Royall Resonators

[wingwiz]

Hi. New here, and i have a question about this company and specifically this resonator:

www.thomann.de/gb/royall_pb12_ani_pony_boy.htm

i have listened to a lot of the mm guitars and like them a lot. Am thinking of a 12 fret blues. I came across this guitar which seemed remarkably similar specs wise, and sounds amazing on YouTube. I understand Royall distribute aiersi resonators. Not sure if anyone will correct me on that

i recently saw an advert on Reverb for the pony boy royall resonator and he mentioned these guitars are ‘made in the same factory as messer blues guitars’ and basically implied they are the same. So this sent me to the forum and to ask if this is true - I thought I’d read otherwise before but they do look and sound very similar on YouTube and specs wise, tuners, measurements everything really so I’d love to be put right by someone better informed than me,

I think I’ve seen people here, while lurking making comparisons with mm resonators and the Icarus ones which are I think also aiersi but these royalls are the national o style like mm.

thanks and I hope it’s ok to post asking this, it’s a genuine question

[stevearcade]

Hi, I think you've pasted the wrong link in, as that goes to a speaker. But yeah, Royall guitars: www.thomann.de/gb/royall_resonator_guitars.html

My curiosity has been piqued around these for a while now. I rather fancy their tri-cone wooden resonator. I've done a bit of digging on where they might be built (Mao's I think it was, but I might have remembered wrong), and whilst I don't have any proof, my gut feeling is they probably are from the same factory as the Messer.

However, just because they're built in the same factory, doesn't mean they're as well made as Messer's. Guitar factories have remits and will built to a price point. Don't forget, Cort in Indonesia make £160 Squiers, and they also make £1000+ masterpieces. Don't think you'll be getting a cheaper version of the Messer guitar, as it's likely the components will be inferior. Also, if we factor in that Michael personally sees to all the final stages of quality assurance before shipping to customers from his home, that in itself is a massive bonus and selling point on his guitars.

I therefore believe a Messer resonator will likely be a superior instrument.

Moreover, understandably, I doubt Michael wants to announce to the world where he has his guitars built and what other brands come from that factory, for numerous reasons.

All that said, if they offer a style/model that Messer doesn't (like a tri-cone), it's good food for thought (which is why, like I mentioned above, I've been eye balling their tri-cone woody for a while now).

[Michael Messer]

Shanghai is resonator city. It is where all these guitars are manufactured.

Some facts....

There is only one body factory, this is because of the tooling required to stamp out the bodies. So all the manufacturers are buying from the same body factory.

News that I know what I am doing and understand these instruments soon spread and so did my ideas and designs.

When I created the MM range I had to have dies made to be used by the body factory. There appears to be a first come first served attitude in business there. Those dies are now used on many of the Shanghai brands. My F holes, body sides and other components.

As well as the bodies, other components, necks, tuners, cones, fretboards etc.. are also manufactured by a small handful of workshops.

There are a dozen or so assembly companies that buy in the parts and assemble the guitars. Each has their own way of doing it.

Most of these guitars are assembled in approximately 45 minutes and none of the western customers, apart from me, have a quality control situation in place.

I am not going to explain my QC methods because I have already given my competitors enough help. I am also not going to tell you where mine are made.

Everyone that starts these threads on this forum and Facebook have all the company names, but they have no idea who is who and what is what. One thing I can assure you about is that you all have it wrong. This one distributes that one, and that one manufacturers MM.... it is all total bollox!

One thing I can assure you of... is that nobody else has the QC, or the control over what and how the process is done, or the relationship with their manufacturer. Nobody else has a luthier of Dave King's stature setting up the guitars, and nobody else has someone like me preparing every guitar for every customer. Name me another company producing resonator guitars, apart from NRP, that has my knowledge and experience with these instruments.

Shine On
Michael

[bonzo]

Well put Michael, you don't stand up for yourself often enough. Although the original enquiry was innocent enough, if things aren't straightened out then the misinformation becomes accepted knowledge. You mentioned the NRP guitars being well made and properly set up. I'd like to mention that they are also three or four times more expensive than MM guitars. These comments are in no way meant as a put down for anyone researching the resonator market, knowledge will only come after research and enquiring on sites such as this. But in the under a £1000 price range, for a variety of single cone instruments all roads lead to MM guitars 🎸!
(IMHO)

Best wishes to you all, John

[Michael Messer]

Thank you Bonzo.

It wasn't in any way meant to be attack on wingwiz

(Oh BTW....WELCOME TO OUR FORUM WINGWIZ. You are a welcome member of our community)

Every day on Facebook I see this stuff being talked about and two things keep on happening.... one, is that they all know who manufacturers what, and they don't. And two, is that they buy instruments direct from manufacturers and when something isn't right they can't understand why there are problems with communications.

Oh, and just to make sure there is no misunderstanding - MM Fiddle Edge bodies were not manufactured in Shanghai, and they were manufactured by a company 2000 miles away from there with no connections whatsoever with anyone in the guitar industry. Once bitten....

Shine On
Michael

[wingwiz]

Hi. Thank you so much for that, and sorry if it was a contentious or annoying subject I didn’t realise that all this stuff was going on and people were making spurious or similar claims. I was offered the guitar second hand so just wanted to check. I very much appreciate the information.

[Michael Messer]

Feb 22, 2024 17:17:04 GMT wingwiz said:

Hi. Thank you so much for that, and sorry if it was a contentious or annoying subject I didn’t realise that all this stuff was going on and people were making spurious or similar claims. I was offered the guitar second hand so just wanted to check. I very much appreciate the information.

My pleasure, and I hope I didn't come across as being negative.

I don't like to comment on other brands because it looks like I am doing it for personal reasons.

You will get good advice from forum members.

Shine On
Michael

[stevearcade]

That's super cool info, Michael. Thank you. Definitely demystifies things somewhat. And it makes sense, from a manufacturing stand point, that that's how it would all work (to keep costs low, etc). And like I said, having you carry out QC on every MM guitar is a significant 1-up over the competitors at that price. Definitely stands your instruments apart from all the other imports.

So, when are you going to launch an MM Tri-Cone, or better still, an MM wooden Tri-Cone? 

[leeophonic]

Royal resonators may restrict your songs though, to Queen, Kings of Leon, King Crimson, Prince, etc.....

Lee

[stevearcade]

Feb 22, 2024 20:44:17 GMT leeophonic said:

Royal resonators may restrict your songs though, to Queen, Kings of Leon, King Crimson, Prince, etc.....

Lee

 ba-dum...pshhh