Which inexpensive resonator to buy?

[westview]

Another vote for Gretsch Boxcar.

[MartyGraw]

Another Boxcar vote....

[Kitkatjoe]

All the ones mentioned are good guitars. The Rogue from Musicans Friend is a sleeper. Go over read the reviews and see the price.

[slowesthand]

Originally Posted by L20A

I have played a lot of Regal Resonator Guitars over the years.
I like them for the money.
https://www.guitarcenter.com/Regal/R...caAs8gEALw_wcB

I bought that same guitar a couple weeks before Christmas, they had a 2 discounts going on the day I looked at it.

I got it $245, a few days later it was back up in the $400 range. It needed some tweaking at the nut, which was an easy fix. The only problem I have with it is the string slot on the high E, in the saddle, it appears to be way too deep causing problems there, Other than that no complaints, Lots of fun to play around with,

[Busdriver63]

How about the Republic Highway61?

[SpruceTop]

I did a bit of research yesterday and determined that if I were to buy a Style O metal-bodied resonator, my low-cost choices would likely be: Recording King RM-998-R or Republic Duolian. Both of these guitars have a nickel-plated, bell brass body.

The Recording King is $899 and the Republic is $719.

My previous resonator was a 1976 American-made Dobro Brothers 14-Fret Style O which I traded-in years ago on another guitar. My preference is a Style O as that's what Son House played when I saw him locally in concert in 1964. Son played both 14-fret and 12-fret National Style O resonators.

Whether you have experience with one or both of these resonators, or haven't played either, which of these two Style O resonators would you choose, and why?

Recording King RM-998-R 14-Fret

Republic Duolian 14-Fret

[SpruceTop]

So, what the heck is Blackwood Tek? This material comprises the fretboard on a Republic Resonator Guitar. It's a "green material" that is closer to real wood than is Richlite. After watching this video, I wouldn't have any problem with it being used in the construction of a $719 Republic resonator should I buy one. What do you think?

[MC5C]

Interesting. They take a junk weed pine wood, grown very fast in Australia, so it has wide growth rings and little density, ship it to China to a factory where they kiln dry it to 10% moisture, impregnate a catalyst and colour dyes in a pressure chamber, re-dry it to 2% - 3% moisture in a second kiln, back into the pressure chamber to get impregnated with resin, which will chemically react with the catalyst (like epoxy), and then compress it mechanically to 40% of it's original thickness. They say with all organic chemicals. Basically a completely manufactured wood-based product specifically for the musical instrument industry. Very neat use of an otherwise fairly unusable wood (pinus radiata, apparently considered a weed in many places). It sounds similar to trembling aspen, a weed tree where I live. I've seen it grow to over a foot in diameter in less than 10 years. http://www.madinter.com/corporate/bl...tek/index.html

[joe paul]

Not sure about the Republic, could be decent, but the Recording King resonator I tried didn't have much life to it.
If I was looking for a brass body style 0 family resonator at a reasonable price and didn't want to hunt for a used NRP, I'd get a Michael Messer Lightning without hesitation. I have one of his steel body Blues models and it's a really sweet guitar.
There may not be many around in the US, but Toronto could help.

https://www.12fret.com/instruments/m...ser-lightning/

[SpruceTop]

I just ordered a Republic Duolian in Tarnished Nickel Finish with optional Schatten NR-2 Piezo Pickup. More To Come ...

[SpruceTop]

Republic Guitars has shipped my Duolian and it should be with me on Tuesday. More To Come ...

[SpruceTop]

Yesterday, the Republic Duolian with Schatten NR-2 arrived safe and sound via UPS. Review of guitar and pickup to be posted this coming weekend. More to come ...

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

Yesterday, the Republic Duolian with Schatten NR-2 arrived safe and sound via UPS. Review of guitar and pickup to be posted this coming weekend. More to come ...

Very cool, SpruceTop!

I can't wait to hear about your new resonator!

- Glenn

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Very cool, SpruceTop!

I can't wait to hear about your new resonator!

- Glenn

Thanks, Glenn! Finally, today I'm going to get to play my new Repbublic Duolian. Review soon to come.

[SpruceTop]

My first playing test of the Republic Duolian is pleasurable in that the guitar sounds really good both acoustically and plugged into my UltraSound AG30, and in that the guitar is set up quite well with darn good craftsmanship.

The amplified tone from the Republic Guitars-installed Schatten NR2 is noise-free and sounds surprisingly full and quite well-balanced string-to-string in its output and tone. I'm routing the Schatten's passive output through my new Sarno Steel Guitar Black Box Tube Preamp and that likely accounts for some of the warmth and roundness of amplified tone. The Vari-Z variable impedance knob of the SGBB acts to find the sweet spot impedance for the pickup and also acts as a kind of volume control as the more the knob is turned toward the higher impedance end of its travel there is a noticeable volume increase along with the increasing fullness of tone. I've found the most pleasing tone is at the 1 Megaohm end of the knob. I also have an LR Baggs Session DI that I'll try the Schatten through it to hear what that can do for its amplified tone.

More to come with photos of the guitar.