HELP for a newbie...

[noah]

Greetings! In doing some research on resonator guitars, I was pleased to come across notecannons, which led me to this forum. Here's the situation: my dad is turning 50 in a few weeks and I'd like to get him a resonator guitar. While I do recognize the supremacy of a National or a Dobro, I simply cannot afford the price tag. Another issue at hand here is that I am not a guitarist. While I am a professional musician and can appreciate the sonic differences between a good guitar and a less-good one, I can't exactly waltz into a guitar store and try them out myself. Thus I turn to you for assistance.

As I mentioned, I can't afford a National or Dobro brand instrument. So, I began looking into less expensive resonator guitars and came across the Fender FR-48 in a shop here in New York City. I read your less-than-favorable review of the wood-bodied FR-50 and was wondering if you have any thoughts on the metal-bodied FR-48.

Or, perhaps you could recommend another less expensive make/model of resonator guitar? I'm not looking for the cheapest guitar out there. Ideally, I'd like to find the best guitar I can get at a price that I can afford (US $500-600).

Due to your concerns about the thickness and strength of the wood of the Regal RD3, I'm probably more inclined to consider metal-bodied guitars than wood. (I want to get my dad an instrument that he can enjoy for many years!) I see Regal does make the nickel-plated brass RC-51 Tricone and RC-2 single cone and was wondering how these might compare to the Fender FR-48 and it's chromed steel construction.

Help! I don't know what to do. I really want to get my dad a guitar with the classic resonator guitar sound, but I don't want to get him a piece of junk. I suppose my first priority is the sound quality of the instrument, followed by the quality of construction and feel while playing (I should also mention that I want a guitar with a round neck, as opposed to square).

* Wood or metal body?
* Fender or Regal or another make?
* National-style or Dobro-style?
* Tricone or single cone?

Any information, advice, suggestions, etc. that you or your forum members can provide would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks in advance!!

Sincerely,
Noah

[Gerry C]

Hi Noah - wish you were my boy!! I can't really advise you on what guitar to get your dad as I've not played any of the models you mention. HOWEVER - if it was me someone I loved was buying for I'd really want to try guitars out before settling on one. Perhaps you want to give your dad a mighty surprise on his birthday, and that would be great; consider, however, taking him out into New York City for a day, having some lunch, checking out the guitar shops together, deciding together... That way, for me, would make the very generous gift even more precious and memorable. BTW, I'll be 60 in a couple of years...must start dropping hints to my three kids! ;D

Cheerily,

Gerry C

[Deleted]

Hi Noah
My first reso was a Fender FR48 its a okay
beginners guitar, but i think you can get a cheaper one
and whit same quality whit out the Fender name on the headstock.I think many of the far east resos are made in the same factory.

Good luck

[Michael Messer]

Hi Noah,

Thank you for dropping by. Your Dad will be a very happy man on his 50th birthday.....that's a cool present!

Guitars are very personal things and choosing one for somebody can be a very difficult thing to do. I like what Gerry suggested about taking your Dad into NYC for the day to buy him a guitar. Then he can choose which one is best for him. My review of the Fender was a negative one and I still stick by what I wrote in that review. However, there are lots of people out there with Fender FR50 guitars who disagree with me. So it really is a personal thing. I can advise which models are built the best and which models are closest in character to original Nationals & Dobros, but which guitar your Dad will enjoy playing is not an easy question to answer.

However....if I were going to answer it .....I would advise the brass bodied Regal. I have not reviewed it and have only seen one or two in stores, but I was very impressed with the feel & sound of the whole thing.

I hope we have been able to help/advise you. Keep in touch and feel free to ask any questions that may crop up along the way. If I am not around and don't answer, I am sure Gerry, Hannu or other forum members will be happy to help.

Shine On,
Michael.

[noah]

Dear Gerry, Hannu, and Michael-

Thanks so much to all of you for your speedy responses. In addition to taking your responses into consideration, I also continued to do some research online, and so have a some more questions!

