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Post by pete1951 on Feb 23, 2021 14:16:05 GMT
Making the holes is the easy bit, getting it pressed to shape I think is the hard part. When I made (actually designed and had made) some covers I had a contact who worked in an aircraft repair shop. One of their machines was a ‘rubber press’ . You just had to make a hardwood ‘plug’ , put it under the press and place your cover plate blank on to and hay presto . I think most manufacturers will want a more elaborate male/female former. The quality of most of the Far Eastern covers is pretty good, someone else might have a way to do it but it will be hard to do it as cheap or as well as China After drawing the pattern on clear plastic it was transferred to the brass by a photographic process , then acid etched Pete
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Post by pete1951 on Feb 23, 2021 13:20:49 GMT
So a steel bodied resonator, will it sound any good? A delay in getting parts for my last project means I have time to put something together with the bits I have around. Pete No, I am not using the whole can , that would be silly! The bin will be cut down to the standard width for a guitar ,
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Post by pete1951 on Feb 22, 2021 14:54:26 GMT
Are we talking about the same guitar? On a Reso-Tele the edge of the cover plate is very close to the bottom of the guitar, so a short tailpiece sits 20mm back and because the cover plate is curved, 3-4mm lower than a standard one, a standard tailpiece will almost touch the hand rest. Pete Don’t have a Reso Tele at the moment but this guitar has the same problem, without a short tailpiece there would be little break angle and no length of string behind the bridge. National 1133s have a standard tailpiece on a short body, do they have the neck angled back more than a ‘standard’ National? Of perhaps the bridge is set a little higher than normal?
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Post by pete1951 on Feb 22, 2021 11:09:58 GMT
An alternative to a short tailpiece ( I have used the short t/pieces several times) would be to put a small back angle on the neck. This however will mean a Telecaster will not fit happily into a standard Fender case. Pete The angle can be quite small, as the neck going back will also mean that the cone or saddle will have to be raised which will increase the tailpiece angle as well. Normally I would start a build like this with the saddle top about central in the gap under the hand rest, this means it’s no too difficult to raise or lower the action using the saddle if needed . Most action adjustments I would tend to do with the neck angle
One other thing, I am not sure how much it effect the tone, but the length of string between the tailpiece and the bridge can be very small when using standard acoustic reso parts on small bodies. A short tailpiece will increase this length, and may improve acoustic tone. Could very short string length inhibit cone vibrations?? Something NRP should be experimenting with?
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Post by pete1951 on Feb 22, 2021 8:04:52 GMT
I have made/repaired a few and would be happy to advise, Michael may be right, and a neck reset is the only thing that will cure your problem. It’s very hard to be sure of the problem without seeing it but we can try! Pete
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Post by pete1951 on Feb 21, 2021 18:02:18 GMT
I have just sold a cover plate and other bits and pieces to a forum member for the construction of a Reso-Tele. Here is (I hope)some helpful advice on the positioning of the well. Unlike many I rarely use a ruler to mark out the well position, but rather string the guitar (before any drill/routing) with 1st and 6th strings of the gauge I will put on the finished guitar. I then place a temporary bridge (usually a thin brass round bar) and adjust the action and intonation to where I want it. The centre point on the bridge will give me the centre of the well on a roundneck guitar, giving the best compromise when using a straight bridge.( OK, sometimes I will use a wider than standard saddle and compensate for a plain G. As you can see from my rough sketch, the actual place for the centre is a few millimetres lower than theoretical one. I will often make the well a few mm oversize to allow a little ‘wriggle room’ Pete
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Post by pete1951 on Feb 21, 2021 16:17:51 GMT
Do you by any chance use a plain 3rd string? It is very common for the thickest plain string ( usually the 2nd ) to play sharp when fretted , particularly on a resonator. The narrow saddle is, for the best tone straight, whereas on standard acoustics and most electrics the bridge is compensated to help keep in tune (particularly as you go up the neck). On lower frets the plain string also sharpens as you press it down, and many slide players like their nut to be a little high, which makes it even worse. Pete
Many (all?) classic’30s recordings were not done on well setup guitars ,but there is a magic about them that means you ignore or don’t notice any minor imperfections that would drive a modern player crazy. Combined with a mastery of their (sometimes imperfect) instruments some amazing music was made.
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Post by pete1951 on Feb 21, 2021 9:54:02 GMT
I am not so pessimistic as Michael, your other thread talked about your action being too low? Is that right? If so , then a taller saddle will give more angle and raise the action, this is not something you should do if you have no experience, but should not be beyond the ability of a good repair person. Pete
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Post by pete1951 on Feb 20, 2021 11:01:37 GMT
There’s a pic on another thread of the back, my guess is it’s from Shanghai, which can be good . Is the body parallel or is the bottom slightly thicker than the neck end? Pete
PS: removing 2strings at a time was advice for total removal, restringing you do 1 at a time.
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Post by pete1951 on Feb 20, 2021 9:08:20 GMT
One with MM on it one without, you can have the cones as well, one is a good condition Korean made, the other is a Continental that has some minor damage that I don’t think will cause any problems. Pete
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Post by pete1951 on Feb 20, 2021 8:34:05 GMT
Hobgoblin Music in the UK also have cover plates and cones at reasonable prices. I think they stock 2 types of cones, one from Korea, which looks very like a late National cone ( but does no sound very good) and what looks like a Chinese made Continental ( though it may just look like one,)
Pete
I do have an old Korean cone you could use,( you could have it for free) the acoustic tone would not be great, but if you are using the magnetic pickup it would be ok. I also have a couple of cover plates, I will send a picture later today.
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Post by pete1951 on Feb 19, 2021 18:24:30 GMT
When ever taking a Reso apart remember not to put stress on one side of the cone , so remove the strings in pairs, 1st and 6th followed by 5th and 2nd. 3rd and 4th. Next put a small ‘Sharpie’ mark on the cone/body junction and the biscuit/cone position. Cones ‘bed in’ to any distortion in the well and usually it’s best to put them back in their original position. Cones are very delicate, and much care in needed when handling . What make/type of resonator do you have? Pete
Of coarse it may not be the cones at all! Check loose strap buttons, m/head buttons and cover plate screws before you start lifting the hood.
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Post by pete1951 on Feb 19, 2021 18:13:43 GMT
That's absolutely brilliant ! Though very pleased with the look, with the Reso-Glenwood , I can’t (yet) get it to sound as good as your ‘mic capsule /mag. pickup Can you give more details on the amp etc? Most dynamic capsules seem to be about 500ohms , is yours straight to the amp? or via a transformer/ special preamp?
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Post by pete1951 on Feb 19, 2021 17:23:46 GMT
I guess the Glenwood, being the most ‘extreme’ of National design, has to be even more desirable. That’s certainly why I made mine! Pete Nether are perfect copies ( putting a cone in a Glenwood was not something National thought of) but hopefully have a little of the National flavour. I think a Martinique body would have been a better body shape for my Reso-Glenwood, getting a cone in is a squash. PS: in case the resolution of the picture is not good enough, the name on top is Natural, rather that National.
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Post by pete1951 on Feb 18, 2021 18:28:07 GMT
Thanks, the acoustic tone is still pretty good for such a thin instrument. I have made 3 or 4 similar guitars (I think they all had Continental cones, which are the best farEastern made one you can get) none sounded as good as yours, I do have some NRP cones, I might swop with the one I have in my electric/Reso, though I have been very happy with Continental cones up to now. Pete
Have also listened to the other tracks, lots of stuff there for future talk.
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