Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 23, 2006 8:49:31 GMT
Hi there, I have been playing guitar for a while now. I always had GAS for a resonator. My wife bought me a Fine resophonic single cone maple guitar. It is quite gorgeous. However the first thing I did was to fit a new set of strings ( the guitar was second hand). I took off all the strings and then replaced with MM MN 15-56. Trouble is now the sound is not rigtht( I think) It sounds very tight, it doesn't seem to have that jangly kind of resonator sound. As I said I am a raw beginner at this slide thing and indeed this is the first time I really used an open tuning. I tried to learn a bit but pretty much gave up and went back to my Les Pauls and strats. The resonator has been under the bed for the best part of a year or so. I am now contemplating selling it. I really need to know how to set it up, if there is a good tutor in the north Hampshire ( UK ) area. I want to start again with it and those damned finger picks but need some help and guidance. What is the best way to get it set up should I take it to Dave King? Hope someone can help. I am near Andover. all the best
|
|
|
Post by Michael Messer on May 23, 2006 10:12:33 GMT
Hi Kluson,
Your guitar - a Fine Resophonic maple single cone - is about as good as it gets. However, every once in a while guitars do need setting up. I would ONLY recommend Dave King in the UK to do this work. If not Dave, then a trip to Paris to se Mike is the other alternative. There are no rules about strings, set-up and slide playing - it is just what feels right for you. However, I would say that the MM Newtone Nationals 15 to 56 gauge are perfect for those guitars and should not choke anything. I have seen & played many Fine Resophonics with 15 to 56 gauge MMs. Some players, especially non sliders, use lighter gauges...12 to 54s.
Your Les Pauls & Strats are very different to resophonic guitars -a Fine Resophonic is based on a 1920s design and really does feel different to modern guitars.
Why don't you try using your Fine Resophonic as your main guitar for a while - don't worry about slide playing & finger picks (which are also not esential), just play what you normally play, but on the resophonic. Too many people keep their resophonic guitars just for slide playing - I play everything on mine, it is my main guitar. String your Fine Resophonic with whatever strings you like and play it every day.
It is hard to say with a second-hand purchase, but I doubt if your guitar is in need of much setting up and getting right.
Keep in touch,
Shine On, Michael.
|
|
|
Post by Mairena Red on May 24, 2006 11:27:47 GMT
Hi Kluson, So your wife bought you a Fine Resophonic, eh? Some guys have all the luck, as Rod Stewart would say. You wouldn't be interested in trading her in by any chance? Seriously though, as Michael says, they are fine instruments and I am sure with a little persistance you will grow to love it almost as much as your wife It would be a shame to sell such a lovely gift, but if you do decide to part with it, put it on Tin Can Alley. I'll be the first in the queue ;D All the best, Joe (aka Mairena Red)
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 24, 2006 20:01:17 GMT
many thanks for your help and advice. I will try again with it and maybe without the finger picks although it doies seem to sound nicer with them, not my playing, even the cats run for cover Can you suggest a good teaching DVD. I just boought your latest DVD Michael, I wasn't too upset when I found out i was not a teaching DVD. Greta playing. My wife is very supportive so I must try to carry on with it. I and she love the sound of it played well and so I want to try to get the hang of it. I have a set of the MM MN 15-56 and will put some new ones on one at a time this time. I like the country delta blues stuff like Robert Johnson, can you suggest some other people that I could listen to to get the inspiration. Thanks very much for your help already Dave
|
|
|
Post by Michael Messer on May 24, 2006 23:24:58 GMT
Hi Dave,
Thanks, glad you are enjoying the DVD. Althogh it is not actually a tuition DVD, it is a pretty good learning tool. The close-up photography is so clear & detailed that it is easy to see how pieces are being played.
I will be making a tuition DVD in a few weeks time, it should be available by August/September. Meanwhile, I would advise you to spend as much time as possible playing along to records, listening to records, and generally getting soaked up in the subject.
I would advise you to buy more than one tuition DVD - try a few of the ones currently available. If you learn one lick from a DVD it has been worthwhile.
Country blues players that might interest you - Blind Boy Fuller, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Charley Patton, Bukka White, Robert Lockwood Junior, Muddy Waters (Stovall's Plantation recordings), Blind Willie Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, ....that should get you started!
Just play and keep playing!
