Hey all,

I am currently learning how to play round neck slide, and my first resonator is a Fender. I LOVE this guitar, but when I hear videos of National Reso-Phonic and Gibson Dobro, I am sooo jealous of that sound!

Does anyone know online dealers (like musicians friend or guitar center) that sells these brands, specifically National?

Also, I am totally willing to record myself doing a 1,4,5 blues progression with a slide as a backing track in either open G or open D, if you guys want something to improv to? I love blues improv, and have found it to be a very nice to have a constant and reliable source for a backing track (me!)

Thanks,

KT

The main reason for the difference in the tone is that you're comparing a spider cone to a biscuit cone.

I like both, but they are different and I like the biscuit better.

It seems there are lost of decent lower priced spider cones out there--or more than a handful any way--but most biscuit cones other than Nationals don't do as well.

As for online dealers--check National's website.
I don't know if they list any--but that would be where I'd check first.

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.

Here are 2 from Eastwood:

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

I've played both of those, and they're cool, but they're different than a National or a Dobro--they have their own groove to them

So it depends what you're looking for.

I wouldn't turn down one if it were given to me.

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.

G'day, I'm a Resonator nut.
So, those Fender Resos are biscuit bridges are they? I thought they were spider. Anyway they're far from traditional. Don't get me wrong, I like 'em, especially the F holes .
Konrad, maybe that tone that you crave is the metal bodied sound.
My Recording King Tricone gives me 95% authenticity at a fraction of the price of an original National. I assume the RK single cones are of similar quality, I recommend this brand but there are a few other brands in the price range (just between you and me, I think they all come from the same Chinese factory) My point is, no need to spend too much to get a great sound.



Goodonya ...Mark.

I own one of the Fender Resonators and love it, sure can't beat the price. New Nationals cost an arm and a leg and I'm not impressed with the Gibson's, tried a number of the out in the last couple of years and to me they sounded pretty crappy.

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Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancin'

Yeah I am pretty certain my Fender has the spider.

Does anyone have a link for comparing the two guitars? National has been pretty much been the brand you always see on reviews and videos on guitars.

I am really digging the German silver body. Also, does anyone know a good website that sells cool/interesting slides?

I don't play a dobro, I have never touched a dobro but, I work with a guy who lives, eats and sleeps dobro. This is the link for Paul Beard Guitars, the guy that makes them for Jerry Douglas.

https://www.beardguitars.com/

Konrad, these real bottle slides pop up on ebay occasionally.

This thread contains some links
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=73600&hilit=bottleneck

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A-man

I, too, admit an unhealthy obsession with all things resonator. As a long-time (decent-but-not-great) slide guitarist, the indescribably haunting rattle, whine & zing of an old National steelbody sends a good shiver up my spine...

For a long time there was (1) a dearth of good-sounding, affordable metal bodied resos and (2) no good way to amplify the guitar if it were to be used in a live/band setting.

Good-to-great wood-bodied resonators have been available at multiple price levels for a while, but I prefer their metal-bodied sisters...(as an aside, in my not-so-humble opinion, the current overpriced offerings Gibson is producing under the "Dobro" name are terrible, but that's another story).

Recently, there's been a few pretty decent budget priced metal bodied acoustic resonators on the market--the Fender model mentioned here, the revived Regal brand, and a couple of others--but the best one I found (for me at least) is the Dean Chrome G Acoustic-Electric Resonator...



Looks-wise, she's a beauty:
Chrome-plated brass body (gold-plated reso cover, tuners, neck lipstick-style pickup and bridge), a nice beefy neck that's somewhere between a classic National or Dobro acoustic and a modern Strat neck, cool mother-of-pearl and abalone inlays on the neck/headstock and sweet Hawaiian etchings all over the body...the gold plating on the reso cover plate wears off with use, which adds a pretty cool "relic" vibe.





Acoustically, the guitar sounds pretty dang accurate to the old Nationals. It's loud and zingy, and projects very well. They made the body a little shallower and a bit smaller to reduce feedback (that works pretty well). I have read about guys replacing the "stamped" resonator cone with a higher-quality "spun" version, but as of right now, I'm happy with what I have (I can always do that later).
A video of the guitar recorded acoustically:



Electronically, there's a piezo pickup under the biscuit resonator plate (good, not great sound--but to be honest, I am not a big piezo fan and that colors my opinion) and a lipstick pickup in the neck position (a very good sound--funky and raw, the metal body makes for some interesting tonal qualities).

Another aside--if some of your individual strings seem like they're not as loud as/not projecting as well as the rest of the strings, try this: my favorite luthier/setup guy gently wedged a small block of wood over the offending ("B" and "e") strings, which was held in place by the biscuit cover. It made the "breaking angle" of those two strings a bit harder and pressed the strings more firmly into the biscuit bridge, which balanced out the sound/volume between strings.

Either pickup (by themselves) sound pretty good, but you're not going to get a "pure" resonator sound out of the individual pickups. That's why Dean (wisely) put a blend knob that allows you to blend (hence the name, duh!) the two pups to fit your personal taste. I find that 60/40 neck-to-bridge takes out the harsh quackiness of the piezo but retains the "purer" acoustic qualities of the instrument when amplified. I have used it in a live band setting several times, and by tweaking the blend knob combined with judicious use of my Rocktron HUSH pedal, I had a very authentic-sounding amplified resonator with no feedback issues whatsoever.

The only thing I would change would be the addition of a cutaway on the body, to better facilitate access to the upper frets.

New, I think the Chrome G costs around $800; I bought mine used on eBay (with an excellent deluxe-style hard shell case) for $550. To me, it's the best metal-bodied resonator on the market for the money. To get better, you're going to spend considerably more.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

SA,
That thing sounds awesome in the video...your singing sounds good too!

Makes me wish I had looked at a Regal I recently saw on CL for around $200 more closely!
In the last month or so I've been suddenly interested in getting a resonator..

I'm sure the metal vs wood becomes a tone issue too.

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

Thank you...


I've played two of the newer Regal wood-bodies and was pleasantly surprised at their sound and build quality. They aren't equal to a newer high-end National or a vintage National or Dobro, but they're dang fine guitars. Barring a serious injury to the instrument, $200 would have been a very good price.


Yessir, that's a fact...my personal preference is metal over wood, but I don't dislike the wooden ones, either...

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

Nice rezo , there SA. I have one of the cheapo chinese made dobros. Use it from time to time. Comfy neck . and I like the more ''woody'' sound. I recorded a clip - hope you get an idea. Had a hard time doing this , as I don't usually deal with film Shot with an old Nikon Coolpix , recorded sound to a Mac http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbN990yE ... e=youtu.be
Just noodling a bit

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A-man

Awesome sounding!
Nice playing!

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield