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Post by deadlyernest on Oct 1, 2017 12:26:56 GMT
Hi all,
Whilst looking through my record collection a few months ago (you all remember vinyl?) I came across Brothers in Arms and was admiring the cover picture.
I had always thought that the guitar on the cover was just an artists impression of some futuristic guitar vision and not a real living breathing object.
Sadly, I have been playing guitar for more years than I care to remember, or should it be I have been playing guitar sadly?, probably the latter in my case.
I had never heard of a resonator!
After intense research I realised that I had to have one to fill the ever growing musical void in my life. So I purchased a MM Lightning.
I've watched the you tube videos and read up as best I can on resonators but thought it would be useful to get some good advice / tips from more accomplished
resonatorians (just invented a new word!), i.e yourselves.
Everyone must have picked up their first resonator at some point so what are the best tips you can give to a newbie?
those things that you all wish you had been told when you first started but probably found out the hard way.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
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Post by bonzo on Oct 1, 2017 12:35:33 GMT
Hi Deadly, welcome to the forum .
If you don't about them already check out alternative and dropped tunings.
D and G are popular.
Best wishes to you all, John
PS. Lightnings good isn't it!
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Post by Michael Messer on Oct 1, 2017 12:53:37 GMT
Hello Deadlyernest,
Welcome to our forum.
When I first picked up a resonator guitar I was in my early 20s and was totally obsessed and driven to play country blues and anything else I could play with a slide. It completely dominated my existence. Not much has changed in 40 years!
My advice to you at this point is to just play your resonator guitar as you would any other guitar. While they do sound amazing in open tunings and used as slide guitars, they are basically a regular six string (mechanically amplified) guitar. Just get used to it for a while and most importantly, ENJOY playing it!
Bonzo is right that you should experiment with open tunings, so try open D (D A D F# A D) and open G (D G D G B D). If you are learning to play slide, my advice is that you should definitely learn open tunings.
Have fun!
Best wishes
Shine On
Michael.
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Post by Pickers Ditch on Oct 1, 2017 13:51:56 GMT
...and keep at it even when you're making horrible clanking and zinging noises and think you'll never do it. All of a sudden you'll find that things get quieter and you can do it. Bit like riding a bike - play, play, play and practise and don't get hung up on the theory.  |
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Post by creolian on Oct 1, 2017 13:52:56 GMT
Hello Deadly Ernest, All
I played casually for 30 years, bought a cheap reso 10-15 years ago and used it as a beater playing whatever I was playing on electrics. I came across this forum, read most of the archived posts and caught the reso bug in a big way. 10 months later I have sold a couple of electrics, bought three more reso guitars and find myself waking up wanting to play guitar at 60... Obviously a good source of info, the archives are a great source of motivation as well.
There are also a number of videos on YouTube from Michael and forum members. I was up at midnight watching snake hips wail and MM playing the Bhupali blues. Up at 8, retuning to D... Having fun !
All best,
Jeff
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Post by deadlyernest on Oct 2, 2017 8:57:17 GMT
Thanks very much for the advice.
I haven't actually tried the guitar in standard tuning yet as I was so eager to try slide.
I've had it in open G and at the moment in open D.
I can see the advantage of these tunings with the slide as there seems to be a lot of open string playing which is good when your fretting hand is reduced to three fingers.
I still seem a bit heavy with the slide at times as I have a tendancy to bang it onto the strings, hopefully this is the same as most things, just down to practice, but I do prefer the heavier slide.
Struggling a little with a thumb pick as it seems too long for my style and I have to hover about 1cm above the strings to play, instead of my usual resting on the string posture. I have ordered some Alaska picks to try.
Got a few little oily marks on the guitar from my fingers but good old Mr Sheen sorted them out.
Best wishes to all.
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Post by Michael Messer on Oct 2, 2017 9:20:28 GMT
Hi deadlyernest,
Good stuff.... just keep on doing what you're doing. Crashing the slide is normal for beginners. Try landing it like a plane on a runway to smooth out your crashes.
Thumbpicks take a while to get used to and I don't like long ones either. Try Fred Kelly large white Delrin thumbpicks. They're shorter than most. My advice with fingerpicks is to use regular fingerpicks, not Alaska, but that's just personal. I use Dunlop large white heavy gauge and shape them in boiling water to fit my fingers and I flatten out the curve in the pick. Each to their own.
Shine On
Michael
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Post by pete1951 on Oct 2, 2017 12:20:30 GMT
Thanks very much for the advice. I haven't actually tried the guitar in standard tuning yet as I was so eager to try slide. Got a few little oily marks on the guitar from my fingers but good old Mr Sheen sorted them out. Best wishes to all. 2 things, Muddy Waters, in his later year rarely used open turning, but played slide in standard. I only use open G, but if I played well in standard it might be good to try. Mr Sheen? If this has silicone in in it stop now, it will give a very good quick shine, but silicone builds up and gets sticky. PT |
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Post by deadlyernest on Oct 2, 2017 15:56:21 GMT
Thanks very much for the advice. I haven't actually tried the guitar in standard tuning yet as I was so eager to try slide. Got a few little oily marks on the guitar from my fingers but good old Mr Sheen sorted them out. Best wishes to all. 2 things, Muddy Waters, in his later year rarely used open turning, but played slide in standard. I only use open G, but if I played well in standard it might be good to try. Mr Sheen? If this has silicone in in it stop now, it will give a very good quick shine, but silicone builds up and gets sticky. PT |
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Post by deadlyernest on Oct 2, 2017 15:57:59 GMT
Many thanks pete1951, it does have a silicone base so I will not be using it any more.
Didn't realise it was a problem.
Live and learn eh?
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Post by groff on Oct 2, 2017 16:21:32 GMT
Experiment with different slides. Have a look at the Diamond Bottlenecks website for inspiration and information.
A chamois leather takes off fingermarks. A microfibre cloth might be OK but chamois is MM recommended.
Browse YouTube. I found 2 new favourites, Catfish Keith and Charley Hicks since getting hooked on resonators a year ago. Like you I'd been playing guitars for very many years while completely ignoring resonators. A whole new world opening up with my Lightning.
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