7:25 "It's not pretty, but I don't care; I just want to have something that sounds good and plays well." A-MEN. Absolutely. And like, the home brew character makes it all the more appealing anyway, gives it some soul, even if it does look a little ragged.
I love the sound of a dobro, which is why I clicked on this. A clear how-to presentation, good editing. Nicely played, at the end. A great dog. Hope you are doing well.
I have had this nice little Art & Lutherie Roadhouse parlor guitar. I used to love to play this little guitar in bed before falling asleep. I don't think my dogs liked it much, but it relaxed me. Anyway, one night I rolled over in my sleep and fell out of bed. right onto the face of this guitar. The top is now riddled with cracks, but the rest of the body and neck is fine. That was 5 or 6 years ago, and I've held onto that broken guitar hoping to find a good use for it. Now I think I have. Thank you for this video!
Somehow making this out of broken bits of guitars and a door seems much more genuine to the classic blues sound as opposed to say a $4000 Gretsch. This seems like something Robert Johnson would play.
Absolutely gorgeous sir, simply inspiring. I just pulled an acoustic learner guitar out of the trash room at my apartment building and your video has me all itching to convert it to a resonator. Thank you so much for this.
Good job! I built a National(biscuit-type) last year, and picked up some parts to make a Dobro(spider-type) in the future. I picked up a couple tips here for the different type. Might help some of your viewers(maybe Tony above) to know that there's a little bit of difference. The biggest one being that the ring(soundwell on the biscuit) will be deeper and won't fit in the hole in the soundboard. I stacked a couple wood rings, and re-assembled them after I put them in the soundbox. Great job.
HiJack (haha get it)Thanks. It is easy for me. Been a contractor for 40 years. This was spur of the moment. Didn't give it much thought and I should have cleaned up the shop. Good luck to ya.
Hi Jeff, Thanks for the video. Even though I'm not going to try it in observable future(cause I'm just a beginner in acoustic guitar), this is really intersting,edifying and somewhat positive video! Matt.
Good video! I have a couple of Bill Blue Liberty resonators (a square neck and a round neck) and didn't want to dismantle them to see how they were constructed but was always curious. I'm subscribed now so will be following your adventures. Thanks.
I am considering converting my old dreadnought, into a dobro. Any advice would be appreciated, especially on the bracing. Thanks. Where can I get the kit from?
Finished another conversion of a cheap acoustic to resonator and it turned out great. I took the neck off, cut the heel a bit and then shimmed under the fingerboard (about 3/16" at the hole) and the action is perfect. It plays and sounds great, and doesn't look that shabby either.
+Jeff McDermott I sent you an email with a picture to your AOL address. I think it looks nice. Here's a tip I learned. If you drill holes in the wooden bridge inserts to lighten them (like some banjo bridges) it really improves the volume and response. If you drill them under each string so that it forces the vibrations from the string to take an indirect path to the spider it makes the tone richer.
+Larry Gates Hi. It's pretty easy but think things over. Use 3/4 inch plywood instead of the old banjo head I used. Also. Glue in an extra tail block behind the cone ring to the back of the guitar where the tail piece is. My first one buckled a little bit. Parts at stewmac.com., GOod luck!!!
Look inside and see if it a bolted on neck. If it is. Just unscrew it. probably a 1/4 inch Allen screw. More expensive geetars have a glued in neck which you have to melt the glue with a rod through the 15th fret. I found a way to get more tension without removing the neck. I'll go to my daughters house and take a picture. Good luck and happy Pickin!!! Thanks for watchin!!
Thanks Tony. It's best if you can remove the neck and sand the bottom of the heel to get the tongue of the finger board to raise about a 1/16th to an eighth of an inch. Bolt on necks are a piece of cake. Also glue in a piece of wood at the underside of the soundboard from the round rim to the piece of wood joining the sides. The string tail piece has moved on me in the past.
Thanks for the video, i'm redoing an old Yamaha with neck disease. I had a super cheap, thin body electric resonator given to me and it had neck disease also. So, I've taken the guts out of it and putting it in the Yamaha. I've got a nut that raises the strings too high to fret so it can be slide only. I play lap steel so this should be fun; like a square neck. I'm glad I watched this because I hadn't counted on the dowel bracing.
Hi Jeff, Just wondering how big the rings you cut are and also the hole in the top of the guitar? I have a 9 1/2 inch cone and was wondering how i should big i should cut them.
