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Post by Bill Stig on Feb 6, 2007 0:03:25 GMT
Not only is this my first message on the MM forum but it's my first post on any forum anywhere. Isn't this what the kids do? I've decided it's time to bite the bullet and have a resonator made to prevent my wiessenbourn suffering from heavy handed playing, and I was looking for advice. I'm looking for a metal square neck, maybe a tricone. I've looked at fine resophonic an the web but I'd need to try one which would probably mean travelling to France. I've also considered Gadgie guitars made from an aluminium alloy. Has anyone tried these guitars? Any advice?
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Post by LouisianaGrey on Feb 6, 2007 0:36:52 GMT
I know Bill Little, who makes Gadgies, quite well and they are fine guitars. I would recommend them without hesitation. On the other hand every Fine Resophonic I've ever heard has been excellent too. Depends what you're looking for - FRs are very traditional whereas the Gadgies are a much more individual take on the resophonic guitar. In either case you can't fault the craftsmanship, though.
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Post by Mairena Red on Feb 6, 2007 9:22:59 GMT
Hi Bill, Pete Woodman (aka Louisiana Grey) is far too modest to plug his own instruments but he also makes fine resonator guitars. Check out his website on www.petewoodmanguitars.com. All the best, Joe (aka Mairena Red)
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Post by Michael Messer on Feb 6, 2007 9:44:58 GMT
Hi Bill,
Forums are not just for little kids, they're for big kids too!
There are many makers of hand-built resophonic guitars these days. Over the past 15 years or so, as the instruments became more popular, people started making them. Many of these makers do a fine job and their instruments are streets ahead of the factory produced brand-name guitars. I am not going to make a list a say which ones I think are good and which are bad, that seems to be happening already on this thread. Hopefully more forum members will post their thoughts on the subject. All I can say is that I play 'Fine Resophonic' guitars, hand-built by Mike Lewis in Paris. Mike's guitars are very high quality and stay totally faithful to the original National guitars of the 1920s. That is why I like to play 'Fine Resophonic' guitars.
Very few makers will be able to make a square-neck Tricone like a 1920s one. The tooling to set that up would be too expensive. You are more likely to get a regular Tricone body with a square wooden neck, more like a later National Tricone. Once again, not many makers do this. Mike Lewis makes a wood-bodied square-neck Tricone, one of which I own. It is a stunning guitar. Another route for a square-neck is to go down the Dobro route.
Another thought - with what you might spend getting a hand-built guitar, and it sounds like what you are really after is a square-neck Tricone. Why don't you get an original 1920s square-neck National Tricone. It would probably cost you less or approximately the same as a hand-built one.
Shine On, Michael.
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Post by robn on Feb 6, 2007 9:59:49 GMT
There is a 1929 National squareneck tricone going on ebay (UK) at present (1 day 7 hours left at the time of this post). I can't post the link from this PC but go to ebay.co.uk, guitars then type in "National" and it will come up.
Robn
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Post by Bill Stig on Feb 6, 2007 10:25:17 GMT
Thanks for all the advice.I've been looking on ebay and hadn't seen anything - I'd better take another look. The advice really seems to be to try out as many as possible which isn't easy. Also I do have strange tastes in guitars - I prefer my kay lap steel to my Gibson. I'll definately take a trip up to Kendal to look at the gadgies and find a way of trying out the fine resos. I think Michael's correct in saying i'd like an original tri cone but finding one in good condition may be difficult. More homework needed. Any more advice would be apreciated Bill, the genial big kid
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Post by blueshome on Feb 6, 2007 10:54:07 GMT
Bill,
If you are looking for an old National, follow the link on this site to "Vintage Nationals". I have not bought personally from him, but he has a good reputation. I spoke to him on the phone about a wooden guitar and he was very helpful - there are usually sound bites of the instruments. With the way the $ is at the moment it could be a way to go.
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Post by Bill Stig on Feb 6, 2007 11:01:08 GMT
I've found the national tricone on ebay but it doesn't specify that it's a square neck. I've emailed the seller for further info. Thanks Robn. I'll be check out Pete Woodman's guitars as well. Bill
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Post by wolvoboy on Feb 6, 2007 12:16:21 GMT
bill just had my Regal tricone rebuilt by Pete woodman ,,new neck with slotted headstock ebony fretboard National cones just got it back today it looks and sounds amazing,you cant go wrong having a guitar made by Pete his workman ship is superb no photos yet maybe Pete can put one up check him out keep pickin and slidin Wolvoboy
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Post by LouisianaGrey on Feb 6, 2007 17:25:52 GMT
I forgot to photograph it properly, Pete. This is the only one I've got:
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Post by Bill Stig on Feb 8, 2007 20:54:09 GMT
Here's a cautionary tale. I looked on ebay for the national that Robyn had mentioned and found it was a 1929 style 3 square neck for sale. Just what I wanted. However, the seller was a first timer and had no feedback, also his payment method was a wire transfer. Very dodgey I thought, but worth the risk. So I put a low bid on it and won!! - no reserve!! By now I was sure it was a scam so I mailed the seller and told him I would prefer to pick the guitar up in person. He mailed back and said that his terms were that he would use an escrow service - this is a service that the buyer sends the money to, they hold onto the money until the buyer receives and approves the goods, they then release the money to the seller. Sounds good, but he then sent me a supposed " ebay escrow" invoice by email. It looked convincing, but ebay only recommend escrow.com and that the transaction should take place on their website, not by email. It seems like it was a disguised link for a wire transfer where he would receive the money but there is no incentive to send the guitar - ebay say not to use wire transfers. After a couple of days of sending emails I eventually laid out my concerns to the buyer who accused me of not trusting him and threatened to report me to ebay. I then asked him to point me in the direction of the web site that his escrow invoice had come from. He didn't reply. I've now reported him to ebay. So look out for - VINTAGE NATIONAL STYLE 3 TRICONE LILY OF THE VALLEY1929 - it may be the seller readvertising, there's no point in me mentioning his name as it's probably fake. Don't use wire transfers such as western union or money gram on ebay. If you use an escrow make sure it is escrow.com through their website and make sure you type the website address in and don't just click on a link from the seller; it could take you to a fake web site. Sorry for the long post but I think we need to be aware of these scams, and Robyn, don't feel you have to apollogise for pointing out the ebay listing as I knew what I was doing but couldn't help myself from playing along. If anybody knows of a 1920s square neck national going, please let me know. cheers, Genial Bill
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Post by LouisianaGrey on Feb 8, 2007 23:19:47 GMT
Tom Doughty was looking to sell his a few months ago at quite a good price but I don't know what happened in the end. It might be worth dropping him an email.
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Post by Bill Stig on Feb 9, 2007 0:27:14 GMT
Will do Pete, I've been meaning to contact him for some time. He lives near me thanks genial Bill
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Post by Bert Deivert on Feb 9, 2007 11:29:51 GMT
Bill I too, had experience, and was first in line to buyitnow... He offered it for 3900 dollars, which was fine by me, but same problem, "his" escrow service, and I reported it, but ebay left it up... BUT LOOK HERE: same guitar, same serial number, a few weeks earlier... cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-NATIONAL-STYLE-3-TRICONE-LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY1929_W0QQitemZ140073762036QQihZ004QQcategoryZ2385QQcmdZViewItemthis is the 2nd scam I have found, but most times had good luck. Be careful with zero feedback folks, but they can be legitimate too! cheers BERT
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Post by Bill Stig on Feb 9, 2007 11:40:32 GMT
Bert Looks like this is where he got his pictures from. cheers, Bill
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