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Topic: Twins have Arrived: CooderNator and ResoBorn, Roadie is gone |
Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 11 Aug 2021 12:03 pm |
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I love my roadie's dobro+lap sounds so much - it is the only thing I gig with now - that I commissioned a custom redwood/maple/ebony version and can let go of the current one.
The Roadie is a great option for those of us who don’t play those huge stages where feedback on a full-size instrument isn’t a problem…and it is great to have both instruments right there, with a flick of a switch…my 3-position switch does Fishman (dobro), Lollar (lap), or both at once to add a little body to the dobro tone (what JD does). My whole rig now is a "one hand carry".
You've probably seen the Megan Lovell (Larkin Poe) video where she demos the "every possible option" version, but if not, here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLepW7TVTBM
Here's the Beard roadie page:
https://www.beardguitars.com/roadophonic
and the Beard roadie specs page:
https://www.beardguitars.com/road-o-phonic-specs
New price $2,600 + shipping ($2,450 + $150 for Lollar Silver foil upgrade)
My price $1,850 + split the shipping (your share probably $45)
My new one will be done mid-September, which is when I'll ship this one out - much quicker than ordering from Beard, and a lot cheaper, for a very lightly used instrument (I ordered it just before covid cancelled my gigs). It was built in December 2020.
My setup is - I believe - the best and most useful setup. I discussed Roadies at length with Paul when getting mine, and he was working on Megan Lovell’s instrument at the same time. Megan's setup requires twirling multiple knobs to switch between lap and dobro (due to having two magnetic pickups, which really is overkill) - on mine it is the flick of a switch - the Silver Foil really does do it all quite nicely.
My setup is what Jerry Douglas and Anders Beck have on their full size dobros (they both have Lollar silver foil magnetic pickups on their dobros), and is all they need to go full screaming lap steel in addition to pure dobro.
JD and Beck run to two separate amps, for dobro and lap tones. My setup allows mono or stereo output, depending on what cord you plug into it. I use a single amp but split the signal into a JD Aura for dobro and a bunch of effects pedals for lap, then combine to the amp or PA. I have a simpler setup using mono output into a Fishman Spectrum that does everything for both dobro and lap. Lots of options...
Attached photos show Kurt Ozan playing his Roadie on an arena tour with Luke Combs - the Roadie really is getting noticed. Also pics of mine during construction, and with original setup before switching was added.
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https://www.lostsailorspdx.com
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor
Last edited by Steve Lipsey on 11 Oct 2021 1:38 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Steven Portman
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 12 Aug 2021 7:27 am Wow!!
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| PM sent. |
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Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 12 Aug 2021 8:03 am
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On hold for Steven for a month until my new one is ready....
_________________
https://www.lostsailorspdx.com
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor |
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Corbin Pratt
From:
KY
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Posted 15 Sep 2021 5:49 am
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If this deal doesn't work out, please let me know. Thank you.
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CP in Nashville
Show Pro SD-10, Shaw Amplifiers, Kemper |
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Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 15 Sep 2021 8:10 am
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Will do, Corbin....but things are proceeding nicely, and the matched pair of electric and acoustic parlor resos described in my signature is nearing done....and Steven is waiting patiently for the Roadie....
Here's a tease, the redwood tops (maple back/sides/necks, ebony fretboard)...simple for the electric and crazy for the acoustic...
_________________
https://www.lostsailorspdx.com
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor |
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Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 11 Oct 2021 1:30 pm The Twins have Arrived! CooderNator and Resoborn...
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The Twins:
Between them, they do everything I ever wanted…both have ancient redwood top, figured maple back/sides, and ebony fretboard. Both are built in the small parlor guitar size (only 12.5 inches across lower bout, same as Road-o-phonic) that I like, but with full 25” scale and 24 frets. Both have Road-o-phonic hardware (Beard mando cone, No.4 spider, Fishman Nashville, and PowerChip in electric one)
I didn’t need the booming bass of the large dobros, but wanted a unique clear voice, and that’s what they are…and plugged in, they are the low-end match for anything….
The CooderNator dobro and lap steel:
Thinline archtop hollow-body electric with Oahu-type Lollar string-through lap steel pickup and Fishman piezo…replaces the Beard Road-o-Phonic that I’ve been playing…
The Roadie sounds fine with the Lollar Silver Foil, but I wanted a real lap steel sound to go with the dobro, so there is solid maple running from nut to massive tailpiece, and as Ry Cooder says about the Coodercaster, ”I had the bright idea to install an Oahu lap steel string-through bridge pickup. It was the thing to do to help the bottleneck sound relax and it stopped the headaches”.
And the hollow archtop body gives it another dimension that I didn’t have in the Roadie…it was inspired by the PRS Hollow Body with both magnetic and piezo that I loved.
The ResoBorn dobro and Weissenborn:
Deep body acoustic dobro with Weissenborn-style hollow neck and Fishman piezo…the deep body and hollow neck give it an airy shimmer of a Weissenborn, along with the resonator thing happening...
The Story:
After many months in the cooperative design process and then building by Ben Bonham (who built my Weissenborn and Tricone dobro)…these cover ALL the bases between them…I conceived of the CooderNator after using my Beard Road-o-phonic exclusively at gigs for the last year…not just to avoid feedback, as it was originally designed for, but as Jerry Douglas and Anders Beck (Greensky Bluegrass) use the pickups on their dobros…a whole other instrument in the same package…and I wasn’t really playing my Weissenborn, even though I loved that sound, I was playing dobro instead…
Bonham (bensound@gorge.net) is a genius with wood…. For more pictures of these (and other unique instruments), go to https://www.instagram.com/bonhamdesign/ and click through the cover shot on each…
_________________
https://www.lostsailorspdx.com
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor |
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 12 Oct 2021 7:35 am
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Congratulations on the new guitars! Closed as this Road-o-Phonic is apparently sold now.
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Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars |
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