Raising the action on a resonator

[monton]

Hi Everyone

I have just got my first resonator which I took a bit of a punt on from eBay. The action is very low (like a normal acoustic) and the slide is knocking the strings onto the frets. I need to raise the action, but have no idea how to - I'm assuming I need a new biscuit that is higher - is that the way to go?

Many thanks

[bonzo]

Hi Monton. Welcome to the forum.
Hold off doing anything drastic to your reso. Probably first step would be new strings. Newtones 15's are a popular choice of many forum members. Don't change all six strings at once or the cone might move without the pressure of the strings. I change one at a time starting with the sixth. If you use the Newtone strings don't trim until they are up to pitch. I'm not an expert but maybe you're pushing down on the strings to hard, you should practice resting the slide lightly on the strings to avoid fretting out. I'm sure you'll get lots more advice from our forum friends.
What guitar did you get? We all like pictures! Don't rush,find out as much as you can before doing anything drastic.

Best wishes to you all, John

[pete1951]

Most slide players use heavy (ish) strings. Putting larger gauge strings ( if the present strings are too light) will do 2 things. It will help stop the slide hitting the frets and may well increase the ‘relief’ of the neck which will raise the action a little. So you may not need to do anything except change the strings..
Pete

Of coarse you may have the strings you want on there already. I would (before I start replacing the biscuit or adjusting the saddle) increase the relief*
of the neck with the truss rod. The truss rod is there to keep the neck from bending with the pull of the strings, so slackening it will let the neck bend a little and give you more space.

If you have never adjusted a truss rod before do some research or find someone who has. Resonator guitars are not very common, very few repairers will have worked on more than 1 or 2 while working for a ‘standard’ music shop, so if it needs a new saddle ,make sure the repairer knows what they are doing.

* you will need to find out what it is before you do anything

[thebluesbear( al)]

Hi
can you post any photos of your reso ? that may help , also a warm welcome to the forum


best

al

[monton]

Hi, thanks all for the warm welcome

Here she is. I have no idea what make it is. It is apparently asian made, unsurprisingly, has had a Beard cone inserted and has a Lace pick up installed. It feels solid and seems well made, and doesn't sound bad (although it sounded far better on the short clip of the musician who sold it to me playing it). The measurement from the top of fret to bottom of string at the 12th fret is 3mm which is pretty much the same as my acoustics. I had assumed it would be a lot higher. Any thoughts? I have bought some EJ42's which start at .16, I'm not sure what is on there at the moment. Also, if anyone has any ideas what it is, then please let me know what you think. I know it’s not a National

Best wishes

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[lonelyjelly]

Hey Monton,

That action sounds about right to me, unless you only want to use it for slide then you could higher, but I'd just leave it and see how you get on. I suspect within a month your touch with the slide will improve and you won't need to adjust it.

Just a note on those strings, they're designed I believe for lapslide and may have too much tension for your guitar. Michael has posted about this before but I can't remember the exact detail. You'll be fine with any set of medium gauge strings. A lot of people replace the 13 with a 15. And like Bonzo says the MM Newtone sets are round core so you can use a heavier gauge with a bit less tension. I tend to use MM Newtone Monel strings or D'Addario EJ22 XL jazz nickel strings, 56-13 on my Michael Messer steel body reso.

Have fun

Lew

[monton]

Thanks Lew, I do want to use for slide and bass picking with my thumb so I feel I want a higher action. However I’ll persevere for a bit and get some strings as you’ve recommended. Thanks for the advice

[lonelyjelly]

The Newtone MM phosphor bronze set 56-15 is a very popular option too 🙂

All the best,
Lew

[monton]

OK thanks, I'll have a go at those - I may try a lighter slide as my current one weighs a tonne, which I like, but does tend to clatter into the strings a bit

Best regards

Monton

[Pickers Ditch]

Welcome Monton.

When I started I suffered the same problems as you seem to be experiencing and increased the string guage and tried a lighter slide.

Yea, it was easier until I went to a slide workshop where I found from others there that their string gauges and string height were a lot lower than what I was using. Their slides were a lot heavier, too.

The advice I received was to fit a set of 13s, leave the action at 3mm twelfth fret, get a decent glass slide from Diamond Bottlenecks and practise, practise, practise to get a light touch.

It is hard work, but you'll get it - there's no substitute for practise - no short cuts.

Keep at it young man, suddenly it'll happen.

[pete1951]

One thing that I have noticed with some guitars is bad string spacing. If the top string is too far from the edge of the f/board then it’s hard not to bump into frets if you just want to play the top string. This may not be the problem you are having so don’t change the nut yet!
Pete

[monton]

Thanks Pickers and Pete - I am sure this will be a simple case of 'user error' and I just need to get stuck into some practice. I have an Epi LP that I have set up for slide and that is 5 mil at the 12 fret, so that is probably why 3 seems low to me. I shall persevere! Do you know any online courses that might be good for getting someone started correctly?

Cheers

[Deleted]

Technique (especially how you've got the slide on the finger) should be considered.
If it goes all the way down the finger, it's going to be harder to get it level with the fretboard, and you'll smack the frets / board with it. Consider having a slide that just goes down to the second knuckle.
TT

[monton]

Thanks Deuce, yes this one goes all the way down - I'll have a hunt for a slimmer one

[lonelyjelly]

If you ever need a slide there's a good chance I'll have one that'll fit 🤣😉