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  #1  
Old 11-26-2008, 09:24 PM
D. Churchland D. Churchland is offline
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Default Resonator Help Needed!

I've been considering a Resonator for use in my recordings for slide.

But I only have a minimal knowledge about them, mainly I'm considering a bottleneck since I can't play dobro (at all). The style of music will be old time rags and alot of "modern" slide work, not much in terms of delta blues or any blues at all

My questions are as follows...

What is the tonal difference if there is one, between a Tricone and a single cone? (or any other cone for that matter)

Does the body material make a huge difference in tone? (obviously metal is going to be super heavy)

Who are some of the major builders?

And lastly.. Who would you recommend I look at for purchasing?

thanks in advance
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  #2  
Old 11-26-2008, 11:49 PM
dawhealer dawhealer is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Will Kirk View Post
I've been considering a Resonator for use in my recordings for slide.

But I only have a minimal knowledge about them, mainly I'm considering a bottleneck since I can't play dobro (at all). The style of music will be old time rags and alot of "modern" slide work, not much in terms of delta blues or any blues at all

My questions are as follows...

What is the tonal difference if there is one, between a Tricone and a single cone? (or any other cone for that matter)

Does the body material make a huge difference in tone? (obviously metal igoing to be super heavy)

Who are some of the major builders?

And lastly.. Who would you recommend I look at for purchasing?

thanks in advance
A few years ago I bought a Fender FR48 reso. I knew I wasn't going to be playing it a lot, but I like the sound of a reso for certain music. It's not a National, but the sound is close enough and I couldn't justify paying the National price for a guitar that's not going to get played as much as my others.

I tried metal bodied and wood bodied and the metal body had the sound I was after. The wood bodied resos I tried just weren't very impressive. I liked the sound of the Fender better than that of the Regals I played and almost as much as the Nationals. That National price thing made my mind up for me as noted above.

Metal resos ain't light (the FR48 weighs 12 lbs.), but if you sit to play that's not going to be a big deal. The only thing I had to tweak was putting a piece of felt under the tailpiece because it developed a buzz after a while, but that was an easy fix.

MF and Music 123 have them. If you can find one locally, that would be my suggestion as you're more than likely going to have to have a good setup done on it if you don't do your own.

I think I'm gonna pull mine out and play a couple of tunes for the cat before I crash.
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  #3  
Old 11-27-2008, 06:41 AM
Sollophonic Sollophonic is offline
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Spider cone guitars have a mellowish reso tone, with a bit of growl when you dig in. The attack of the note is smmother, with quite a bit of sustain

Tricones have a complex tone, which is achieved with the overtones and harmonics from the three cones interacting. Their tone is quite rich but loud, with a bit of sustain

Biscuit bridge ones, have a great deal of volume, a sharp attack, and much less sustain. They are much brasher usually, but different guitars can vary in how rich and toneful they are.

If I use singers as an analogy, a spider cone is Ella Fitzgerald, a Tricone is Frank Sinatra, and a biscuit bridge is Mick Jagger!

Body material does make a big difference. I had a wood bodied single cone till recently, which was good, but I had to do quite a few upgrades (cone,bridge, nut) to make it sound sweet. I now have a Busker MM Blues resonator www.buskerguitars.co.uk which is brass bodied, and is a completely diffrent animal. I havent done anything to this guitar except put heavier strings on, and I would recommend one to anyone. It has a wide neck and fingerboard, and plays well in all kinds of tunings. Its heavy though, being brass bodied

Slide on resonators works with a combination of the following IMO

Heavy guage strings
Heavy Slide
Light Touch
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  #4  
Old 11-27-2008, 07:00 AM
Dotneck Dotneck is offline
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I just got the National Tricone that was for sale in the emporium here last week. I'm enchanted with the sound. I also looked at it as sort of a novelty as well but I have not picked up normal flat top since it arrived. So...if you're like me...don't underestimated how much it will get used.

I am certainly not an expert on resonators...I'm just learning....but I love the Frank Sinatra analogy. It has a much more complex tone than I had imagined it would have. That said...for a more modern sound I think a tricone may work for you. For example, are you familiar with Bob Brozman? Here is a you tube clip...he's playing a baritone tricone.

Brozman


Although I've never played one...I've heard the Republic resonators are a good alternative for those who don't want to pay the whole tariff to get a National.

