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#1
02-28-2024, 06:26 PM
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Resonator Guitar Conversion Project
I bought a Framus 5/1 50 parlor guitar on eBay. It arrived today. It is going to be the donor guitar for my resonator conversion project. It's in good shape with "character" and "patina".
I'm planning on ordering a National cone and coverplate. They will cost more than the guitar! I might consider a Replogle cone though. I have a spare National biscuit I'll use. I chose this guitar for the following reasons. 1. I had a Framus guitar in High School. I traveled around Europe with it on the trains for a month. 2. It has a bolt on neck. I wanted to avoid having to do a neck reset on a glued joint. 3. The back is formed and I think it might add some support. There's no bracing and I can add bracing if I think it's necessary. 4. Tailpiece already there, won't have to add it. 5. Top is flat. I wanted to avoid dealing with a radiused top. There' a truss rod in the neck. I lubricated the nut and tightened the rod a bit. The neck is pretty straight. I might not have to make any adjustments to the neck angle. The guitar has a zero fret. I will have to figure out where to center the cone. I think I will need to use double the distance from the zero fret to where I'll drill for using a circle jig. 
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#3
02-29-2024, 03:23 AM
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Quote:
I have to assume you're going to build a sound-well for the cone edge to rest upon. I would not spend too much time worrying about the zero fret. Just make really sure that your geometry is accurately laid out for the center of the bridge. If the zero fret is bothersome, just remove it, cut through the existing slot until you reach the front of the neck area, and make a new nut, if you don't mind all the extra work. The height of the bridge as it relates to your ultimate string angle/action is THE crux of the matter. Where the edge of the cone rests is not going to be adjustable, so you get one chance to get it right. The bridge saddle will have all sorts of material you can adjust the action and intonation with, but make sure your cover plate has the removable bridge strap so that you can do the saddle work in real time with no need to disassemble everything. HE
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#4
02-29-2024, 05:20 AM
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Use 2 x the distance from the zero fret to the 12th fret, plus 4mm to allow for intonation. The cone well should be a little larger than the cone to allow some free adjustment in the cone/biscuit. The cone will be held in place by string down pressure.
You may need a slightly stronger neck angle than you have on a flattop. Reinforce everything! Don't worry about weight - in many respects the heavier the better. You are trying to produce a speaker cabinet. Good luck. It sounds like a great project.
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I'm learning to flatpick and fingerpick guitar to accompany songs. I've played and studied traditional noter/drone mountain dulcimer for many years. And I used to play dobro in a bluegrass band.
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#5
03-01-2024, 03:13 AM
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This cover plate by Royall also has a pickup, which you may not want, but the bridge strap is removable, like a National.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/16655352108...mis&media=COPY I used something similar on my National Resolectric project. I was able to find a cover that did not already have a pickup cutout, but I put my own pickup in.  The arched back is going to test your creativity in fashioning the resonator 'well', especially if you don't remove the back. HE
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