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  #1  
Old 08-21-2012, 07:39 AM
funkapus funkapus is offline
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Default Advice needed: buying a resonator.

So, I took an intro to slide guitar class at the second week of PSGW this year, and absolutely loved it, and now I want to get a resonator.

I need to (and plan to) get out and play as many as I can; but I know from having visited area stores in the past that there won't be many options locally. And one thing I've run into when looking at makers' websites etc. is that pretty much all resonators that anyone is making seem to be 12-fret guitars with no cutout, making it awfully hard to work the slide above the 12th fret. I've seen only a few exceptions to this online; and I don't have much hope that I'm going to see those specific models when I go visiting shops to try out guitars.

Anyway, does anyone have any advice (general or specific) regarding shopping for a resonator? Or should I think of it like shopping for any other guitar? I'm a little concerned about my inexperience with them affecting my ability to quickly judge a setup (action high enough to make slide use easy; but low enough to make it still possible to fret with my fingers, since I'm not looking for a lap steel).

Thanks.
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Old 08-21-2012, 08:28 AM
dawhealer dawhealer is offline
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I have a Korean made Fender FR48 reso, 14-fret, that's a very adequate instrument. A lot of folks who have them have compared them to Nationals. They've been discontinued but you can often find them used on Ebay or Craig's list.

A little heavy because of the metal body and whether you need to have it setup differently depends on you. I've read that they were designed with someone who was going to play both slide and fretting and I was happy with the setup on mine so I haven't made any changes to it.

Dobro and National both make 14-fret cutaways, but they aren't cheap.

Don't recall ever seeing a metal-bodied reso with a cutaway, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there. Check Elderly. They're a good company and they have a big selection. Good luck.
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Old 08-21-2012, 08:36 AM
seannx seannx is offline
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I played one of these a week ago and almost bought it. Great sound, acoustic or plugged in, and a very cool look. Went back planning to buy it the next day, and it was sold. They still had the square neck model, but you need to play it flat. Here's a link:
http://www.gretschguitars.com/produc...tno=2716010503
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Old 08-21-2012, 08:40 AM
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I owned the Beard Goldtone (made in Asia but set up by Beard in Maryland) PBRCA. It is Mahogany, and has a cutaway. Mine was a roundneck, which allows for a combination of fingerpicking and slide.

http://www.beardguitars.com/guitargoldtonepbrca.html

I discovered I am not a slide guy after all. I sold mine last year. The quality of the instrument is outstanding though. And Beard is the authority on slide guitars according to many. Call them and ask their advice?
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Old 08-21-2012, 08:41 AM
Eldergreene Eldergreene is offline
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If you don't want to shell out for a National, next best thing would be a Hotrod Steel, after that a Republic ( they both make 14 fretters ), the Republic might need tweaking into shape; nothing less than those is really worth bothering with, IMO..
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Old 08-21-2012, 10:16 AM
montydog montydog is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by themissal View Post
I owned the Beard Goldtone (made in Asia but set up by Beard in Maryland) PBRCA. It is Mahogany, and has a cutaway. Mine was a roundneck, which allows for a combination of fingerpicking and slide.

http://www.beardguitars.com/guitargoldtonepbrca.html

I discovered I am not a slide guy after all. I sold mine last year. The quality of the instrument is outstanding though. And Beard is the authority on slide guitars according to many. Call them and ask their advice?
Plus 1000. Spot on advice.
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Old 08-21-2012, 01:17 PM
joe paul joe paul is offline
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Granted, sliding above the 12th fret isn't easy on a traditional shape resonator, but that never stopped the vast majority of players, it just makes it more gratifying when you get there. A 14 fret reso has a different sound, not necessarily better or worse, depends on what you're after, but often with less bass, less gutsy.

The Goldtone mentioned above is no doubt a good guitar, but it has a spider or Dobro style bridge. This is a different species to most resonators, National style, which have either single cones with biscuit bridges or are tricones. It's a big difference. Maybe you're aware of all this already, if so, my apologies. If not, this is a good place to get familiar with it :

http://littlebrotherblues.com/Gear/ResoHunt/index.html

http://littlebrotherblues.com/Gear/R...ound-test1.mp3

or go try some! That's where the fun is...
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Old 08-21-2012, 06:55 PM
BluesBelly BluesBelly is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by themissal View Post
I owned the Beard Goldtone (made in Asia but set up by Beard in Maryland) PBRCA. It is Mahogany, and has a cutaway. Mine was a roundneck, which allows for a combination of fingerpicking and slide.

http://www.beardguitars.com/guitargoldtonepbrca.html

I discovered I am not a slide guy after all. I sold mine last year. The quality of the instrument is outstanding though. And Beard is the authority on slide guitars according to many. Call them and ask their advice?
+2000
I own this Paul Beard Gold Tone and it is hands down superior to any reso in it's price range. All solid hog and set up in the US with genuine Beard parts. You will find spyder resos in hog round necks and buscuit resos used more on metal square necks. both styles have strong points.

