Resonators

ajax

I'm thinking of getting a resonator acoustic, just for recording.  Done a bit of research and I'd guess I want a dobro style single cone (round neck) as they seem to be the most extreme.  Doesn't need to be the best thing ever.  What can anyone recommend?

ICBM

I have an Ozark that's pretty nice.

richardhomer

I've heard good things about this company, though I have no personal experience of dealing with them:

http://www.buskerguitars.co.uk/

vasselmeyer

My resonator came from Busker Guitars. Fantastic service and very knowledgeable.

Lewy

ajax;63351" said:

Done a bit of research and I'd guess I want a dobro style single cone (round neck) as they seem to be the most extreme.

What do you mean by extreme? The Dobro - or to be specific the "spider" bridge sound is actually quite polite, a bit nasal but in a pleasing way, the country/bluegrass reso sound.

If you're looking for a more aggressive sound you're better off looking at a single cone with a biscuit bridge as opposed to a spider.

Buskers are good, as are the Michael Messer range, and I've quite liked the Gretsch resos I've played too.

ajax

Lewy -  thanks for the info.  I suppose what I mean is an instrument that sounds the furthest away from a non-resonator, the most obviously characterful.

Lewy

ajax;894778" said:

Lewy -  thanks for the info.  I suppose what I mean is an instrument that sounds the furthest away from a non-resonator, the most obviously characterful.

I would check out any steel bodied biscuit bridge single-cone then.

richardhomer

Lewy;894354" said:

I've quite liked the Gretsch resos I've played too.

It's interesting you should say that.

They seem to be just about the most widely available lower-priced resonators at the moment. The first few I tried were really awful - though a recently played another which was really good.

Whether this is down to sample variation, or they have made improvements to the design, I don't know.

As ever - trying before you buy is essential.

Lewy

richardhomer;895095" said:

[quote="Lewy;894354"]I've quite liked the Gretsch resos I've played too.

It's interesting you should say that.

They seem to be just about the most widely available lower-priced resonators at the moment. The first few I tried were really awful - though a recently played another which was really good.

Whether this is down to sample variation, or they have made improvements to the design, I don't know.

As ever - trying before you buy is essential.
[/quote]

Resos are very subjective. Lots of people love ones I think are awful and vice versa. Haven't tried enough of the Gretsch ones to know whether I just got lucky.

For me, my expectation on what a reso should sound like is based on late '20s/early '30s Nationals, a few of which I have owned. Of the modern made instruments, the Michael Messer ones come closest to the sound of the real thing, but they're a step up from the Ozarks and Gretsches etc in terms of cost.

wrinkleygit

I would second what Lewy has already said, for a first reso look for something with a biscuit bridge ( look below the saddle which will be supported on a round wooden block ), buskers, messer & republic all are reasonable instruments for the price but the build quality does vary, if a spider bridge reso comes up cheap enough give it a go (saddle sits on what looks like an alloy spider web ) not quite as bluesier sound which most people associate with a reso, also wooden bodies will give a different sound over metal, I believe the gretsches represent good value but I haven't tried one, open tunings are great fun & different types of slide is a massive subject as well, good luck in your quest, mike b.

equalsql

I own a Gretsch Honey Dipper and can recommend it highly.. lovely guitar.  Of course Michael Messer's guitars are excellent value too.  I noticed there are a couple of nice metal resonators up for sale in the acoustic section of the forum.

IvisonGuitars

I just picked up a Gretsch Honey Dipper yesterday secondhand and it's a brilliant sounding guitar, really chuffed with it. Build quality is great too. In fact, VERY impressive guitar all round for the money. Well worth investigating in my opinion.

sillymoustache

"I'd guess I want a dobro style single cone (round neck) as they seem to be the most extreme".

This statement worries me. The "Dobros" is a spider (only six legs) located on a cone which points up and out. Real Dobro are wooden bodies, and most popular with a square neck for use with a steel in coutry, bluegrass etc. Gibson made Dobros are not recommended as they have a poor quality cone and more often than not have intonation issues.

