what do you recommend as a good cheap resonator guitar?

racefaceec90

firstly i'd like to state i don't have any money saved yet,but am currently watching the bb king doc on bbc 4 (life of riley).

in the doc there is a fair bit of resonator playing.

i must admit to having loved the resonator guitar (especially the metal bodied ones). probably stems from the dire straits album cover.

if i ever bought one,it would just be for my own messing around on.

ta :-) 

equalsql

I think the problem is what you would classify as cheap for a metal resonator?  The terms good and cheap are mutually exclusive when it comes to these instruments. I spent a lot of time looking into this last year and ended up buying a Gretsch Honeydipper, which is a great guitar for the money.

I would have also considered a new or used Michael Messer if any had been available at the time. You need to be looking to spend £400-£500 really.

I wasn't impressed with the Ozarks that I saw and the only Recording King model that I tried had a split at the heel of the neck.  

I think there may be a used MM for sale on the forum,so that would be worth checking out.

underdog

I always found Ozark ok for the money and I think Harley Benton ones are the same guitar rebadged and cheaper.

ICBM

The Ozarks - and other brands which are essentially identical, made in the same factory - are massively variable. I've got an Ozark which is really nice for what it is, but I've played others that weren't - or at least were so substantially different that it may be a matter of taste/application. I played a Regal recently (which despite the higher-level brand name was definitely an identical guitar apart from the headstock) which was very different-sounding, much more tinny and 'whiny', but in some ways more authentically bluesy-sounding. I much preferred mine, which I use for fingerstyle 'conventional acoustic' playing, but I could imagine someone who wanted it for 30s-style blues would have preferred the Regal.

simonk

I've tried a few: the Ozarks, as has been pointed out already, seem highly variable in terms of material, construction and quality. The Gretsch models are a bit of fun but feel and sound cheap, same for the Fender. I plumped for a Michael Messer Lightning in the end and love it. Mine was new but reduced as it was classed as a second. Might be worth a call as they occasionally have them.

equalsql

simonk said:

I've tried a few: the Ozarks, as has been pointed out already, seem highly variable in terms of material, construction and quality. The Gretsch models are a bit of fun but feel and sound cheap, same for the Fender. I plumped for a Michael Messer Lightning in the end and love it. Mine was new but reduced as it was classed as a second. Might be worth a call as they occasionally have them.

I'd dispute your opinion on the Gretsch, well certainly the Honey Dipper. The build quality is excellent and it sounds wonderful.

57Deluxe

Thomann have loads cheap...

simonk

equalsql;654960" said:

simonk said:

I've tried a few: the Ozarks, as has been pointed out already, seem highly variable in terms of material, construction and quality. The Gretsch models are a bit of fun but feel and sound cheap, same for the Fender. I plumped for a Michael Messer Lightning in the end and love it. Mine was new but reduced as it was classed as a second. Might be worth a call as they occasionally have them.





I'd dispute your opinion on the Gretsch, well certainly the Honey Dipper. The build quality is excellent and it sounds wonderful.

No problem Maybe that's one I didn't try. I'm not knocking Gretsch's ability to make quality instruments.

IanSavage

I've personally got a Vintage Tricone-type which is phenomenal, but I agree with @ICBM's comment about the output from the factories making stuff for Vintage / Ozark / Regal / Harley Benton / Tanglewood et al being massively variable; I've owned an 'okay' Ozark resonator and played a couple of fuck-awful Ozark and Tanglewood ones.

If you can find and stretch to a secondhand Micheal Messer (or even harder to find and more-to-stretch-to, but totally worth it, an Amistar) that'd be my choice, otherwise I've played more good Gretsches from their latest line of resos (the Honey Dipper and Boxcar) than bad ones, so maybe find a shop with a few of those in (PMT in Birmingham had a good selection last time I was there).   

vasselmeyer

I'd concur with the Michael Messer comments. I have a Michael Messer Blues and it sounds awesome. They rarely come up second hand though.

slate

+1 for the messer.
I got the 14 fret blues model used for 400 quid, sounds great.I also had a gretsch bobtail which was better build quality than the messer and a nice sounding guitar but had a different cone so I can't make a direct comparison sound wise, but I sold that and kept the messer.

FreddieVanHalen

When the dollar was a bit cheaper I picked up a Republic guitar. Not super cheap but I'm happy with mine - maybe keep an eye out for a second hand one?

http://republicguitars.com