Greetings from rookie reso fan

[smoochimoto]

I have more questions than answers & I've come here to learn. First, a brief narrative of how I got here. I've been playing guitar for 35 years. I earned my college fees from playing music & entered the corporate world, which I left after 10 long years. Got married, started my own business and started playing again (bluegrass & fingerstyle jazz). Again my music contributes to my livelihood. Several months ago I took in partial trade a Hohner hrm 400 (I think-it looks like an Ozark 3517 except for the headstock name). It sounded like a sick banjo, so I called a close friend who plays dobro, ordered repl parts per his specs, and took it to him for surgery. The results were impressive, I'm hooked , my wife is very afraid, and my banjo playing friends are annoyed because I now play louder (and faster, thanks to a multi-year fascination with Jerry Reed and Buster B Jones tunes). I'm looking forward to reading everybody's posts, putting in my two cents (quid?) where appropiate, and soaking up as much info as possible, which brings me to a host of questions. I've settled on a thick walled brass slide at least temporarily (while I steal empty wine bottles of all sizes from friends to cut up) but I'm trying to limit my options until I become more competent, as I've only been playing slide 3-1/2 wks. Any thoughts on which (glass or brass) sounds better on a reso? I "horse traded" for a tricone a week ago and I think I like the metal slide on that, and glass on the single cone. Anyone else notice these differences? Any thoughts on strings & action? Currently I'm using D'addario ej17's tuned to G or D open. My action in inches is 7/64" on the treble , 9/64" on the bass, measured at the 12th fret (same as my herringbone). The way these inst are made would I have any structural issues if I went 16-60 set if I occasionally tuned to std for fingerstyle? Thanks very much for any info. As my round hole flat top guitar coll. decreases I expect my reso coll to increase. Anyone have thoughts good or bad on wood bodied tricones? Fyi, I'm in Cincinnati OH USA, so I've seen a lot on Republic guitars (mostly positive), I've talked to Mr. Helsey (sp?) and he seems like a good guy, & he states in his ad copy he has a lot of happy customers in the UK. Is this true? I checked some acoustic oriented sites in the US but objectivity seemed somewhat lacking (part of why I signed up on this one.)

Thanks to all!

[jackstrat]

Howdy Smoochimoto!!

Similar to yourself, I'm a long-time guitar player (on and off for twenty years) but only discovered the pure and absolute joy of resos about last April/May....

I joined this forum around the same time and I haven't looked back....they're a great bunch on here...no agendas or snobbery in terms of music or playing abililty and there's no shortage of great advice and the willingness to share it....a super resource.

Welcome aboard bud!
Niall

[Michael Messer]

Hi Smoochimoto

(Just a quick reply as I am in the middle of a busy day)

Welcome to our forum. I am sure you will enjoy learning & sharing knowledge with our community.

Shine On
Michael

[Deleted]

What ho! Smoochimoto!!

Slides are a matter of personal taste, and seem even to depend on how you feel when you get out of bed in the morning. I usually feel knackered but that's another story.....!

I have a Busker Cannon which is BRILLIANT with a Diamond Glass Bottleneck Evolution sllde (combined glass and stainless steel). I have a Beltona Southerenr with twin pickups and that sings more and more with a Dunlop heavy brass slide. Both are single cones. I have ordered a Busker 'Deco tri-cone which I bet myself a cup of tea that a D/B lead crystal glass slide will do the job I want with that guitar.

I've been tinkering with bottleneck for many years but only started tacking it seriously a very few years ago when others told me I should, which was nice of them.

Bottleneck blues playing is one way of playing solo but being very very self contained and complete. English folk and acoustic rock are other genres and I try and mix them up at gigs.

I hope you get the most from your reso's. As Robin of Busker guitars said to me, the versatility of the guitar can lead one along many different musical avenues. Have good journeys.

Barry

[smoochimoto]

Thanks very much Niall, Michael & Barry. Encouragement is always a good thing. Yet another question: Diamondback Evolution slide? Glass & stainless combined? Very compelling. I would be interested in any thoughts on this combo. I have perused Ian's website, the items look diverse & of high quality. When I am more competent I may invest in one (or several). However this is somewhat preliminary. I do better with limited options in the early stages of any pursuit.

Thanks again!

