Slide reso for under a grand

[Michael Worley]

Michael - Am wanting to start playing blues slide and would dearly love to own a national guitar but alas cannot justify the expense to the G.P.O. (guitar permission officer) of course. So would be interested in your opinion of what the best sounding reso is around at the moment with a price tag for under a thousand pounds ? I have read your review on the Ozark 3515b with interest ? And am looking for something better as you suggest . Have you seen yet the Ozark 3616 deluxe ? which retails for £650 ? Are you paying the extra for the fantastic bronze finish and engraving or is this their best sounding guitar yet as suggested by LRC when i spoke to them earlier this week ?

Any recommendations greatly received

Starting to Shine - Michael

[Deleted]

The best sounding guitar under a grand is the one YOU like the sound of best - you have got to go and play them. It's very subjective, and depends on what your preferences are..single cone, tricone, wood body, brass, steel body...they all sound different. With that sort of money you are getting close to 2ndhand National territory...but you could spend £350, find a nice guitar and have plenty of dosh left over for a nice Christmas present for the GPO. For playing slide, a reso is nice..but lots of peple get reso guitars, and then find either they don't get on with playing slide at all, or find the reality of playing a reso just doesn't fit in with their expectations.

If you are starting playing slide, just retune your existing guitar and see how you get on before lashing out money on a shiny new guitar ...there's no need to start learning to drive in a Lamborghini. On an aside, I just listened to Ian Siegal's 'Meat & Potatoes' album again... on the 2nd track he uses a Harmony Stella (which I restored and sold to Ian by the way!)...and it sounds incredible - you can't get a much more basic acoustic guitar than that. OK. he's playing it amplified with a soundhole pickup, but it's interesting that he also uses a 1930s National, complete opposite ends of the guitar spectrum.

So, in conclusion, play the guitars and use your ears. For that resonator tone nothing else will do, but you really need to play a few and be sure that's what you want before forking over the dough. £300 on a guitar and £300 on lessons may be an even better investment.

[Michael Messer]

Hi Michael,

Welcome along to our forum. The advice that Chick'John has given you is very good and he is right about funky old guitars and value for money, however I think you are looking for a National type resophonic guitar. I would take the advice given by LRC - the bronze-finish palm-tree-etched Ozark is a very good sounding guitar for the price, it really is. But it is a National Duolian/Triolian type of sound - if that is what you want then you can't do better for the price. I don't know how far from Lodon you are, but I sugest a visit to LRC. Nothing beats trying them all out. This Saturday I am holding a slide guitar workshop at LRC and I believe there is one place left, just a thought!

Keep in touch and let us know how you get on. One final thought....just to clarify....the Ozark is a great guitar for you to start with.

Shine On
Michael.

[snakehips]

Hi there !

If I could add in my tuppence worth !

You say you want to spend under a grand ? How about £800 - £ 900 ?

For that, you could probably find a used National Resophonic guitar.
I got a nearly mint National Resophonic Radiotone Bendaway, with Highlander pickup already installed, for £800. Perhaps I was lucky ! Got it from a guitar shop in the US - they were selling it via eBay. $799 plus $100 shipping, plus the Import Tax 'n' Duty - grand total came to £796, if I remember rightly. Around 3 years ago now though.

I'd rather spend that amount on a 2nd hand National Resophonic guitar than a new lower-level brand new guitar. If you decide you don't like it, you could sell it again, and for around the same price you bought it for. Buy a lower grade thing new, and it will lose value as soon as it is bought, as it won't be new anymore.

I'd also like to bet you would want to change a lower level reso after a while, to a National Resophonic one any way !!!

As Michael said though - do go to the London Resonator Centre and try out as many brands as they have, to get a sense of where the money goes in a guitar. Strum the guitars as heavy and loud as you can - see which one throws out the most volume and tone. Check out the bass string sound - is it full bodied and loud, or does it sound like the sound is trapped inside the guitar, trying to get out

Try a slide on all the guitars - see which ones sustain the best. (Tricones should sustain better than single cones though - you want to compare one tricone against another tricone, one single-cone against another)

You need to decide what you prefer in terms of :
1. Guitar quality / price (bear in mind a 2nd hand expensive one may be better than a similar priced new, mid-priced one)
2. Resonator type - single cone, dobro spider bridge, tricone
3. Body type - wood, brass(usually bright nickel plated), steel (usually painted) - the sound is a bit different for each body material
4. How it looks - want it to look cool, yeah ?

Suss out what you like the best, then look again at how much you want to spend.

I hope that helps.

[Blues Pertti]

Hi,

I bought that Ozark 3616 deluxe setup with Newtone strings about month ago from LRC. I have been absolutely happy with it ;D. With that Ozark and Michael's teaching dvd I have taken large steps forward with my playing skills.

Yours Pertti

[Gerry C]

Michael W orley - good to have you in the forum. E-mail me at [e-mail] I have a mate with an Ozark of that description to sell, for a lot less than shop/online price. Deals might be possible, especially if you're in the north of England.

Cheerily,

Gerry C