the neck dimensions the fact that most imports come set up pretty low they might not be too easy for a beginning bottlenecker. I think that almost more than an acoustic, if you are interested in a reso you need to play it. Don't be afraid to take your fingerpicks and your bottleneck, tune it down to G or D (never, ever up) and wail away. Play a variety of them - spiders and biscuits, woodies and brass. Then, slide on in..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KATMAN Posted March 2, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 2, 2007 I think you've answered my question already.I would defintly ask a lot of Q & A's before buying one. I would want it for mostly fret work,as I'm getting into mountain folk music. I already have a decent dulicimer,a good or decent resonator would be a good fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted March 2, 2007 Members Share Posted March 2, 2007 The one that is very highly regarded is the Beard Goldtone. Paul Beard, who builds beautiful (and very expensive) resonators has a line of reso's that are made overseas, but then modified (his cones are installed) and set up in the US. I've not been fortunate to have played one, but on the reso forums there is great love. They tend to be about halfway between a Regal/Dean/Johnson/Fender and a Nat or 'bro in price and come in both round and squareneck, biscuit and spider. I don't know if he has any metal bodies. Also don't know if this helps, but a great reso builder named Paul Norman has been doing some upgrades to a Dean biscuit reso (cone, CF biscuit, setup). I think the Dean and Regal are very close, so this will give you some ideas. http://www.guitarseminars.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/016788.html Also, for a little reso porn, go to Norman's site, ForbiddenGuitars.com and look at this 12 string resonators (don't bother to check the prices - TAH is lusting after the Bat and I want the Snake). Also, turn your loudspeaker on for the soundclip on the home page. I'll finish by saying that if you plan to play at least 50 percent fretted, the 14 fretter is probably the right choice - I'm thinking about selling my 14 fret Dobro (definitely a step up from a Regal) because I play mostly slide (and I want to build one). My two 'bros - http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f387/Freeman_Keller/Dobros1.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KATMAN Posted March 2, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 2, 2007 Nice Reso's! I'm going to look,shop,and test around.Of course I'm totally a beginner when talking about resonators.Will denfinly see about possible upgrades,we have a dandy luthier in our area.He handles,stand up bases,lutes,guitars,mandolins,banjos,most likley anything with strings.I'm not going to jump on it blind.Thanks for the input and the posts.Now I'm really gassin' now that I've seen yours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members T Rice Posted March 2, 2007 Members Share Posted March 2, 2007 For what it's worth Katman,as Freeman knows, I just got a Epi Biscuit a couple weeks ago.So far I love it. No crazy buzz's and it sounds great.I change the strings to mediums and it was a huge improvement.I will say this,as Freeman also pointed out to me and I quickly realized,the width at the nut is really narrow.For a combination of fretting and slide.it ='s having to be on your game and precise finger placement.For $339.00 I'm really inpressed.Just my thoughts.I've played a lot of open tuned (to G) slide on an acoustic guitar but having THAT sound has really inspired my playing.Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members totamus Posted March 3, 2007 Members Share Posted March 3, 2007 I bought a "Natural Rogue Triolian Biscuit Cone Resonator Guitar Natural" from Musicians friend about 6mos ago. It was cheap as hell ($199) and dobros are fun to play with. I am an all acoustic player and have Martins, Taylors, gibsons and Guilds. For $199 I was not expecting much. I was incredibly surprised at the sound and quality of the instrument. It has not left me wanting to upgrade, it has exactly the sound and volume that I wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AndrewGG Posted March 3, 2007 Members Share Posted March 3, 2007 I owned a Regal RD45{?) for a while during my Jerry Douglas period ! I had no benchmark for tone so it sounded just fine to me. For lap style I got a nut extender-basically a small, angle piece of metal, grooved for strings which fitted loosely over the existing nut and was held in place by string pressure.I used a Stevens bar and fumbled around for a while until I realised I probably needed a lifetime's worth of practise to become even vaguely competent!I did learn some neat tricks though; like angling the bar to form new chords from the same root notes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AndrewGG Posted March 3, 2007 Members Share Posted March 3, 2007 I owned a Regal RD45{?) for a while during my Jerry Douglas period ! I had no benchmark for tone so it sounded just fine to me. For lap style I got a nut extender-basically a small, angle piece of metal, grooved for strings which fitted loosely over the existing nut and was held in place by string pressure.I used a Stevens bar and fumbled around for a while until I realised I probably needed a lifetime's worth of practise to become even vaguely competent!I did learn some neat tricks though; like angling the bar to form new chords from the same root notes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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