On tone

[TN Pat]

Artisan Guitars, here in Tennessee, suggests in their ad that the bullet-hole coverplate on the NRP Collegian re-creation imparts a slightly different tone than the standard coverplates. Tone is of course a very subjective matter, but perhaps it does. I played a fellow musician's Republic Delta Rocket after a gig the other night which had tricone like lattice in place of f-holes, and was surprised at the openness of tone, markedly different than a standard singlecone. This is similar to NRP's Reso Rocket, which the late Bob Brozman thought imparted a measure of tricone-like tonal qualities. This has just got me thinking about design features and their impact on tone. Additionally, there is the element of touch. I have never warmed up to fingerpicks, and play bare-fingered. I believe, however, that this has allowed me to coax tone out all the more sensitively. I can get raw and rowdy if I need to, but am still able to pull "pretty" tones out when I like, which I did not think I could do without a tricone (I own a Messer Blues '28). Then, obviously, there is the choice of slide, (which I am sure has been adequately discussed). So essentially, we have design, and then we have the musician's touch; the magic happens somewhere in between. I welcome your thoughts on this topic, my fellow music lovers! Cheers.

[Michael Messer]

Hi TN Pat,

There is no doubt that the style of coverplate and what t's made of, affects the tone of a resonator guitar. A perfect example is the MMB 28; I originally wanted to use the early 1928 style coverplate with the large cutouts and mesh (see photo below). I had some samples made up, some steel and some brass, but they just didn't sound as good as the standard coverplate design that is on most single cone guitars. I guess the Dopyeras went through the same thing and settled on the coverplate style that we all know and love.



Shine On
Michael

[subtoxin]

I'm not convinced there's really a big difference with the cover-plate, but the tricone-lattice on a single cone...night and day! More open, louder, deeper, though maybe not as focused as f-holes. Until I actually got my hands on a rocket I assumed it was more for aesthetics, and that there was really no point to using a tricone-style body on a single cone.

[pascal]

The same thing with wooden (spider web system) Dobro, I found the "round holes" much more open compared to "F" holes (with much darker sound)

[pete1951]

I have been playing with sound hole shape and size for some time (see picture below) . The sound of each is fine, but none have so far turned out 'better' than a 'standard' National. 
PT

[pete1951]

Body size and design may have more effect on tone. From my few experiments , the larger the body- the more bass. The stiffer- the more volume.
PT

[pete1951]

You can go too far trying to get more bass by increased body size. This was mine.
PT
The guitar with a neck has a 'standard' scale

[steverino]

Love the experimentation Pete! This is how progress happens, after perhaps a few false starts. I built a back loaded horn biscuit reso which basically flubbed, but still offered something interesting in the tone.

[Deleted]

I agree that the body seems to make the biggest difference. Using the 'speaker box' analogy, these two identical inerds with one replacement cabinet now sound very different, and you can guess which one sounds better.
TT
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