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Topic: some resonator questions |
Ron Victoria
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 8 Nov 2009 6:14 pm |
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I bought a square neck resonator last year to play with acoustic musicians like at open mics. It's a Johnson which was under $200. I would like to get something a little better now. How does the Fender sound? What other guitars can you recommend? Mine is black but I like wood tone.
thanks, Ron |
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Rick Barnhart
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 8 Nov 2009 6:54 pm
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I'd suggest a Wechter-Scheerhorn or a Beard Gold Tone. They sound great and are relatively inexpensive.
_________________
Clinesmith consoles D-8/6 5 pedal, D-8 3 pedal & A25 Frypan, Pettingill Teardrop, & P8 Deluxe. |
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Matthew Dawson
From:
Portland Oregon, USA
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Posted 8 Nov 2009 7:05 pm
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| I am very happy with my Beard-Gold tone. |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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AJ Azure
From:
Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 8 Nov 2009 7:46 pm
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| I own hound dog (mine was american made before the chinese modela) and trust me on this not a best buy. Go for a Republic wood or metal body or a gold tone or wechter. The hound dogs are spotty in comparison |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 8 Nov 2009 9:38 pm
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How about giving us a ballpark budget that you have in mind?
There are people that look at the dobro as a "side instrument" and settle for less, then there are those that take the thing fairly seriously and are willing to spend some bucks to get a quality instrument in the same way one would buy a quality acoustic guitar.
This has an awful lot to do with potential recommendations.
IMO going from the Johnson to a Fender is a little bit like going from McDonald's to Burger King.
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Mark |
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Clete Ritta
From:
San Antonio, Texas
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Posted 9 Nov 2009 1:10 am
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I like the Beard Gold Tone as well. Mine is a PB-GRS. Take a look here.
I added an inexpensive raiser on the nut and use a Dunlop 919 tonebar.
Clete |
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Ron Victoria
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 9 Nov 2009 3:51 am
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I would say $400 tops if that's realistic.
ron |
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Stephen Abruzzo
From:
Philly, PA
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Posted 9 Nov 2009 4:57 am
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You might want to look into http://www.libertyguitars.com/models.htm and see what they have. I have a roundneck FA100 (but with a copper top) that I like. They do have a squareneck model or two and I think some of the roundnecks might also come as squareneck.
Not sure of the squareneck price. Bill is a good guy, easy to deal with. |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 9 Nov 2009 6:09 pm
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Ron, for a little bit more than $400 you could get yourself into the "entry level" Gold Tone Beard or Wechter/Scheerhorn, which I believe in that price range blows all the others away.
And you wouldn't feel the need to upgrade any time soon - until you start experiencing "real" Beards, Clinesmiths, Raycos, Merediths and so on...
There is a perfect looking used Wechter/Scheerhorn on ww.reso-nation.org right now, but you have to sign up with at least a $6 membership to view the website. But you will also find more choices for sale on that site for resos than you will find here, since the whole site is devoted to resonators.
I personally don't believe that going from a Johnson for ball park $200 up to something that is tops $400 is going to give you that much of a difference, unless it is a killer deal where it has been upgraded with high qulity parts like for example a Quarterman or Beard cone.
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Mark |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 9 Nov 2009 6:27 pm
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Well, there you are, Ron. You've got several different recommendations from various players, and they're all good recommendations. Ultimately it's a personal choice. You're going to have to go along to a music store and try them out, or find a friend locally who has several different models.
One of the considerations is what you want to use it for. AJ mentioned Republic, and these are Chinese copies of National, right down to the logo, which is almost identical. I have a Republic Tricone metal-bodied guitar and it's excellent. But it wouldn't go with some of the music I play. I tend to use it for blues, but I prefer a Dobro for bluegrass. I also have a Flinthill which I use for bluegrass. Again, there's no right or wrong, it's all a matter of personal taste. |
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Jim Konrad
From:
The Great Black Swamp USA
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Posted 9 Nov 2009 8:18 pm
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I would save a little more money and go for a real USA made Dobro......maybe an OMI era?
There is no "upgrade" for a real Dobro...only other Resonators...that is if you want that sound.
"These days" you can get into one for less than $650ish on the very low end. Just make sure it gets set up well, and you will have a keeper that you wont need to upgrade later.
A good set up on the Johnson and hardware upgrade could help it out a lot also.
Run from the fenders!!
Regals are not too bad with some proper set up work.
Good luck!! |
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Philip Tamarkin
From:
California, USA
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Posted 10 Nov 2009 7:23 am
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Not that another opinion is needed, but I'm playing a Gold Tone maple (with Paul Beard setup) as my jam/workshop/festival instrument, and couldn't be happier. No, it doesn't have the tone of my Mike Auldridge or the dozen or so other high-end instruments I've owned, but it plays and sounds fine, cuts well through the din of an enthusiastic jam, and I don't have to constantly worry about it getting damaged or stolen.
I've owned several inexpensive resos during my search for the "beater" guitar - just my opinion, but the Gold Tone is in a different league than my previous Wechter Scheerhorn (maple),Regal RD-45 (mahogany lam), or OMI (birch lam).