HI Ryne THe diameter of your inner hole should be around 8-3/4. That gives you about a 3/8th inch lip after you router it out for your cone. Make the whole ring about an inch and a half. THat give you plenty of glue area. Cut that inner circle as round as you can. Thanks for your interest. Good luck Jeff
This is exactly what I had in mind. You are a true craftsman. Thank you. What I really want to know is do you get any extra resonance from the old top? I have yet to play any reso with any harmonics from fretted notes. I don't play slide but I need a weatherproof strummer for busking in high humidity. I'm used to vintage gitz with boatloads of harmonics.
Hey man! This is really great, your video! Your explanations are great. It's super, that you put it in a nutshell, short and easy to follow, enough explanations and instructions! Many thanx, GbY, Greetings from Duisburg in the Ruhrvalley in Germany.
Hi Jeff. I have an old acoustic guitar that I'm going to convert into a resonator using your format. I found a kit from Tyler Mountain. Is that a good kit? Do you know anyone that has used this kit? What if you don't have a wooden circle from a Banjo?
Hey David. I checked out the Tyler kit. Looks pretty good for this approach. I like Beard cones but if you add up all the stuff from beard it would cost about 250.00. If you don't have a banjo rim (most people don't! haha) just cut out a circle from 3/4 plywood with a inside diameter about 5/8 inch under the diameter of the cone (10 1/2 cone cut to 9 7/8 inches). THen cut the outside diameter at 11 to 11 1/2 for gluing. Cut that inside as round as you can then you will have to route out the grove for the cone after it is glued to the guitar. Take your time and use common sense and it will work for ya. Thanks for watching. Keeps this old guy from getting bored at night. Jeff
hI Jeff, great and useful video! i have two questions: a) do you really need to remove the neck? b) is it possible to do it with a classical guitar? thank you alberto
Hey Alberto You don't have to take off the neck and you can't take the neck off a classical guitar. Classical or steel works. Just gotta make sure rim for the cone will fit inside the guitar. A lot of the dobros are pretty close to the classical size anyway!!!!. THanks Jeff
¿Hola Jeff, disculpa mi ignorancia pero se puede hacer lo mismo con una guitarra española con cuerdas de nylon? ¿Suena igual, o solo se realiza con una guitarra acustica? De ya gracias por su respuesta.
You might be able to but it might be a little tight getting the rim in the box. If you try this you can also use 3/4 inch plywood for the rim. Just cut the inside diameter 3/8 inch less than your cone. Good luck. No habla espanol!!
Charles Garner hi Charles Sorry I didn’t get back earlier. I didn’t see this. I use the straight edge to kind of eyeball the height of the strings in reference to the height of the nut which should be about quarter inch above the saddle slot on the spider bridge. I eyeball about a quarter inch and then adjust later after setup with the nut. Thanks Jeff
Just bought a guitar and a conversion kit to make one. One question - when your're judging the cone recess depth are you holding the straightedge on the nut and parallel to the fingerboard, then eye ballin' the distance between it and the top of the spider bridge (you say needs to be about ¼") ? Thanks for this video BTW.
HI Capn. THanks for veiwing. Hold the straight edge along the fingerboard about an eighth inch above the fingerboard and then eyeball over the spider bridge. 1/4 is good. That way your maple nut will be about 3/8's above the slot. THis way you can lower it later after everything settles. ALso. Install a little piece of 1/2 piece of plywood on the bottom side of the top at the back from the cone holder to the back heel where the tail piece goes. I had one show some wear after a year from the stress. If you have a bolt on neck. Take it off and sand a little off the bottom of the heel gradually up to the finger board. Leave the top (up by the finger board) alone so you keep your spacing from nut to saddle the same. Your finger board between the top and the finger board will go from about 1/8th by the hole to zero. You get more tension that way and just fill in with a shim. I should make a conversion kit. Where did you get yours?? Thanks Fish on~~
A guy on Ebay has some cheap hardware kits that're OK for a first pass. He's still got two left in chrome for $79 a pop and some gold kits that cost more. Search for "resonator conversion" and you'll find 'em. I'm building a dojo (5 string resonator banjo) so will be a bit different. Bridge especially because I need a string right down the middle - will likely mod a tri-cone bridge with a bottom edge notch to clear the head of the slot bottom seated cone screw. Also going to use a straightline banjo tailpiece so I can adjust the down force on the strings and it doesn't bear on the top surface at all. I bought a factory reject Fender Sonoran with the action set too high so I may not need to take the neck off - but it's a bolt on if I do so no biggie. Will carry my 5th (top) string (.008 tuned to G) all the way to the nut (there's some playing advantages for doing it) and the nut width on that slender Fender neck should be just the right width for 5 strings at my preferred spacing.
