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RE: Resonator guitar

tobywalker — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:37:41 GMT

Hi Bert,

I've been playing both single cone and tri-cone guitars as a professional touring musician for many years and I agree with Chuck... they are separate animals in both tone and sustainability. I suppose it depends on exactly what kind of sound you're going for.

The tri-cone will give you lots of sustain with a tone towards the upper middle range, while the single cone will have a deeper bass but less resonance. If you're looking for that Blind Boy Fuller or Son House sound, then the single cone is for you... it's pretty punchy. However, if you lean towards Tampa Red's sustain, then the tri is your best bet.

On another note: the brass body models will overall have a warmer tone than the steel body ones.

The ultimate thing to do would be to find a dealer near you and try them out side to side. I also believe that National Guitars offers a CD sampler which does a pretty good job of demonstrating the differences between them.

Best,

Toby Walker

RE: Resonator guitar

Everett Bennett — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:42:11 GMT

Well, couldn't make up my mind so I bought a Hohner Bayou round neck resonator and a Kelley Bayou deluxe square neck. Love them both. The Kelley has a gorgeous sound and is an absolutly beautiful insturment. I'm having a ball working with them both. On the Hohner, I changed strings from resonator strings to medium gauge Elixirs and it it much more playable for fingerpicking or flatpicking and still has the volume and great sound of a resonator. The Hohner is a bisucit bridge and has a great honky-tonk sound. The Kelley is more of a bluegrass type sound but is still excellent for blues. I admit it, my name's Bert and I'm a guitar addict.

RE: Resonator guitar

Everett Bennett — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:05:13 GMT

Has anyone tried a Hohner HR-200CE resonator. It's a biscuit bridge type? Any info on this item? Thanks,

Bert

RE: Resonator guitar

Everett Bennett — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:08:41 GMT

Hi, Chuck, I've listened to Bob Brozman's resonator comparisons on the net. I really liked the single cone biscuit bridge. Just can't find any in music stores in Memphis, Nashivlle or Jackson, TN yet, although I haven't had a chance to do much looking in Nashville, which is my best bet. From what I've seen, I may not be able to get a quality biscuit bridge resonator at the price I'm looking for. There are some cheapo's out there (Rogue and others) but seems like most good biscuit bridge resonators are in the National price range. I'm in no hurry so I'll keep looking. Although I may go ahead a get a spider bridge model if I find one I like. Those are available locally.

Bert

RE: Resonator guitar

Chuck Rehberg — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:13:05 GMT

National Resophonic Guitar site has some sound bites you can listen to also. Then I ended up buying a two or three CD that had comparison of the various models of Nationals. Bob Brozman was the person who played a number of the comparison sounds on the various National. You may want to consider looking for the CDs so you can listen to one after the other. The CDs also came with pictures of the various models. I considered it a nice reference.

Chuck

RE: Resonator guitar

Everett Bennett — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:41:03 GMT

Thanks. Yeah, I've been looking at Gold Tone and they are good, but I don't think Beard makes a biscuit bridge which is what I was asking about.

Bert

RE: Resonator guitar

Chuck Rehberg — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:02:46 GMT

You might be able to get a Gold Tone for the price you are looking to pay. I personally think they are a good buy for the money.

chuck

RE: Resonator guitar

Everett Bennett — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:23:04 GMT

Any advice for a decent biscuit resonator guitar? I'm trying to keep the cost down to $500-600. Are there any good biscuit bridge types in that range? Thanks,

Bert

RE: Resonator guitar

David Stott — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:27:29 GMT

the Goldtone is definitely a spider

Dave

RE: Resonator guitar

Everett Bennett — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:49:33 GMT

BTW, was the Goldtone a spider or biscuit bridge. Having a hard time finding a decent biscuit bridge resonator.

RE: Resonator guitar

Everett Bennett — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 12:43:09 GMT

Thanks, Chuck. The research I've done agrees with your assessment. Bob Brozman has a site with some mp3 files of different types of resonators. I love the sound of the tricones but I think they're more of a bluegrass type of instrument. I haven't been able to find any locally in Jackson, TN so I'll have to go to Nashville to get my hands on some differnt models and check them out.

RE: Resonator guitar

Chuck Rehberg — Sat, 31 May 2008 22:00:40 GMT

You may want to think about whether you want a tricone or a single cone also. I started with a National Vintage Steel Tricone and as I started liking more and more Delta stuff I ended up trading in the Tricone for a National Style O Replicon which is a single cone. I decided the Tricone gave me more sustain but it didn't have the bass that I wanted and the single cones, to my ear, have more bass.

Midnight Shadow

Chuck

RE: Resonator guitar

Everett Bennett — Mon, 19 May 2008 09:33:37 GMT

Thanks, David. I've heard of that brand. Looks like I'm going to have to go to Nashville to find some resonators to check out. Local music stores have only square necks.

Bert

RE: Resonator guitar

David Stott — Sun, 18 May 2008 08:48:54 GMT

Everett--

check out the Gold Tone Paul Beard Specials.... awesome resonator guitars for the price...

I bought the wood bodied model 2 years ago and have yet to regret it..

Dave

RE: Resonator guitar

Everett Bennett — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:38:55 GMT

Thanks, Michael.

RE: Resonator guitar

Michael Minissale — Wed, 14 May 2008 23:01:10 GMT

Pass me the spell check......quick!:P

RE: Resonator guitar

Michael Minissale — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:59:59 GMT

I have prefered a biscuit bridge. I jast sold a Dobro Hula Blues and will be gettin a National El Trovodor pretty soon now. I hve play ed the later and relly like the larger and deeper body. The tone is awesome. I just keep playin them as they come along. I never met a Resonator I didn't like.:D

Resonator guitar

Everett Bennett — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:57:45 GMT

I'm thinking about buying a round neck resonator guitar and I was wondering if anyone can give me any advice about one. I'm primarily interested in using it for blues. From the little I've heard, blues players seem to prefer the biscuit type resonator over the spider type. Thanks,

Bert