Shine On, Michael.
|
|
|
Post by Alan on May 25, 2006 10:10:01 GMT
Why don't you just drop from 15 to 13/12s? Then if you need go up, go up. My tri plate is loud enough with 13s, I think your single cone will be plenty loud enough. Get a comfortable slide, Diamond are nice, but I find the heavy walled Dunlop pyrex comfortable too - King Slide from the reso centre. Drag your fingers behind the slide to damp out the over tones. Look below for different Newtone strings. www.stringsdirect.co.uk/Catalogue/ViewProduct.aspx?productId=991Lots of DVDs - Search under Slide, Bottleneck etc. Look at open G and D tunings. Lots of stuff to be found through Google. If you don't want to buy, you can rent lots from people like www.lovefilm.com then cancel your subscription. I also think that I learnt a lot from looking at the Master's of the Country Blues series. Learn Death Letter from the Son House/Bukka White one and annoy everyone. www.yazoorecords.com/master.htmAlso look here for all kinds of interesting stuff www.document-records.com/And the ever popular www.weeniecampbell.com/juke/playing.php
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 25, 2006 16:30:21 GMT
Mny thnaks for all the help and tips. I have I think found the right place. OK I'm convinced I'll try again, I'll put down the strat for a while and play the fine resophonic. Thanks for the tips, you'll know if I'm getting anywhere as you won't see an add for the guitar in the for sale section. Thanks again Dave
|
|
|
Post by snakehips on May 25, 2006 18:02:29 GMT
Hi there !
Do Fine Resophonics do the body shape like the originals ? ie. body depth at the neck end is narrower than at the tailpiece end ? (on 12 fret guitars)
I like the look of the originals where the body looks more slender - whereas the NRP ones look a bit square !
PS. One last question been bugging me and my band mate for years - is the body area covered with the fretboard extension flat ? Or does it taper downwards, just as the neck tapers downwards/backwards for "back-angle" ? Otherwise, does the fretboard not have a bend in it as it goes off the flat body and onto the neck ?
Could be related to the body depth question ?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 25, 2006 19:03:26 GMT
Hi there , yes the body has a taper and yes the fretboard from the 12th fret does lay flat so it has a hump in it, to cope with the angled top and neck angle. Here's apic of mine Hpe this answer the question
|
|
|
Post by LouisianaGrey on May 25, 2006 19:10:12 GMT
Usually the top of the guitar is angled at the front, unless it's a square necked guitar. You will also find that regular acoustic guitars either do that or else the whole top is curved from neck to tail as well as from side to side. I use the first option - the top is flat but angled at the neck end, an idea I stole from guitar maker Charles Hoffman. The sides of acoustic guitars usually taper down towards the neck on the back as well.
The fretboard depth is not sufficient by itself to allow the strings to clear the front edge of the bridge on a regular acoustic, and it's even worse on a reso. Typically the neck angle on an acoustic is about 1.5 degrees and on a resonator it's around 4 degrees. You don't really have much choice about the because the strings have to aim at the relatively small gap between the top of the coverplate and the bottom of the handrest. Of course, another way of doing it is to put a wedge underneath the fretboard extension.
It's an interesting subject (perhaps I need to get out more). If you think about it, Les Paul tops are angled at the neck end as well, but Fenders aren't because the neck sticks further out of the body in the neck pocket and the bridge saddles aren't as high above the body.
|
|
|
Post by Richard on May 25, 2006 19:29:05 GMT
Might as well stick in my fives pennies worth - just stay with it, especially with a machine like that - you are a very like guy Surely, if you have Strats and Les Pauls lurking around that you can handle then this can't be too much of a challenge, can it ? The differnce is I suppose, that you have to put a bit of work in on this guitar, but it's worth the effort.
|
|
|
Post by Michael Messer on May 25, 2006 20:15:34 GMT
Hi Richard, Mike Lewis's Fine Resophonic Guitars are about as close as anyone has got to making a guitar that feels, plays and sounds like an old one. My wood-bodied koa Triolian (similar to the maple one pictured on this thread) is now eight years old and is almost identical in feel, playability & tone, to a 1929/30 wood-bodied polychrome Triolian. If you need any more info contact Mike Lewis at www.fineresophonic.comShine On, Michael
|
|
|
Post by Richard on May 26, 2006 16:29:56 GMT
Michael, ' ere, 'ere, it's not me that needs the Mike Lewis site its Kluson... not that I wouldn't mind a Fine Resphonic....
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 27, 2006 17:31:39 GMT
Hi LouisianaGrey, Sorry but there is no taper on a Les Paul body, The measurement at the neck joint is 50mm same as the body thickness at the strap button end. The angle is an internal, which is why most 70's Les Pauls suffer from Humps at the 12th fret and freboard turn up from 14 to 21 cheers Dave
|
|
|
Post by LouisianaGrey on May 27, 2006 17:55:30 GMT
That's because it's a carved top and the thickness in the centre is greater than the thickness at the edges. The edges may be the same all the way along but the top of the slab that caps the body slopes towards the neck end.
I'm not sure what you mean by the angle being internal. The fingerboard is not parallel to the edges of the body slab and the angle between the edge of the fretboard and the front edge of the body is not 90 degrees (whereas both of these things are true of Strats and Teles). If you look at the guitar in profile from the side there's an angle in the top from the front edge up to the neck pickup, where the top begins to curve. At least, that 's the way it is on the ones I make, which I copied from the plans that I have, which were drawn from a '59 LP Standard.
I can't think of any constructional reason why they should have a hump at the 12th because the body joint is at the 15th. If the fretboard turns up after that then it's because they haven't put the guitars together properly which wouldn't surprise me, given Gibson's idea of quality control.
|
|