Blues
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Old 08-22-2012, 07:14 AM
funkapus funkapus is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dawhealer View Post
Don't recall ever seeing a metal-bodied reso with a cutaway, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there.
Yeah, they exist: National does them and Republic has one as well. But I don't fancy my chances of finding them around here to try out. Elderly's a good thought, thanks.


Quote:
Originally Posted by seannx View Post
I played one of these a week ago and almost bought it. Great sound, acoustic or plugged in, and a very cool look. Went back planning to buy it the next day, and it was sold. They still had the square neck model, but you need to play it flat. Here's a link:
http://www.gretschguitars.com/produc...tno=2716010503
I had seen this and wondered about it; but it's good to hear from someone that's actually played one.


Quote:
Originally Posted by themissal View Post
I owned the Beard Goldtone (made in Asia but set up by Beard in Maryland) PBRCA. It is Mahogany, and has a cutaway. Mine was a roundneck, which allows for a combination of fingerpicking and slide.

http://www.beardguitars.com/guitargoldtonepbrca.html

I discovered I am not a slide guy after all. I sold mine last year. The quality of the instrument is outstanding though. And Beard is the authority on slide guitars according to many. Call them and ask their advice?
Quote:
Originally Posted by montydog View Post
Plus 1000. Spot on advice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BluesBelly View Post
+2000
I own this Paul Beard Gold Tone and it is hands down superior to any reso in it's price range. All solid hog and set up in the US with genuine Beard parts. You will find spyder resos in hog round necks and buscuit resos used more on metal square necks. both styles have strong points.
Interesting -- this is a make/brand I hadn't heard of before. They list a couple of dealers in my extended area (about an hour to get to them); but the websites of the dealers themselves make no reference to Beard as a maker they carry. I guess I need to call. What makes them the authority on slide guitars?


Quote:
Originally Posted by Eldergreene View Post
If you don't want to shell out for a National, next best thing would be a Hotrod Steel, after that a Republic ( they both make 14 fretters ), the Republic might need tweaking into shape; nothing less than those is really worth bothering with, IMO..
National I was of course familiar with; but they seemed to have only one style that allowed me to get above the 12th fret without too much trouble, and it was pretty expensive. Republic I knew about from searches on here; although people admit they're not as well made as the guitars from National, people here seem to be impressed by them, with the occasional one off that wasn't done well. Hotrod Steel I've never heard of.


Quote:
Originally Posted by joe paul View Post
Granted, sliding above the 12th fret isn't easy on a traditional shape resonator, but that never stopped the vast majority of players, it just makes it more gratifying when you get there. A 14 fret reso has a different sound, not necessarily better or worse, depends on what you're after, but often with less bass, less gutsy.
I guess I didn't really consider the sound difference; I just can't imagine how to slide up there with a 12-fret guitar with no cutout, notwithstanding the fact that some guitarists do/have done it, obviously. Particularly if you want to slide on just the first string while being ready to fret quickly with your other fingers.

Quote:
The Goldtone mentioned above is no doubt a good guitar, but it has a spider or Dobro style bridge. This is a different species to most resonators, National style, which have either single cones with biscuit bridges or are tricones. It's a big difference. Maybe you're aware of all this already, if so, my apologies. If not, this is a good place to get familiar with it :

http://littlebrotherblues.com/Gear/ResoHunt/index.html

http://littlebrotherblues.com/Gear/R...ound-test1.mp3

or go try some! That's where the fun is...
Thanks muchly for the links. I do need to go try more. I've read about the design differences you speak of above; but I haven't played enough resonators to have a visceral sense of what those differences really mean in terms of sound. Right now the only resonator I've tried is a Beltona Electro Resonator, which despite the odd material, I liked a lot, although I wished it had a bit more low end. But they're made whenever someone like Eric Clapton or Mark Knopfler specifically requests one, so they ain't cheap; and as a beginner, it seems a bit absurd for me to go there.
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Old 08-22-2012, 07:21 AM
Bikewer Bikewer is offline
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I've got Bob Brozman's beginner DVD, and almost the first thing he shows you is how to play upper frets by using your thumb to damp.
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Old 08-22-2012, 08:39 AM
BlueBuddha BlueBuddha is offline
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When I first got into playing slide, I rushed out and bought a resonator too. I bought a Republic resolian, great little guitar although the neck is super beefy. I think the Highway 61 (which has a cut-away has a more managable neck).