Last edited by Dotneck; 11-27-2008 at 07:01 AM. Reason: speeling
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  #5  
Old 11-27-2008, 12:20 PM
djphelan01 djphelan01 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Will Kirk View Post
But I only have a minimal knowledge about them, mainly I'm considering a bottleneck since I can't play dobro (at all).
I know nothing about resaonators or dobros, I thought they were the same. What is the difference between a resonator and a Dobro?
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Old 11-27-2008, 12:52 PM
L20A L20A is offline
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Dobro is a brand name for their resonator guitars.
They are famous for their square back slide guitars.
Bluegrass players use them a lot.

I have an import Flinthill that sounds great. It's a round back which is played like a normal guitar with a wood body.

Like all other guitars, you will want to play as many as you can before choosing the one that best fits your needs.

Enjoy the quest,
TMG.
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  #7  
Old 11-27-2008, 12:54 PM
zombywoof zombywoof is offline
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Rule of thumb (for what it's worth).

In a metal body a single cone for blues and a tricone for pretty much everything.

I prefer the sound of the steel bodies but lots of folks like the brass. Avoid aluminum at all costs.

National, of course, is still out there. The new ones I have played are excellent.

If ya want to spend some real serious bucks take look at the Terraplane resonators.

Another good company is Amistar. Lots of folks prefer their Continental cones to anything else out there.

If you are on a budget check out Gold Tone and maybe Republic.
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Old 11-27-2008, 02:33 PM
kozwinkle kozwinkle is offline
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You can't go wrong with either one of these:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/compa...ase_pid=519191

The spider comes in round neck and square neck(square neck is strictly for slide). The triolian comes only in round neck.

I've had two of the spiders for a year and a half now and I can't get over how good they sound and how well they're made.

Plus, there's a coupon code for an additional $20 off.
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  #9  
Old 11-27-2008, 04:08 PM
niko niko is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Will Kirk View Post
What is the tonal difference if there is one, between a Tricone and a single cone? (or any other cone for that matter)
Some good informations at this page on Bob Brozman's website :
http://bobbrozman.com/national.html

I have a baritone Tricone, and I'd recommend a test if you can; it's a really amazing guitar.
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  #10  
Old 11-27-2008, 08:56 PM
troubleman troubleman is offline
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Go over to National Guitars.com website. They have soundclips of their various models. I own a National Delphi, just sold a Beard/Goldtone, own a Republic Style-O, and my Republic Tricone should arrive on Monday. If you have the money, get a National - American made and probably the best out there (IMO) all around in terms of build-quality, playability, and tone. If you are on a budget - get a Republic. They are stupid-wonderful for the price (imported from China, but designed and set up by a really nice guy in Texas named Frank Helsley). They sound pretty good out of the box, but for about $100 you can purchase replacement cones from National Guitars (hotrod alloy cone) as an upgrade (that said - the stock cone is still in my Republic Style-O, and I do own a spare National Hotrod cone). I'd highly recommend giving Frank a call and telling him what you seek. He's a good guy; he'll take care of you. From your description it sounds as if you want a tricone....

Check Republic Guitars.com

pEAcE,
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Last edited by troubleman; 11-27-2008 at 11:49 PM.
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  #11  
Old 11-28-2008, 09:03 AM
Mauvais Beal Mauvais Beal is offline
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spider cone- bluegrassy music, country, the real twangy stuff

biscuit- Blues

Tricone- blues and hawaiian and many other styles too

This is a bit over simplified but it points you in the direction you want to go.
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  #12  
Old 11-28-2008, 09:21 AM
D. Churchland D. Churchland is offline
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I've checked out Busker guitars and they seem pretty promising, Nationals are awesome, I might try to hunt down a used one if I decide to get one, thanks for all the help guys
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  #13  
Old 11-28-2008, 09:32 AM
Sollophonic Sollophonic is offline
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Also check out Michael Messers website and forum for all kinds of resonator related stuff.

www.michaelmesser.co.uk

Posts/threads from players all over the globe too.

While I use my two resonators for slide a lot of the time, I sometimes play them without. I mess around with the tunings as well, just to get a different sound on things. My biscuit bridge Busker sounds really nice in DADGAD and in standard tuning, though I do drop it down so the bottom string is D.

I have heard tricones being used for jazzy stuff as well.
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