But before I get to that, I did want to respond to Gerry's suggestion of taking my dad out shopping so he could try the guitars himself. I do think that's a fantastic idea...however...so far, I have been visited what I understand are the two biggest guitar shops in NYC (Sam Ash and Manny's), and have seen exactly three resonator guitars--Fender FR-48 and FR-50 and a Dobro that was way out of my price range. It seems that either these guitars are just flying off the shelves due to demand, or the stores just don't keep them in stock. That being said, I do plan to visit a few more guitar shops this weekend, though I can't say I expect the results to be too different.

And now, on to some more questions...

I came across a few more makes/models of resonator guitars and was wondering if anyone had any experience with them and/or had heard anything about them with regard to their quality (both sound and craftsmanship). These are:

* Johnson (apparently been in business for about 10 years)

* Rogue (their brass-bodied single cone gets very positive reviews at musiciansfriend.com)

* Goldtone/Beard (apparently Goldtone is an Asian-made instrument, but it is outfitted with a Paul Beard cone)

(For your information, I'm now not interested in the Fender. I really like the more classic looking F-holes, rather than the modern Fender variety.)

The rest of my questions have to do with your personal preferences...

* Wood body or metal body and why?

* Single cone or tri-cone? (I've read that the single cone models are louder, but that tricones have a sweeter sound with more sustain.)

* If single cone, biscuit or spider bridge?

* The impression I get from Michael is that brass body is better than steel? Is this so?

Alright, I think that's enough for one post. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Cheers,
Noah

[Gerry C]

Hi Noah. Personally I prefer the single cone f-hole model with a biscuit bridge. I own an Ozark 3515 with a steel body and bright chrome finish. Recently I customised it to suit my style of playing and improve the sound: I had a better quality cone fitted, along with an ebony saddle and bone nut. I also changed the cosmetics by changing the coverplate and other parts which were "gold" (Ahem!) plated to chrome ones. It's now a much better guitar! Like you, I'm not yet at the point where I can afford a National or Beltona, but I'm happy with my Ozark at the moment. Michael has a review of this guitar on his site, although I don't know if Ozarks are available in the US (perhaps only in Arkansas and Missouri ). You can a see a picture of my customised model in the photo-gallery of my website at www.gerrycoopermusic.co.uk

Cheerily,

Gerry C

[Deleted]

Hi Noah
What musical style is your dad into? Spider bridge guitars is mostly used
to country and bluegrass music,single cone
biscuits and tricones have more of a bluesy tone.
The difference between steel and brass is that the
steel has a bright hard sound,brass has a more softer
rounder sound.
This is only my opinion other forum members
may have other opinions.
Good luck!

[noah]

I suspect my dad would be playing blues for the most part.

Regarding the difference in sound quality between steel and brass bodied instruments...I think one of my main concerns is that any resonator guitar I buy for my dad actually *sounds* like a resonator guitar--such as one hears on old blues records--and not like a regular acoustic guitar or a banjo (he's got those already!).

[Deleted]

Whatever you do, don't touch the Fender wood-bodied spider bridge guitar. An absolute dog with no volume and no resonator tone. Avoid it. No question (though I suppose at least you'll have the blues if you buy one!). If you want the type of sound on the old blues records, it has to be a biscuit bridge or tricone guitar. I'd go for a biscuit bridge guitar, they are cheaper and have more of that gnarly bluesey growl. Steel vs brass? One isn't better than the other, they are just different: steel is usually a little brighter and harder sounding. Wood body resos give you a little more warmth to the tone.

As regards those Fenders flying off the shelves..well, unless they are way better than the early ones, lots of people just buy them for the looks. Don't get sucked in just because it's bright shiny plated metal guitar - the painted metal and wood bodied ones can be great. I'm a little wary of some of the cheaper tri-cones -the wood bodied Ozark tri-cone is another dog. Very fancy looking (red sunburst and gold plating!), but little volume and tone- the other biscuit bridge metal body Ozarks I've played have been fine (not sure what brand name this is marketed as in the USA).