I ended up selling the resolian after a year or two. Once I'd learnt the basics of playing slide, I found I much preferred to play it on a normal acosutic guitar (well, a 12-fret parlor is my normal acoustic guitar).

I guess a resonator is cool when you are first learning as you can use 16 gauge strings so you can get away with poor technique. Playing on an acoustic with 12 guage strings takes a little more control.

Best of luck with your search.
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Old 08-22-2012, 09:05 AM
scienceisgolden scienceisgolden is offline
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I have a Fender acoustic/electric cutaway resonator and love it...without the cutaway and plug in, it would be much more limited.

Put in a local ad for a resonator. That's how I got mine. My guessing is 90% of these guitars don't even get played once a year. They are bought by the uninformed or as a novelty and have never played more than as couple of times.

Also, if you buy it used you can resell it for more or less what you bought it for. You'll lose half your value on a new one.
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Old 08-22-2012, 09:53 PM
funkapus funkapus is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bikewer View Post
I've got Bob Brozman's beginner DVD, and almost the first thing he shows you is how to play upper frets by using your thumb to damp.
Huh. I guess I should take a look at that because I can't even visualize what you mean!


Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueBuddha View Post
When I first got into playing slide, I rushed out and bought a resonator too. I bought a Republic resolian, great little guitar although the neck is super beefy. I think the Highway 61 (which has a cut-away has a more managable neck).

I ended up selling the resolian after a year or two. Once I'd learnt the basics of playing slide, I found I much preferred to play it on a normal acosutic guitar (well, a 12-fret parlor is my normal acoustic guitar).

I guess a resonator is cool when you are first learning as you can use 16 gauge strings so you can get away with poor technique. Playing on an acoustic with 12 guage strings takes a little more control.
No doubt. And in fact, most of us used our regular acoustics in the class I took; and for going forward, the instructor for our class told us that one option we could consider would be to buy an acoustic separate from one we normally play so that the action could be jacked up. But the main thing that steers me toward a resonator is the sustain. The normal acoustics in our class just didn't have the sustain to make a lot of the tunes we played sound decent. "Sleepwalk" didn't work at all: at a normal tempo, a note wouldn't hold long enough to slide up the neck, stay there a little bit, then back down the neck.


Quote:
Originally Posted by scienceisgolden View Post
I have a Fender acoustic/electric cutaway resonator and love it...without the cutaway and plug in, it would be much more limited.

Put in a local ad for a resonator. That's how I got mine. My guessing is 90% of these guitars don't even get played once a year. They are bought by the uninformed or as a novelty and have never played more than as couple of times.

Also, if you buy it used you can resell it for more or less what you bought it for. You'll lose half your value on a new one.
Thanks -- I had thought about a used one in passing; but you make the case pretty well.
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Last edited by funkapus; 08-23-2012 at 06:33 AM. Reason: I spel gud.
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Old 08-23-2012, 06:06 AM
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Toby Walker Toby Walker is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by joe paul View Post
A 14 fret reso has a different sound, not necessarily better or worse, depends on what you're after, but often with less bass, less gutsy.
I'm going to respectfully disagree with that. I think you're confusing the 14 verses the 12 fret tonal differences in regard to acoustic flat tops. In those cases the placement of the bridge on the top produces the different tones.

The sound from a resonator comes almost exclusively from the cone and the materials used to make the body. Nickel plated brass a warmer, more bass driven tone then steel bodied guitars.

In my opinion I would save up your bucks and go for the National. They are worth the extra bucks as there is simply no comparison between those and the Asian copies.

You could save some $$$ and buy a used one. One of my students wound up selling his Republic after hearing my Nationals and is now searching the classifieds.
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Old 08-23-2012, 08:25 AM
BluesBelly BluesBelly is offline
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Check out Beard Guitars http://beardguitars.com/

Check out the folks at http://www.resohangout.com/

Blues
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