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  #1  
Old 09-03-2020, 10:42 AM
Yeah Yeah is offline
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Default roundneck biscuit bridge reso with too low action

Hello to you all, I´ ve got a reso set up question

I have a Sigma RME 140 e resonator that used to sound great but that now has horrible buzzing and dead note sound above the 10th fret. Frets 12 to 15 are directly without any sound at all, because of very very low action. I´m guessing the problem is the low action at the biscuit, would there be any way to raise that action???
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Old 09-03-2020, 11:13 AM
Sorehand Sorehand is offline
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Might be that the cone has been compressed a bit, dropping the biscuit lower than it was originally. Might be time to take it to a guitar tech to replace the cone or to try and work it back to shape. If you do it yourself, be aware that the cone is thin and delicate.
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Old 09-03-2020, 04:04 PM
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Is that a thing that happens?

Being that the reso is relatively new, should I send it to get repaired?
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Old 09-03-2020, 04:35 PM
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Hiya!

Yup, it happens. I bought a Gretsch Honey Dipper Special and a year later the cone collapsed. Gretsch called it an "expendable" item so I had to shell out to replace it. The shop I bought it from thought that was cheezeball so they chipped in the labor free. HERE is my review of the Gretsch and HERE is a link to the repair experience. And here is the original cone now serving as industrial art at the recording studio where i work:



Bob
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Old 09-03-2020, 04:59 PM
Ben M. Ben M. is offline
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Sounds like the cone might have collapsed. It can happen for no apparent reason.

If you’ve got a warranty I’d go that route. If not you can find cones pretty cheap.
$20-30. You might be better off investing in something higher quality. Maybe a cone from National. A resonator’s sound depends a lot on the quality of the cone.

Swapping a cone out is a pretty easy straightforward job. The only challenge is getting the new one set so your intonation is right.

Good luck
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Old 09-03-2020, 10:55 PM
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Thank you very much, with Covid restrictions still in my country, getting a cone will be extra hard. I will try to take it off and put it back again to see if i can fix it myself. Any tips? If that doesn’t work, ill return it under warranty

Thanks a lot to both Ben an bob
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Old 09-04-2020, 02:55 AM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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Howdy, Yeah. Believe it or not, I visited your town in the southernmost part of Argentina in February. It’s beautiful country down at your end of the planet. As it happens, my wife and I live even farther north than you are south, above the 60th Parallel, because we live in a bedroom suburb of Anchorage, Alaska, in the forest about twenty miles north of the city proper.

Anyway, we enjoyed visiting Ushuaia. I’m a lifelong fan of locomotives, and riding the southernmost train in the world was fun, even though the pace was slow and the distance covered on the trip was still pretty short.

The magnificent scenery of Tierra del Fuego, Cape Horn, the Magellan Straits and the Darwin Channel was great, and we were blessed by uncommonly clear skies, low winds and warm temperatures (by Patagonian and Alaskan standards.) Everywhere we got off the ship the local people told us how lucky we were with the weather that day.

It was not only gorgeous to see, but it was also a longtime ambition of mine to visit the region, ever since I read about Magellan’s voyage of exploration when I was a ten year old.

So please let me extend my welcome to the forum to you at one of the southernmost inhabited places on the planet from one of the northernmost.


Wade Hampton Miller
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Old 09-06-2020, 02:40 PM
frankmcr frankmcr is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Yeah View Post
Hello to you all, I´ ve got a reso set up question

I have a Sigma RME 140 e resonator that used to sound great but that now has horrible buzzing and dead note sound above the 10th fret. Frets 12 to 15 are directly without any sound at all, because of very very low action. I´m guessing the problem is the low action at the biscuit, would there be any way to raise that action???
Here is an article on resonator setup (biscuit bridge info at the end of the article).

https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-id...echniques.html

And an article about resonator buzzes -

http://www.resoguit.com/careNfeed.htm
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Old 09-06-2020, 06:35 PM
blue blue is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Womack View Post
Hiya!

Yup, it happens. I bought a Gretsch Honey Dipper Special and a year later the cone collapsed. Gretsch called it an "expendable" item so I had to shell out to replace it.

Bob
That's a tough break. In their defense, they don't know if you were tuning up to A or E or going by ear to even higher!

After only 1 year, they should have eaten it. But I do get it. Awesome that it didn't sour you on the instrument!
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Old 09-07-2020, 05:34 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blue View Post
That's a tough break. In their defense, they don't know if you were tuning up to A or E or going by ear to even higher!

After only 1 year, they should have eaten it. But I do get it. Awesome that it didn't sour you on the instrument!
Thanks! It was parked in E, but people tell me that is normal. Now I leave it in D.

Bob
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Old 09-07-2020, 10:14 AM
blue blue is offline
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Originally Posted by Bob Womack View Post
Thanks! It was parked in E, but people tell me that is normal. Now I leave it in D.

Bob
With 12s that should have been fine. I've visited your review more than once
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Old 09-07-2020, 04:21 PM
Yeah Yeah is offline
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Thanks to all form your help. Wade, congratulations on such a trip, glad to hear you enjoyed it. I hope you had time to visit Perito Moreno, definitely one of the most amazing sights, in my opinion.
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Old 09-07-2020, 11:00 PM
rockabilly69 rockabilly69 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Womack View Post
Thanks! It was parked in E, but people tell me that is normal. Now I leave it in D.

Bob
It may be common with Gretsch cones Bob, but with 12's and a Beard cone it should be no problem left in E. My National cones never collapsed like that, and I've been playing them for years in up tunings! And you know why your Gretsch sounds so much better now, not just the cone, but because a good tech set it up. Every Gretsch reso I've ever picked up was in dire need of that. I'm a hard core Gretsch fan so don't think I'm slagging the company, I'm not, just their reso setups!
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