National guitars (now made by National Resophonic) come in two basic forms - the "Tricone" (three small cones with a saddle mounted on a T-bar) and the single cone (with a "biscuit" saddle/bridge resting on and screwed on to an inverted cone, (pointing inwards) Nationals are favoured by ragtime, and bottleneck blues
players. They come with wood bodies and in steel and bell brass - all with varying finishes.

  The tricone is the most "musical" of them all, followed by the Style "O" style with a nickel plated bell brass body (very sonorous, very heavy) then, the "most extreme/harsh - is the steel body - Orpheum etc. This is the one often preferred for the more primitive style of blues.

Apart from small factory makers like "Fine Resophonic"  few have cones that really sound like the originals.

Incidentally, the newer Nationals made by National Resophonic are better made than the originals.

I hope that helps. 

IvisonGuitars

miserneil said:

I just picked up a Gretsch Honey Dipper yesterday secondhand and it's a brilliant sounding guitar, really chuffed with it. Build quality is great too. In fact, VERY impressive guitar all round for the money. Well worth investigating in my opinion.

Just thought I'd update this: I changed the strings this evening to a set of Newtone Michael Messer Nickel 15's and it's made a hell of a difference, guitar sounds amazing! A very worthy upgrade IMO.

equalsql

miserneil said:

miserneil said:

I just picked up a Gretsch Honey Dipper yesterday secondhand and it's a brilliant sounding guitar, really chuffed with it. Build quality is great too. In fact, VERY impressive guitar all round for the money. Well worth investigating in my opinion.

Just thought I'd update this: I changed the strings this evening to a set of Newtone Michael Messer Nickel 15's and it's made a hell of a difference, guitar sounds amazing! A very worthy upgrade IMO.

Abso-feckin-lutly 

I picked up a Honey Dipper last year and changed the strings to those Nickel 15s and it just sings.

Fantastic guitars for the money. The neck on the Dipper is superb

TCat

I bought a Micheal Messer reso from the UK dealer in Wales. The spec seemed to be bang on. Lovely big fat wide neck....just how I like them, stable construction, good with 12's or 13's....... The only fettling required was a ten minute tidy up of the nut slots and a half turn on the T Rod. Sounded very authentic to my ears.( with plastic thumbpick and two metal fingerpicks)   I eventually upgraded the tuners and I now have a fine guitar that responds well to many changes of tuning etc....... it might be 5% short of the sound of a genuine National, but it was a third of the price, and 99.9% of people in the audience cant tell the difference anyway. A good workmanlike guitar...... and I think one of the better ones in the range of £500-£600.

erky32

I bought a Regal tricone last week off Amazon which is quite impressive. The first one arrived with a cracked heel so that had to be replaced, the replacement is fine. Its bell-brass body now loaded with 12-54 strings bangs out a lot of volume and in open-G is easy on the fingers. I straightened the neck totally and the action is around 3mm on 12th fret which is probably as good as practical for a reso on slide setting. It's been a good deal because I bought it during a snapshot drop in price from over £700 to £365, so I thought it was too good to miss! The tricone is usually a more expensive guitar because of the more complex build, but it gives a very pleasing polyphonic sound with all three cones adding their own slight variation, sustain goes on forever and can get into a valve-like growl with a harder picking style. Its all a new experiment for me as I need to get some variation in my tunes , which at present all end up as open G 1-4-5s. 
One thing I struggle with tho is the directional nature of the beast - all the beautiful jangly tones are projected forward, and in the drivers seat, you can hear it OK but it doesnt give the same sonic satisfaction unless you play lapstyle, - but that was never on the plan!!
For the money I'm happy for now, but if I really get hooked, and wanted to double my investment in the future I'd be interested to try the MM or Busker O-style.

richardhomer

richardhomer said:

I've heard good things about this company, though I have no personal experience of dealing with them:

http://www.buskerguitars.co.uk/

I've mentioned this in other threads - but I've subsequently bought a Busker Delta.

In terms of tone it's the 'real deal'. Very authentic sounding - in a completely different league to most lower priced resonators.

I bought it used and needed some advice. I emailed the company and got prompt, really detailed responses from Robin. Clearly their service is top-notch as well.

Highly recommended!