strings on a new Reso

[slowesthand]

I'm new to the world of resonators, and have a string question. I just got a new Regal round neck, and the strings seem alot stiffer when trying bends., I'm used to 12's on my other guitars.
Does anyone know if they come with 12's or 13's

Thanks in advance

[Silly Moustache]

Don't know about modern resonators branded as Regal.

The tradition was to put heavy gauge strings on resos (partially to give most power for slide), but the cones do a certain amount of pressure to work properly.

I now use medium gauge. (Ej17s are fine).

[MrDB]

Originally Posted by slowesthand

I'm new to the world of resonators, and have a string question. I just got a new Regal round neck, and the strings seem alot stiffer when trying bends., I'm used to 12's on my other guitars.
Does anyone know if they come with 12's or 13's

Thanks in advance

Mine came with D'Addario EJ16 lights. Harder to bend might likely be due to the higher action of a resonator.

[lfoo6952]

Don't you need to use a heavier gauge on a resonator? I use 16's (D'addario EJ42) on my resonator.

[slowesthand]

Originally Posted by lfoo6952

Don't you need to use a heavier gauge on a resonator? I use 16's (D'addario EJ42) on my resonator.

A friend of mine plays a square neck dobro, and uses 16's. most of the round necks I've seen come strung with a lighter guage,

[slowesthand]

Originally Posted by MrDB

Mine came with D'Addario EJ16 lights. Harder to bend might likely be due to the higher action of a resonator.

Mr DB, is yours a round neck?

[lfoo6952]

Originally Posted by slowesthand

A friend of mine plays a square neck dobro, and uses 16's. most of the round necks I've seen come strung with a lighter guage,

Got it. I didn’t notice in your original post that you specified round neck.

[tdq]

I use 0.013s on mine. I went with 12s for a while as they are easier on the fingers but it does sound better with the 0.013s.
Im pretty sure it came with 0.013s on purchase.

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by lfoo6952

Don't you need to use a heavier gauge on a resonator? I use 16's (D'addario EJ42) on my resonator.

I thought that for some time, but as they are so loud - they just aren't really necessary.
You need a reasonable amount of tension in order to use a bottleneck smoothly but mediums with , perhaps a .17" on the first is fine.

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

I thought that for some time, but as they are so loud - they just aren't really necessary.
You need a reasonable amount of tension in order to use a bottleneck smoothly but mediums with , perhaps a .17" on the first is fine.

On my Nationals I use .016 on my Western D spider cone, 013 on my Polychrome Tricone, and .012s on my two single cones (M2 and Triolian), and they all play fine. It may help that both of my single cone Nationals were set-up as artist models specifically for the way that I play by Don Young himself, he even made a custom intonated saddle for my M2!

Here's a song I recorded with my Triolian and this is what it sounds like....

https://youtu.be/jKmM-VIBdFA