The Regal is WAY better than the Fender (and really mean WAY better), and generally are pretty decent instruments. I'd say they are a safe bet and won't disappoint. Check their wood body and painted steel bodied biscuit bridge models for a more affordable alternative to the plated models.

[LouisianaGrey]

Glad to see somebody else thinks the same way about the Ozark wooden tricone, John. It's such a disappointment because they look fantastic - if they sounded anything near as good as they look they would be killer guitars.

At the moment Regal seem to be the best in their price range as far as I can tell. The tricone is nicer than the steel-bodied ones, the single cones are nice too and I don't think anyone else comes close for spider bridge unless you go up in price a notch to the Beard Goldtones.

The metal bodied Fender is OK but certainly no better than anyone else's and personally I don't like those Fender F holes. As for the Fender spider bridge - I feel quite strongly about that guitar. I think it's on a par with the worst of the rock-bottom price Chinese dobros and they should be ashamed to put their name on it.

[noah]

Thank you all so much for your input! Keep it coming!!

I think that, at this point, I have narrowed down my choices to two possibilities:

1) Regal RC-2 Duolian: steel body, single spun cone, wooden biscuit bridge.

or

2) Johnson JM-998: bell brass body, single spun cone, wooden biscuit bridge, modeled after the National Style "O"

I guess I'm kind of leaning toward the Johnson since the body is brass instead of steel...the feeling I get is that the brass produces a richer tone quality. Is that right?

But now that I think of it, maybe I should consider a tri-cone. ARGH!! Too many choices.

[Deleted]

Hi Noah
My personal choice would be a brass body guitar
good for blues,ragtime etc etc.
I think its harder to get a good budget tricone than its
to get a good budget single cone.Let us know how it goes!

[Mairena Red]

Hi Noah,

I hate to muddy the waters at this stage of the proceedings, but something that no-one has mentioned so far in the debate over metal-bodied versus wooden-bodied resos is the weight factor. As someone who turned 50 a couple of years ago and bought a reso at about the same time (must be a midlife crisis thing ), one of the factors which drove me to buy a wooden-bodied reso (a Regal RD45) was the difference in weight. I just didn't fancy lugging around the extra weight, let alone hanging it around my neck As J J Cale would say: "Travelin' light is the only way to fly".

The debate over biscuit versus spider bridge will rage forever but at the end of the day it's a matter of personal taste. I bought my reso with the original intention of playing blues and chose a spider bridge because I preferred the warmer sound. Purists might sneer, but there are plenty of other guitarists out there who play blues on spider-bridged resos, starting with Eric Clapton (not a bad place to start ). I have now added another string to my bow by learning to play a bit of bluegrass dobro, something I would probably not have done if I had bought a biscuit-bridged reso.

However, if you really want that authentic Delta sound, perhaps the best compromise is a wooden body and a biscuit bridge. Michael's Fine Resophonic sounded pretty darn good when I heard it live last month and there must be a good budget version out there somewhere. UK residents are lucky to have the London Resonator Centre which specialises in resophonic guitars (there is a link on this website). I cannot believe that NYC does not have something similar.

All the best,

Joe (aka Mairena Red)

[noah]

I just wanted to send out a note of thanks to everyone who offered advice, personal opinions, or any other information in my quest for a resonator guitar for my dad.

I ended up buying a Rogue brass-boded resonator with single hand-spun aluminum cone and maple biscuit bridge. I decided on that make/model based on your helpful information and reviews I read at www.harmony-central.com. The guitar looks great and sounds great, especially considering I was able to afford it!

I'll be giving it to my dad for his birthday this coming weekend, and I'm sure he'll be thrilled.

Again, thanks so much for your help!

All best,
Noah

[Gerry C]

Glad to be of help ;D Wish your dad a happy birthday from us: hope he has many years of pickin' and grinnin' on his new guitar!

Cheerily,

Gerry C