Advice on buying a Resonator needed

10thumbs

Thinking of buying myself a Resonator  , nothing too fancy (expensive) , and more blues than bluegrass ,
anybody else been down this road ?
Any advice would be welcome  , Gretsch do a few that look interesting. 
I don't want anything too fancy though  , a beginner with flash guitar just looks ridiculous.

 (Although a guy near me is selling a copper finished  Regal Tricone at a reasonable price and I'm having to fight the GAS, LOL.)

bandmaster188

The gretsch resonators I tried a few years back seemed to be decent for the money or michael messer resonators always get good reviews. Not tried any of the MM’s though.

richardhomer

bandmaster188 said:

The gretsch resonators I tried a few years back seemed to be decent for the money or michael messer resonators always get good reviews. Not tried any of the MM’s though.

The Michael Messers are 80-90% of the way to real National. The Gretches aren’t in the same league in my experience. 

I have a Busker Delta, which was made in the same factory as the Michael Messer models. It’s a brilliant sounding thing.

Andy79

Agree with Richard. £400 will get you a used Michael Messer. They are head and shoulders above the competition 
For blues you need a biscuit bridge, not a spider

vasselmeyer

I have a Michael Messer Blues and it's a brilliant instrument. Can't go wrong with one.

bandmaster188

richardhomer said:

bandmaster188 said:

The gretsch resonators I tried a few years back seemed to be decent for the money or michael messer resonators always get good reviews. Not tried any of the MM’s though.

The Michael Messers are 80-90% of the way to real National. The Gretches aren’t in the same league in my experience. 

I have a Busker Delta, which was made in the same factory as the Michael Messer models. It’s a brilliant sounding thing.

I bought a national M1 some years back and it’s a stunning guitar, but  In the process of buying it, I picked up a couple of grestch reso’s just as a comparison and was pleasantly surprised by the box car. Would loved to have had a go on a messer to compare.
also tried one of these Turner reso’s out but the National won in the end.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kTErPyF62rk

paulnb57

As said get a Messer heads above all the other copies, I have the Lightning model, superb!

Andy79

https://michaelmesser.proboards.com/thread/12110/michael-messer-blues-fret-highlander

SpankThePlank

Andy79 said:

Agree with Richard. £400 will get you a used Michael Messer. They are head and shoulders above the competition 
For blues you need a biscuit bridge, not a spider

Hi.
Why is the spider less suitable for blues?

steer

I picked up a Fender Brown Derby a few months back, which I am pleased with. It has a fairly small body and a thinish neck. Did not cost too much. Plays easily, sounds good to my ears. Biscuit bridge. Looks good, but not too much bling.

I was reading around and the Michael Messer's seem to be the ones that most people recommend. The Fender was about half the price though. The telecaster headstock might put off some traditionalists.

Lewy

SpankThePlank said:

Andy79 said:

Agree with Richard. £400 will get you a used Michael Messer. They are head and shoulders above the competition 
For blues you need a biscuit bridge, not a spider

Hi.
Why is the spider less suitable for blues?

Spider bridge is the dobro sound...nasal and compressed, prevalent in bluegrass. It’s not like you can’t play blues on one, but it won’t have the bonk and splang of a biscuit bridge and that’s what most people are looking for for blues. 

StephenB

I had a Michael Messer Lightning and sold it. I was warned not to, but I needed the funds to buy a more middle of the road guitar for a function band. I have regretted selling it ever since, they are incredible instruments. I've played the real deal 1930s National in a guitar store. I've also played Ozark, Fender, Gretsch and recording king resonators and I can say with ease that the MM is the closest I got to the National.

If you are playing it live alot, or with a full band, you might want to look at Sollophonic guitars, I had one of those too and it was great fun. Also regret selling it.

10thumbs

Well I missed out on the Messer , so I'm currently looking at a Busker and a Royall ,anybody have any experience with either of these? 
Any advice is appreciated as there are now so few guitar shops I'll end up buying online without trying them.

richardhomer

10thumbs said:

Well I missed out on the Messer , so I'm currently looking at a Busker and a Royall ,anybody have any experience with either of these? 
Any advice is appreciated as there are now so few guitar shops I'll end up buying online without trying them.

As I mentioned ealier in the thread, I have a Busker Delta. Great sounding guitar. Here it is:

https://m.soundcloud.com/richard-homer/acoustic-blues