[Ian McWee]

Hi smoochimoto!

For me personally, each slide material imparts it's own tonal window on whichever instrument you choose to use it with - and having a good arsenal of slides in the drawer offers serious sliders a fantastic palette of tones.

Whenever i read info about players, or websites, informing fledgling slide guitarists that "....glass is the ONLY type of slide to use...forget steel, ceramic, brass etc...." or vise-versa, that to me just smacks a little of narrow-mindedness (or 'heavy selling' ), so for my 2-cents worth here, get hold of a good glass slide (you already have a brass slide ) and maybe a stainless steel, and between those three choices you'll spend many happy hours swapping around slides with guitars - i do it all the time ;D!!

Slide On!

Ian.

[maxxengland]

Yup, these are nice people, even McWee ;D

Another place to look in is Big Road Blues, lots of Americans but also fully worldwide, lots of comment on resos there.

It's friendly like this forum as well, except when somebody starts off on one (usually political), so we just walk away and leave them to foam at the nose on their own.

[smoochimoto]

Thanks guys-
Ian's advice sounds good (actually everyone's is helpful). I did manage to make a bottleneck slide from bottle with a really thick wall. Between time, material, jeweler's rouge, etc. it only cost me 3x more than a commercial slide. (well worth the effort). I also agree that sometimes the slide I prefer (glass, brass, or 314 SS) depends on my mood more than anything else. Here's something interesting: A friend is making me a slide from a shotgun barrel. (Better use for a firearm I think).
I'll let you know how it sounds.

Ian-- I checked out your evolution slide, very interesting- some good demos on you tube (Thanks Barry). Before I became self employed and started working 2wice as hard for 1/2 the money my profession was metallurgical engineering. I'd love to know how you make that slide. I'm not asking for any proprietary info, I'm just curious--was there a lot of trial and error or did the idea just hit you fully formed and worked smooth as glass (sorry) from the beginning? Thanks to all! I'll check back in when I can play more than 6 slide tunes

[steverino]

Smoochimoto, your resonator instrument experience parallels mine to a degree. After a decade of building loudspeakers, studying loudspeaker history and contributing same to a web site, I discovered that the Dopyera brothers were located next door to James B. Lansing's speaker factory in Los Angeles in the mid 1930s. Then I went to the NAMM trade show this past January, played a few resonators and found a new obsession!. I have played guitar since 1965 but had never picked up a resonator. Just to think of all the Nationals that could have been bought cheaply decades ago... dohhh!

I started by buying cheap Chinese spider resos on ebay, disassembling them and correcting their obvious construction and assembly mistakes. Funny, but a $69 reso can sound like a $2,000 one if a couple of parts are swapped and it is set up right. As with so many things in life, a bit of knowledge will carry one farther than a pile of cash.

Next I bought several freight damaged biscuit resos on the cheap including a Hohner HRM 400. Equipped with an NRP Hotrod cone it is currently my favorite for open G tuning, sounding appropriately loud and rude. Only problem is that it is built like a tank, the brass body being uncomfortably heavy to hold.

My instincts as a loudspeaker designer lead me to believe that there is still much unexplored potential in resonator instruments. The lighter mass per area and greater mobility of the diaphragm affords the resonator instrument greater dynamic range and expressiveness of subtleties than the conventional guitar, though the designs produced to date have unique frequency response curves and resulting tonal signatures that limit their appeal to certain types of music. I see no reason why resonator instruments cannot be built in the future with a sound more like a conventional guitar while preserving the wider dynamic range of the traditional resonator designs.I suspect that we have only scratched the surface of what is possible here.

I use a medium weight brass slide most of the time. I have experimented with a thick cross section steel pipe. The steel is really heavy and fatigues the finger muscles quickly, but the sustain is unreal!

[melp]

Hi Smoochimoto,

I use a diamond evolution slide, its very good. Its clear from the other comments that strange things go on in slide-land. Sometimes just changing the slide, even made of similar material, seems to make a difference.

Hmmm, could the difference be me??? Yep, guess the technique is not so stable yet. Anyway I mainly use two slides, both diamond, one all glass, with a reverse taper, the other is the evolution. Both are excellent.

I guess we are in a similar place, in that I have been playing for ever but only slide for a few months.

