Seeking the ideal tone?

[bryanbradfield]

This is a question for those who play with both metal bodied and wood bodied resonator guitars.
When switching between a wood bodied and a metal bodied resonator guitar, is there a period of adjustment in which the player adjusts hand position and / or touch in order to bring either of the instruments into a range of favoured tone?
In further clarifying that question, does the player favour the tone of one body style over the other, thereby causing the player to try to emulate that favoured tone regardless of which instrument is being played?

[mitchfit]

Bryan,

DISCLAIMER--

gotta cop to it that the following is ~only~ speculation.

i do not own a metal body rez, both wood solid body offerings.

but i assume you own/have owned an electric at some point?

if so, the vigorous pick attack that will work on an acoustic
would be slapping strings on the frets of most electrics.

have you experienced trouble switching between the above?

mitchfit

[slide496]

I have both,a jwinter 3/4 and a wood minolian, if those count.

And on those there's not a long period of adjustment but definitely I adjust the way I hold each and the angle of the slide and the slide itself when I pick it up. Actually I used to keep a chart of the settled on strings and slides for all including the resonators.

If choosing between the two, wood and metal, I try a song on both and which ever I feel it sounds best on, I continue with.

Try and find the best tone for each and don't ask the wood body to sound like the metal.

[Michael Messer]

Hi Bryan,

I think I subconsciously adjust my playing for every guitar. I think the guitars I play best are the ones I play regularly.

Shine On
Michael.

[Deleted]

Currently I use a dobro for 'acoustic rock' for the extra sustain.
I use a metal body for open D, and a wood body for open G - for convenience mainly. Having said that, the songs seems to work well in this arrangement, although I'm not sure the punters would really complain if it was the other way round.
I've also started to occasionally use a telecaster live instead of the wood body as it suits a lot of those songs too (boogie / north mississippi hill type tunes). I'm regretting selling my sollophonic now...
TT

[Deleted]

I don't tend to get hung up on a search for some magical tone... but I'm always looking for that 'magical' guitar that will miraculously transform me into a decent guitar player.

For me, the first criterium is how the guitar feels - if it's comfortable, fits my hand well, doesn't force my shoulders or my back, etc. Tone comes after -- especially when plugging in, since good pickups and a decent amp will make most guitars sound good enough. And most venues I've played will make any guitar sound awful anyway. Especially when the keyboard player turns up too loud (and they always do!).

Having just received a wood-body reso, I like the tone a lot -- mellower than the steel-body reso I have. The wood body doesn't seem to get the same "growl" as the metal reso though, so if that's what you're looking for.... I've never played a brass-body reso, so I can't compare it. Yet.

[bryanbradfield]

I've been away for awhile, and there is much to respond to here.

mitchfit:
I do play both acoustic and electric guitars, in both Hawaiian and Spanish configurations. The most difficult transition I have had recently is in playing with vastly different pick thicknesses. I am currently using a 3 mm moulded pick that took considerable getting used to after playing with roughly 0.060" picks, but is worth the effort for what I wanted to achieve.

slide496:
I like " If choosing between the two, wood and metal, I try a song on both and which ever I feel it sounds best on, I continue with."
Although my question may have suggested your response of "Try and find the best tone for each and don't ask the wood body to sound like the metal", I was actually inferring that a favoured tone might subtly lie somewhere in between the sounds of the metal and wood bodied instruments, thereby causing a subtle change in the player's grip, or hand position, or strength of attack, or ... with one or the other of the instruments.

Michael Messer's response: "I think I subconsciously adjust my playing for every guitar. I think the guitars I play best are the ones I play regularly" reminds me that in my non-reso playing I alternate between a ladder braced flat-top, and a x-braced flat-top, both good quality guitars. There are subtle changes in my playing on both, but neither guitar informs the other. I merely seek the best of what the individual guitar exhibits, or can exhibit.

mickeyz: "For me, the first criterion is how the guitar feels - if it's comfortable, fits my hand well, doesn't force my shoulders or my back, etc. Tone comes after." Yes to that.
" especially when plugging in, since good pickups and a decent amp will make most guitars sound good enough." Not so sure about that. I spend a lot of time dialling in electrics.
" most venues I've played will make any guitar sound awful anyway." I agree that a good sound man is tough to find.

So far, this has been very educational for me, as experienced as I am. I need other view points to remind me that one can attempt to dissect technique too critically when the real objective is to merely play your a** off.