Members Freeman Keller Posted October 16, 2015 Members Share Posted October 16, 2015 If you would like some advice on what to look for in the Nat I might be able to help. It is always helpful to know how someone plans to tune and play a resonator, what their experience with them is and what expectations they have. Be aware that the '34 Duolian (if it has a 14 fret neck) has a pretty curved fretboard - as an electric player you may like that, as a slide player you will hate it. I Also if you want to PM me the asking price I might be able to advise you there. At least take a look here http://www.guitarhq.com/national.html#duolian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted October 16, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 16, 2015 thanks... sending a PM now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted October 16, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 16, 2015 van Zandts have prtty skinny necks, SC likes his, but I've played one, and although I could see it was a superior instrument it didn't "float my boat". I still kick myself for letting a Greco Super Real SE-800 slip thru my fingers yeah it was definitely a great guitar (at a fantastic price)... just not for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Danhedonia Posted October 16, 2015 Members Share Posted October 16, 2015 Wow, that was impressive Sheriff Longmire. I couldn't agree more, Strat for the win. Assuming you're not riding me - thanks. Still got some instincts. I've got tons of respect for Freeman, and think that resonators are part of his guitar DNA. Not the OP's; if you're THIS far along and don't have one yet, you're bored. That's why you have gas. 339's are for people who aren't ready to admit that they're depressed that they can't drop the cash on a 335 (unless they already have a 335). The SG .... you have gas because it looks great. It's the hot girl you meet at the beach on vacation. Seems tremendous ... but back in real life, she's a pain. Leave it at the beach. Resonator: see: above. Strat. For the win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tom Mc1 Posted October 17, 2015 Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 If I could control a bottle, I would choose a National. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted October 17, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 Assuming you're not riding me - thanks. Still got some instincts. I've got tons of respect for Freeman, and think that resonators are part of his guitar DNA. Not the OP's; if you're THIS far along and don't have one yet, you're bored. That's why you have gas. 339's are for people who aren't ready to admit that they're depressed that they can't drop the cash on a 335 (unless they already have a 335). The SG .... you have gas because it looks great. It's the hot girl you meet at the beach on vacation. Seems tremendous ... but back in real life, she's a pain. Leave it at the beach. Resonator: see: above. Strat. For the win. as i said before... i own a national tricone... i used to own a national resolectric too i play in open tunings 80% of the time... and i use a slide often i also said i've never been that keen on the look of SGs... but i played one recently and loved how it felt and sounded... this has made me appreciate the look more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 17, 2015 Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 Since Mistersully did send me a PM asking my thoughts and since resonators do come up from time to time I thought I would respond here. First, it sounds like MS has owned several so I'm sort of preachin' to the choir. First, I won't get into the difference between the three main families of resonators (biscuit, spider and tricone) but they are very different sounding guitars. It is the cone(s), after all, that makes it a resonator. They are delicate and old ones are easily damaged - make sure the guitar has a good one. Most people feel that the best replacements are the NRP hot rod cones and that it is not a bad thing if a vintage instrument has a new cone. Second, in my opinion, one of the most critical (and most overlooked) things about resonators is the neck. Most of them have wide flat fretboards, usually 1-3/4 or 1-7/8 at the nut, often dead flat or very slight radius. That is ideal for slide, but makes fretting difficult. If you plan to fret a lot you'll have to adjust your technique. One of the exceptions to that seems to be the Duolians - I have a 1980 reissue and it has a 14 fret, 16 inch radius, 1-11/16 nut - just about the same as your average Martin. Frankly I have a great deal of trouble playing clean slide on that neck - it is very easy to fret out on the middle strings when doing a slide barre. I know that some of the old Duolians were ever worse - that vintage guitar link said they might have 10 inch radius on 14 fretters (and I count 14 frets clear in the picture) - to me that would be like trying to play slide on a Les Paul. Another thing that MS probably knows (but many don't) is that usually resonators have no compensation which means that they play very sharp when fretted. Doesn't matter with slide because you've got the worlds best compensator on your pinkie, but if you plan to play a lot of fretted stuff you might not be happy. Last thing to mention here is that setting up the action on a resonator involves setting the neck angle - there is very little that you can do at the bridge. The neck has an extension called a neck stick that extends thru the body - you remove a couple of the dots on the fretboard extension to access two or four screws at that end, remove the end pin screw and move some little wooden mushroom looking thingies under the neck