You also asked about a wood body. I just got a Busker Cannon, to go with my MM Blues. With PB strings on the Cannon and Nickel on the Blues have a great range of sounds.

So check out the Busker Cannon if you like, as I do, small body guitars. I have just polished the Cannon, from the semi matt and it looks great.

Welcome and all the best

Mel

[smoochimoto]

Howdy Mel! Yes I have come to appreciate smaller bodied guitars, albeit with a bluegrass background comparatively recently. I have a friend (local) who has a Republic "Minolian" I plan on checking out. I also am keeping my eyes peeled (ouch) for a Beltona that I can try out. I have no complaints witha heavy brass or steel body, but a reso that is as light as the average flat-top does offer some appeal, esp in regards to balance, even with a strap. The evolution is interesting, but I want my competence to increase b-4 I have more options. If your interested in how a Beltona sounds, check out Barry Reeves' clips on you tube or his website. I love the bass response of that instrument.

All the best,
Lucian

[Ian McWee]

Hi Lucian!

I'd love to take the honors for inventing the 'Evolution' slide....but that goes to our good friend Tom Doughty who, due to being wheelchair-bound after suffering a motorcycle accident in his late teens, means he's had to adopt a very unorthodox lap-slide style.

Tom prefers the tone of glass, and he sent us a stainless steel tube with 2/3rd's cut away so we could add the glass section, allowing necessary heft for his style, plus giving him the tone of glass, and it's always been one of our best selling models.....so kudo's to Tom for his imagination

For the technical info, we chop a glass tube into thirds, then profile the edges of each third to match up with the chamfers on the steel section - making a rounded tube. We then use Loctite 560 glue to bond the glass onto the steel section, level the outer glass 'face' on our linishing belts and final polish the whole slide.

Thanks to all again here - and Slide On!

Ian.

[Gerry C]

Hi Smoochimoto! (Great handle, by the way!) I alternate between a heavy brass slide made about 15 years ago by a friend of mine in the construction industry and a glass slide self-made from the neck of a VERY nice bottle of Montepulciano. (WARNING!! Allow a suitable period of time to elapshe between emptying the bottle and beginning work on the shlide. And yesh, I do shpeak from experienche...) Also, I don't know whether you're aware that in recent years Steve Evans has made his Beltona guitars strictly from fibreglass; I think this change dates from his moving production to New Zealand from Yorkshire. I had the privilege of playing the very first (metal) prototype single-cone Beltona (years ago) when Steve brought it to a Steve Phillips gig. After Phillips (no mean builder himself) played it Evans asked him what he thought and Phillips replied "I'll tell you what I think - I think you're not having it back!" This was before the Beltona company was even set up. The guitar was passed around a few players who were at the gig, myself included, and all approved. The metal Beltona tricones are also mighty beasts.

Cheerily,

Gerry C

PS You want a good reso, buy a MM Lightning! I did!

www.myspace.com/gerrycooper

[Deleted]

Gerry

The fibreglass Beltona is a very good guitar. Mine took longer to wake up than the Busker Cannon, but I think that coming by air from New Zealand to the UK sent the cone into a coma for a few weeks!

I play it not enough really, but it's very good now and at the last gig people did not believe that it was not made from steel.

Mine has double pickups so it's my electric resonator, while the Cannon is the acoustic one.

Barry

[smoochimoto]

Thanks Ian, that seems like a much simpler and straightforward process than I would have guessed. Still plan on getting one when I more competent and my "tastes" become solidified.

Yes Gerry I knew the Beltonas were a fiberglass compound of some kind. I initially had predjudices about that material years ago when RainSong guitars were first rolled out, but they sound very good, as do the Beltonas I've heard. They are not readily available here in the states, but when they are they go for stupidly low money (300-400 GBP) so I keep looking for one, as well as a wood bodied NRP. I would love to get an MM (either lightning or blues--steel bodies have a unique timbre that appeals to me) but I suspect between the exchange rate and shipping it would be prohibitive. I probably should check. I have played more wood bodied NRPs recently and like the Radiotone (gypsy jazz, bluegrass and fingerstyle all sound great on it, even before I pick up a slide) the problem is the person who owns it won't sell. Fortunately when I get work he lets me "borrow" it.

Regards to all,
Lucian