Gibson "quality control" in their Asian factories? Please. Considering the quality issues with their US-made dobros, it's hard to imagine that offshore product would somehow be any better. To sell an instrument in the $300 range, they've got to come off the line at about the speed of light. Nobody's paying attention. If it looks guitar-ish and finish is OK, it's good enough.
Whatever you end up with, set-up is key to getting the instrument to sound as good as it can. A well set-up inexpensive instrument will play and sound better than an expensive box that needs work. It's really worth setting some extra $$ aside when purchasing to allow someone to go through it and get it right.
A quick plug for Frank Harlow (937-890-7801), a fine builder who will also repair and set-up non-Harlows - twenty years of experience, so he's seen and done it all. Incredible attention to detail, and he won't let the guitar leave his shop until he's satisfied. Highly recommended! |
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AJ Azure
From:
Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 10 Nov 2009 10:53 am
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| Alan Brookes wrote: |
Well, there you are, Ron. You've got several different recommendations from various players, and they're all good recommendations. Ultimately it's a personal choice. You're going to have to go along to a music store and try them out, or find a friend locally who has several different models.
One of the considerations is what you want to use it for. AJ mentioned Republic, and these are Chinese copies of National, right down to the logo, which is almost identical. I have a Republic Tricone metal-bodied guitar and it's excellent. |
Actually:
http://republicguitars.com/squareneckmodels.html
This is a copy of an OMI |
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Jim Bates
From:
Alvin, Texas, USA
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Posted 10 Nov 2009 7:33 pm
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I highly recommend as the best 'cheap' resophonic/dobro the Regal blonde top which you can get with case for under $400. Better sound than the Black Lightning which is higher price. You can get these at Musician's Friend, with good deals around Christmas, plus they have a great guarantee to take it back if you don't like it.
Luckily, I have a couple of stores in Houston area that has several brands I can play on. What I find is that the bigger price does NOT always mean the better sound. The super inlaid, beautiful woods, big brand name guitars sometimes do not compare soundwise with some of the cheaper 'plain jane' guitars. Try before you buy if at all possible.
Thanx,
Jim |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 10 Nov 2009 10:31 pm
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As Philip wrote, setup is very important in any resonator guitar.
As far as OMI Dobros - all over the map. Some with a a proper setup are outstanding, and others are mediocre at best.
I think the mistake people make is if it says the word "Dobro" on the headstock, that somehow makes it the "official" and accepted sound. It just so happens that one company dominated the industry for a long time, and the name became associated with the instrument itself, regardless who built the thing, along the same lines as referring to all nose tissue as Kleenex, or any copier as a "Xerox machine" - as in "making a Xerox."
As far as Regals - I've been around a fair amount of them, and I still haven't come across one, regardless of setup quality and parts, that made me say "wow!" when I have heard or played it.
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Mark |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 11 Nov 2009 8:24 am
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| Philip Tamarkin wrote: |
| ...Gibson "quality control" in their Asian factories? Please. Considering the quality issues with their US-made dobros, it's hard to imagine that offshore product would somehow be any better. To sell an instrument in the $300 range, they've got to come off the line at about the speed of light. Nobody's paying attention. If it looks guitar-ish and finish is OK, it's good enough.... |
I guess I was just lucky with the one I bought. One of the things that hasn't been mentioned here is that you can get two absolutely identical guitars and they will sound different. At our bimonthly luthiers meetings people often mention how they've hand-built two identical guitars at the same time and they sound different. That's why recommending any particular brand is only a general recommendation. You really need to play the individual instrument before you buy it. 
...and don't forget that a guitar will sound different in the store than at home, outside, or in a recording studio.  |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 11 Nov 2009 12:03 pm
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| I stumbled into a used Morrell. El Cheapo I guess. Looks cheap anyway. But, for some reason, it sounds just terrific. Ya never know, until you play it! |
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Steve Branscom
From:
Pacific NW
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Posted 11 Nov 2009 3:58 pm
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I was a little dubious about you finding something good for $400. My advice would have been to wait until you had $600 and you could get something substantially better. However, on the instruments for sale there's a Beard Gold Tone for $390. You should be all over that. Forget the Regals, Fenders and Rogues. Go directly to Instruments for Sale and contact the seller immediately and tell you want that one!!!!! That's a deal.
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Steve |
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Rick Barnhart
From:
Arizona, USA
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 11 Nov 2009 4:16 pm
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Agreed. Snap that one up right away; it's an excellent price for a very good instrument.
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Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars |
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Ron Victoria
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 11 Nov 2009 4:34 pm
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Thanks, I want it. I usually check for sale but didn't today.
ron |
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Bill Hampton
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 11 Nov 2009 5:24 pm
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| WOW -- smokin' deal Ron. You won't be sorry. |
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Gregg McKenna
From:
South Windsor, Connecticut, USA
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Posted 11 Nov 2009 6:42 pm
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I have one of these (not for sale) and it's a nice guitar. Somewhere in the 2008 archieves on my blog, I've got some photos of the inside construction of that particular (laminated mahogany) model. I was impressed by how clean the interior construction was.
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http://mckennaresonatorguitars.com/ |
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