stick to change the angle, which sets the action. I think it is wrong to think that resonators have to have extremely high action - I like mine slightly higher that most acoustics but still comfortable to fret (except my spider which is set up for lap sliding). Since this is the electric forum I'll also say that these critters are pretty hard to accurately amplify. Mag or lipstick pickups seem to sound like a raspy electric guitar - to get the true cone sound it seems like some sort of internal or external mic is best. The late Bob Brozman recommends just putting a SM57 in front of the sound holes (whatever you think of Brozman, his book on old Nationals should be on every owners shelf). The Duolian was the bottom of the line model, nothing fancy, and Brozman said that thousands were sold which helped National survive the Depression. They are steel (rather than bell brass) and had a weird "frosted duco" paint that is part of their charm. Popular with blues and hillbilly musicians, you see the 14 fretters pretty often. They are loud and nasty, maybe a little more metallic sounding that a Style 0 or Triolian, but great for Delta blues. Like any other vintage guitar, I would want to see and play one before I would commit to it. I'll be interested to see which direction MS decides to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted October 17, 2015 Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 No I really don't dabble in sarcasm. Way too much duplicity in the world I say and not enough sincerity and commitment. I don't know, your post definitely resonated with me and regardless of proofs, displayed some inductive reasoning that reminded me of my favorite new show, a whodunnit series called Longmire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted October 18, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 18, 2015 missed out on the national... you snooze, you lose as of yesterday, it seems i'll be heading to the USA in may next year... i think i'll wait until i go and look to buy a vintage guitar while i'm over there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted October 18, 2015 Members Share Posted October 18, 2015 . . . as of yesterday, it seems i'll be heading to the USA in may next year... i think i'll wait until i go and look to buy a vintage guitar while i'm over there Where in the US are you heading? I'm sure someone on the Forum can suggest someplace that's local to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted October 18, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 18, 2015 Where in the US are you heading? I'm sure someone on the Forum can suggest someplace that's local to them. at this stage it looks like L.A....New York...Nashville... Chicago.. Detroit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordite Posted October 18, 2015 Members Share Posted October 18, 2015 You are not American? You know all this time I thought you were Mr Sully from "Sully's Guitar Garage" Well that's me looking stupid [video=youtube_share;BjcPGX7PJUA]http://youtu.be/BjcPGX7PJUA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted October 19, 2015 Members Share Posted October 19, 2015 my head is currently spinning with options Played a 339 yesterday.. cherry red.. awesome Sg gas still invades my being The national... well... what more can i say... i'd play the hell out of it The strat... great price... looks great... i'm currently stratless Quick! Must... buy... guitar I'd probably just get one of each and call it. Make sure the Gibby stuff doesn't have robot tuners on it, cause that's not right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted October 19, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 19, 2015 You are not American? You know all this time I thought you were Mr Sully from "Sully's Guitar Garage" Well that's me looking stupid [video=youtube_share;BjcPGX7PJUA]http://youtu.be/BjcPGX7PJUA that hair definitely doesn't belong to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted October 20, 2015 Moderators Share Posted October 20, 2015 Sorry bout that Sully, but maybe not the one for you, as I've found out with vintage guitars lately, almost always looking at a neck reset. On a classic Martin or something maybe worth the trouble, but smaller body guitars are bloody troublesome. I have an ES-125 waiting for me to get jiggy with it. I think if I was getting a Resonator, I'd go with a good newish used one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Danhedonia Posted October 25, 2015 Members Share Posted October 25, 2015 Returning to this - I find reasonable discussions of GAS to be illuminating. Clearly I don't know the OP well enough. However, I sure do recognize some of the symptoms: * "I'll never see something like that again." This is one way that my bored subconscious tries to convince me to buy gear. It's rare. The ratoinalizations I use against it: "you live in the age of the internet; you can always find another of something, if it's out there." and "just because it's unusual doesn't mean I have to have it." * Gibsons ... are best bought used. Or on deep discount from a retailer with whom you have a good relationship. Sorry, new HC owners: you're pricing is insane bad value. * If I am lusting after FOUR guitars (or six, or ....) then it's likely I haven't found ONE that would really be a good long time fit. This is analogous to dating (cough). Sort of. Ultimately, when I made money I sat myself down and said "stop trying to justify things - if it makes you happy and stays within a budget, then do it." Of course, that led to much happiness and less available space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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