Resonator Finishes and Body Material /Recording King rm993vg

[fuzzylogic8250]

Hello all, this is my first post.   I am an intermediate level resonator enthusiast with much to gain from posting questions on this forum however the knowledge I currently can offer in return may be quite limited.    

Can someone please accurately describe the finish of a Recording King Swamp Dog RM-993vg parlor resonator and what body style it is this within the vintage National nomenclature (or closest too)?

Their webpage says its brass with a distressed nickel plating but mine appears to be polished brass with green paint.  This is fine however I would like to know for certain.  I have reached out to recording king a couple of times via their webpage with no  response.   I've read a lot of internet material on reso finishes with no specific answer.  Sometimes things slip under my nose but I am sniffing).

Thanks to you all.  This is the best knowledge pool for resonators right now.

Jason

[vastopol]

I don't know much about this model, but to my eyes it looks like brass with a copper plating, brushed tarnished and brushed, with some green patina added but I don't know what this green could be.

This kind of result can appear when copper is exposed to some acid, but this green stuff is very toxic (it can't be the same material, they don't want to have troubles).

Last time i've seen this type of finish it was on a Ukulele, and some varnish was added perhaps to stop and stabilize the oxyding process ? (and protect the health of the player ?)

But you're right it could be just some green painting.

This finish is a good way to cut down the cost because it avoid the final layer of platting.

At first a yellow brass body had to be polished, and put in a bath of copper for a first layer, this layer of copper is necessary before putting on the final nickel plate finish.

As the nickel and copper prices inflates dramatically nowadays...it is clearly a good attempt to cut down the cost.

This type of body seems to be comissionned in China by the Brand "Republic" at first ( if I'm my memory ain't crooked ) and latter spreading under different brands.

There's nothing to compare with National... it's a recent design, created perhaps ten or twenty years ago.

Some of us should have more precise datation.

Hope it will help you to appreciate more your old looking new guitar.

[Michael Messer]

Hello Jason

Welcome to our forum and please post any questions you may have. Whether we can answer them is in the hands of the gods....

Vastopol has answered your question well. The only details I can add are as follows....

This design has no connection whatsoever with anything ever built by National or Dobro in the past or the present. The concept of parlour style resonator guitars was dreamt up by the original owner of Republic guitars, Frank Hensley, around 15 years ago and was soon being produced by every brand name in Shanghai and beyond. Frank did try to stop it, but was unable to do so.

His original idea was the wood bodied model, and then he moved to metal bodied ones.

I hope that is helpful information.

Shine On
Michael

[vastopol]

Well, I've kept thinking about my somewhat arsh souding answer, and suddenly I remember how my first Johnson make me travel... long ago...

I think every resonator guitar carries something very evocative and inspiring, and I bet some of the magic sparks from the Dopyera Brothers are still there.

Once the first strum and you can hear a train whistle blowing and you feel like sitting somewhere in the Delta dust.

No matter the price, when you hear that powerfull sound under your hands, your mind flies away.

I understand your wish to compare with an historic model, and I found four technical details to help you to drive your research:

Body made of brass = "Style 0"

Rolled F holles (instead of the older design "flat cut" type) = post 1933

Chicken feet coverplate (instead of the common drilled areas) = post 1936

Twelve frets neck (instead of 14 latter)= pre 1934

All this allow you to think about a "style 0" model, post 1936, but a very rare one; maybe few are existing.

Some of these twelve frets bodies been fitted with a "chicken feet" cover.

This coverplate adorn most of the 14 frets bodies, but sometimes 14 frets have an old drilled model too, every combination can exist.

A friend of mine got a similar parlor resonator, it's allways surprising how loud such a small box can sound.

These import guitars are noble in the way they can be affordable for most of the young musician.

(it took me a whole life to get me an old National, I wonder how my playing should be enhanced if only I had this luck sooner...and how many youngsters can buy a good old one in the future, with these mad prices?!).

If Son House or Bukka White are living today, I bet they choose one like yours.

Because the small body is more pratical for taking a flag on the next freight train !

I hope this can emmulate your imagination, and increase your interest in resonator instruments; it's a fascinating world, but take care; it can became a consuming passion.

[fuzzylogic8250]

Thanks for the info, vastopol and Michael. That was very helpful.

Assuming it is greenpaint for the final green patina;  would the brass still have a copper plating for the nickel plating (in this case, assumingly absent?   In other words is it pretty much standard for a brass body to have the copper bath as a final coating?

The reason I ask is there are bronze/copper colored areas peaking out from the green.  Some of these bronze colored areas are polished to shine (like around the edges to indicate additional player wear.   I am unfamiliar with brass bodied instruments.   Thus, I do not know if I am looking at the brass or a copper coating.   It seems like a minute question to ask but I would like to know.   

I trying to decide whether or not the instrument is worth the effort to possibly invest in (like new tuning machine heads) or just flip it and get a MM resonator.   I wish I were aware of these before a friend introduced me to the Recording King and  I bought a floor model demo at a decent price.   I am a little spoiled on the parlor size.  I didn't go looking for a smaller body as my Goldtone that was stolen was a full size. 


Anyway, I have further questions on string gauges/tension and working with the machine heads but I'll start a new thread.   Resonators are simply fascinating instruments.    

[vastopol]

If I understand correctly, this type of finish became relatively common on entry level instruments, this copper color is somewhat pink or orange.

If playwear or scraping cuts trough this surface, you may find naked yellow brass under this.

The green patina (you call bronze) is the second layer, so at first its yellow brass, second layer is copper pink, third the green patina, and maybe at last a translucide varnish (that's the case on the ukulele i've seen).

Johnson's machine head are fonctionnal enough, if you plan to buy a MM guitar you can't be disapointed, you better save each penny as soon as possible !