tobi
MM Forum Member
Posts: 18
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Post by tobi on Apr 24, 2014 13:29:06 GMT
Hi, the intention about the question is: I owned 4 different reso-guitars and all had the same issue: Listen to the sound outcoming from the front – the sound was nice. Listening the sound from above while normal playing with the ear above the guitar the sound has been suboptimal. They all had the “tea-sieve” or the “diamond”-design of the cover plate. Now I tested a Gretsch Alligator (although this it is a cheap guitar it’s very loud and balanced!). I testet a lot more... but this is the first reso-guit I can hear nearly the same ‘quality’ of output while normal playing it. I wonder, if this is caused by the big holes in the coverplate – ‘guess there is more direct sound from the resonator to my ear. I read, that a more ‘closed’ Cover should produce more bass. I tried to cap half the holes at the Gretsch with a solid/heavy aluminum tape - the bass didn’t increase, but the sound was more “hidden” underneath the plate. So…if anybody has some experience or an academic analysis about the correlations – I am very corious about it. Kindly excuse my bad english – I’m no native speaker Tobi
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Post by pete1951 on Apr 24, 2014 15:28:17 GMT
Gretsch guitars are one of the better `cheap` resonators, were your other guitars made in China?? If so then it maybe that the Gretsch sounds better because it just is. This could be the start of an interesting thread, I think Michael M has said that he likes the tone of resos. with small holes , or small areas of opening in the coverplate,(MM I hope will post about it) there have also been some talk about covering most of the holes (this was on a reso-electric) to improve tone. There will always be a problem hearing you guitar as others hear it (some even have holes in the side to help you hear yourself)
PT I am making a reso. at the moment that will have very odd holes (similar to my `Flamed Res Paul` ) Hope you get some interesting replies
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tobi
MM Forum Member
Posts: 18
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Post by tobi on Apr 24, 2014 17:09:43 GMT
...to answer your question, PT: My resonator guitars in the past: a Continental, brass, diamond plate; an Amistar, Wood, Diamond Plate; an Amistar, brass, tea-sieve; a Continental, German Silver, tea-sieve. The effect -as described- depends not on the quality of the instrument, IMHO...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2014 18:30:29 GMT
A = gretsch B = other guitars If the sounds coming from the front of the guitars (A and B) are 'equal' to each other, the sounds detected from the sides of the guitars will also be 'equal' to each other. Once the sounds are 'outside' the guitar, they will all act uniformly. If the A holes have a greater surface area than the B holes, more sound will probably be allowed out directly, although the residual sound energy in B may transfer to the rest of the guitar bodies more readily. This may give the guitars different tones, which will also depend on the nature of the body materials. In other words, for identical guitars, larger coverplate holes might emit a bit more volume and the tone might have a slight difference. But maybe not... TT
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Post by Keith Ambridge on Apr 24, 2014 20:42:36 GMT
Also depends on body size and f hole (or whatever shape) size. So many variables!
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Post by pete1951 on Apr 25, 2014 18:07:25 GMT
Here is a picture of a couple of aging Italians, they both have major problems with their bridges/top so are going to get the `Reso` conversion . One will have a home-made (out of an old cymbal) coverplate. The plate will have just one opening (a little larger than usual) for the bridge/biscuit , and an opening at the bottom of the finger/b.(like Ekos I have done in the past) I`ll change it for a `normal` plate after I see what it sounds like. PT
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