Johnson 996 Resonator

[Comedie]

First time here. Just ordered a brass bodied Johnson 996 resonator. Powder coat rather than chromed, but for $199 new off ebay it sounds like a really cheap way to see if I can figure out these things.

 

I used to play a fair amount up until some years ago when I tore up the ligaments in my smaller left fingers. After surgery and healing, think they are ready to get back into a little guitar.

 

So,,,, my query is, given not a lot of strength in the fingers, what weight strings should I throw on the Johnson. I'm tempted to go with Markley Alchemy's in GoldPhos medium (13-56) but note that many resonator guys think 16-56. I'm not really thinking slide, but finger style.

 

Also,,,, is it worth going to Quarterman cone and a National biscuit? And any hints on where to get decent deals on the cones?

 

I'm hoping for more bluesy than twangy, BTW

[54merk]

You can purchase a National Cone directly from National Reso-Phonic. I believe they include the biscuit along with the cone.

 

http://www.nationalguitars.com/index2_ie.html

 

You can get a Quarterman and a maple biscuit from Stewart-Macdonald or Folk in the Wood.

 

http://www.stewmac.com/

 

http://www.folkofthewood.com/

 

Don't expect any "deals". Not much of a discount on parts. The price of a 9.5" cone is about $50.

 

Since you are new to resos I do not recommend you change anything yet. Just play it for now. Although the cone is a simple changeover, the string height will probably change since the cones are unlikely to have identical heights. This can require some sanding of the bridge and cutting of new slots. Since resos are easy to dismantle, it's not that hard a job if you have a little mechanical ability.

 

From what I've heard, the quality of the cones installed on Chinese resos have improved so you may not notice that much of a difference. You may decide that it's not worth putting $70-80 (with shipping) worth of parts into an instrument which only cost $199.

 

Do you intend on playing in standard or open tuning? Open D and open G will have LESS tension, so they will be easier to fret. The nice thing about a roundneck reso is that you can play a combination of sliding and fretting. So IMO you would still be able to handle a 0.015" gauge E string in open tuning, but I would stick with a 0.013" for standard tuning.

 

A major reason to go to a 0.015" E is because of the decreased tension when tuning this string down to D in both open G and D.

 

I hope this answers your questions.

[Comedie]

Thanks for the response,,,,,

 

I was thinking of giving open G a go. My only other guitar is a Gibson 335 knockoff (Ibanex AS200) and frankly, I just didn't like it in open G with the light strings on it. Plus I don't fancy dragging out the amp just to toy around with that guitar on a whim. Was looking for something cheap, simple, and different that can take a beating .... and that's how I got to the brass resonator.

 

I'm fairly handy in the workshop, so I can't imagine any problems if I went the upgrade route. Guess I will just wait and see if I care to later. I have seen some people talking about it being a little difficult to get the biscuit/cone oriented perfectly when replaced.... and then they go on to say you really can't get the intonation right on these things anyway. So. I was sorta thinking to get a new biscuit and 'bowtie" cut the bridge slots such that a little rotation would be possible to grossly adjust intonation. Perhaps just a naive idea, but simple enough to try out. Other thought would be to glass bed an adjustable bridge into a homemade maple or walnut biscuit and see how that is,,, but that's a bit more work.

 

OK,,, guess I will just see how I feel about the strings it comes with. I believe they are 13's. Then just restring the 13 string with a 15 as you suggest and see how that is. Would I be right to think phos bronze over straight bronze, to get more warmth and less twang?

 

Any recommendations on a simple starting place for music in open G?

[Freeman Keller]

Welcome to HC and to the world of reso's. Both are rather fun.

 

I'll echo what 54merk said about strings, gauges, cones etc. There had been a lot of interest on this forum about resonators so one night I sat down and wrote kind of a beginners FAQ about reso's - questions that were being asked over and over, but unfortunately it is way too big to post on the forum (its a four page Word document). If you would be interested in it I would be happy to e-mail it to you - send me a PM with your e-mail addy.

 

A couple of quick opinions - there are special "dobro" string sets - usually somewhere around 0.016 to 0.056, but they are designed to be used with spider bridge guitars which can take a lot more string tension than a biscuit (and are normally tuned to "dobro G", which is slightly different from open G). On my two resonators I usually just use a standard medium set - 0.013 to 0.056. Frankly I can't tell the difference between PB, 80/20 or other string compositions - right now I have PB Nano's on both. The reason for that is that you really aren't (IMHO) hearing the string, but rather the cone itself. I really can't even tell the difference between old dead strings and nice new ones (like I can on my acoustic).

 

With mediums be sure to tune down to G or D - tuning up can damage the guitar. If you are going to be playing slide in open G there are a lot of good sources of information - Stefan Grossman, Homespun tapes, and this site

 

Big Road Blues

 

You can have a lot of fun just noodling around with the slide at 12 or open (the I chord), 5 the (IV), and 7 (the V). Strum, fingerpick, slide up and and down between them - have fun.

 

Remember too that you can play a reso in standard tuning - Blind Boy Fuller did most of his stuff (Keep Truckin') on an old National in standard (I like to tune down two half steps however).

 

Lastly, don't be in too much of a hurry to change your new reso - just play it!

[Comedie]

Thanks for the offer Freeman. Just sent you a PM with my id in it.

 

Will try and take your advise and just play with the thing as is and throw on mediums if need be. If the composition isn't critical, I'll just see about some Blue Steels. Certainly always lasted nicely for me on the electric.

 

I've an inquiring mind tho :-) , Your comment that the string composition seems overridden by the cone make me wonder about this: has anyone tried coatings or platings on the cone itself? Anodizing, zinc, copper, nickel, chrome? Just a thought,,,, I tinker with things. The cones appear to be aluminum, so I'd think at the minimum some oxidation occurs on uncoated cones. Perhaps that zinc oxide coating is part of the key to people saying the old ones sound different?

 

While I wasn't thinking of slide much, certainly going to try it out. Lets me play around with cutting pipe and bottles to see what I can make. Prices for pre-made look downright ridiculous to me.

 

And I'm certainly going to do a little action tuning and neck massaging.

[Freeman Keller]

E-mail sent with some attachments.

 

As far as I know all cones are spun aluminum with no coatings. Part of the whole Dopyera brothers patent was on the design of the cone(s) and bridge. I think it would be a huge hassle to mess with the cones other than just replacing the original one. 54merk's comments about the price of the replacement should indicate that they are much higher quality - when you can buy a whole resonator guitar for a couple hundred dollars and a replacment cone is 60 or so you know they are cutting cost. Some of the asian imports have a plastic biscuit - better ones have a maple one, but I wouldn't worry about it for a while (its like the bone vs tusk arguements for saddle). You will know when it's time to change.

 

Also, while not a real big deal, disassembling one of these things is not something you want to do everyday. You remove the strings and tail piece, coverplate to get at the cone and bridge. When you put it back together everything needs to be lined up and tight or you will get annoying rattles and buzzes. When setting the action on mine I would string it without the cover plate so I could measure and adjust, then finally put it all back together.

 

And be aware that the cones are somewhat fragile - think loudspeaker cones. One little trick when restringing is to not remove all the old ones at once - it is possible for the cone to rotate and screw up the intonation (which probably isn't all that great to start with).

 

Final thought - since I once worked for an aluminum company I can tell you that aluminum oxidizes almost immediately on exposure to the air, which then seals the surface and prevents further oxidation. I think it is safe to say that the sound of the old Nationals has more to do with the fabrication of the cones that anything we could do to a new one.

 

Freeman

[54merk]

I have a few things to add to Freeman's excellent advice.

 

Free online lessons:

 

Alan Horvath's lessons:

 

http://guitar.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.alanhorvath.com/i%5FGchart.html

 

http://www.alanhorvath.com/LSN2.php

 

Olav Torvund's lessons:

 

http://www.torvund.net/guitar/BluesGuitar/index.asp

 

And finally the amazing master himself, Bob Brozman:

 

http://www.bobbrozman.com/tip_opentune.html

 

 

As for intonation, you need to make sure that the bridge is perpendicular to the strings when you put it all back together. This is done by turning the bridge/saddle/cone assembly before tightening the strings and coverplate. Not a big deal, just measure from the saddle to the end of the fretboard to make sure that it's squared up. These things do not use compensated saddles, and when the strings are set up for slide, the action is fairly high, which will throw off the intonation as you move up the neck. With a slide it's not that big a deal since you learn to adapt by using the frets as just a guide for slide placement.