Jeff McDermott Hey Jeff, I played the first notes on my resonator banjo (dojo) last night and it's turned out pretty good so far. The volume was pretty low at first but I spent some time on the Asian spider with a file making it as light as I could without weakening it and I also drilled some lightening holes between the strings in the tri-cone bridge that I used and it's much better now. Maybe I'm just spoiled because I'm used to the beaucoup volume available from a good banjo. I'm going to have to reset the neck because the action is too high and I found that my guitar has a dovetail joint neck and it's been coated with a polymer paint, so I've got some work ahead of me getting the neck out without too much damage, though I'm going to paint it after I'm finished so maybe not that big of a deal. A question I have is in the paragraph above you where you said that the finger board will go to zero and I can't understand this since lowering the action (tilting the neck backwards) should raise the fingerboard away from the top. Can you 'splain this more for me? Thanks for all the info.
That's really cool how you did that. Love the new sound also what a great hat you are wearing. Love them giants and love the blues. Thanks for the video.
Ha ha; man I'm sitting here laughing and wondering if I just saw what I saw. Great great job...nice sound on that resonator too. You should show us the second story on the house. I just loved this video; incredible job...I'm definitely going to try this one day!!
Hey Robbie. I checked out some of your stuff. Real nice!!! I've been pickin for 50 years and still can't find the rhythm like you have. I just love to waste the evening with a home brew and my tunes, What year is your D35. I have a 1969 in perfect condition. A friend of mine bought it new but didn't like it because it was to big. He hardly ever played it. I just finished building him a custom 00 with 4.75 inch depth. Panama Rosewood with Adirondack top. I adjusted the bracing for extra bass. Got the martin plus 4 grand for the geetar. Probably the best deal I've ever gotten in 30 years of building guitars. Always wanted a Martin but couldn't afford a good one. Finally at 61 I get it!! That toneanator really does work great. It got that old Martin sounding fantastic!! I'd give you one if you were in Santa Cruz. Pick on brother Jeff By the way. I really am going to put on that 2nd story this summer!!!
Very cool...Question - I just bought a reso. Obviously factory. Took it appart Tremendous overspray. Bought a new saddle. Single piece maple/ebony. So I spit it. Obviously slot it for the strings. Any thoughts on bone vs maole/ebony? Thanks a bunch!
Hi Kate Bone will make it to tinty. The maple and ebony tone it down without loosing the volume. Make sure the saddle fits tight. Add a little piece of wrapping tape to one side as needed for it to fit tight. Check out my video on how to make a toneanator. It works real good and on acoustic geetars and only costs 20 bucks. Happy Holidays to ya. Jeff
+Robin Harrison Hi Robin.You don't need to remove the neck. But I like to (especially with bolt on necks). You can sand a little off the bottom of the heel to obtain a little more angle which will give you a little more tension on the nut. Good luckJeff
Thanks William. Great to see younger people taking a good interest in building something like this. I got turned on to building guitars when I was 20. A guy was sanding the top of a guitar he built at a bluegrass festival camp ground. Doing stuff like this is real fun for an old guy!! Good Luck
Jeff McDermott hey Jeff, i'm 20 and have recently got into guitar building, i've made an acoustic guitar already and i have a guitar that's bust and plan to make a resonator out of it. What do you recommend using to make the resonator cone?
+PlanCartesien HII ran out of banjo rims (haha). This was a spur of the moment thing. Didn't think it would be so popular. You can use 3/4 inch plywood. Cut the outside diameter at 11 - 1/2 inch. Cut your inner diameter at 9-7/8. Cut the inside as close to round as possible so that when you route it out with your 3/8 inset bit it will leave you about 10-5/8 for your 10-1/2 cone. Be sure to glue a piece of wood under the top side between the new rim and the heal block where the tail piece is. That is a weak spot.Thanks and good luck.Jeff
Nice job... I like the soundboard to back bracing you did, and I have an old Martin with a couple of holes in the soundboard-- I might give this a try! By the way, your flag is backwards-- whether horizontal or vertical, the star field should always be in the upper left.
Hey Steve. Thanks for checkin this out. If you have a truss rod you can tighten it up and get a lot of the bow out. The place to tighten is at the top of the neck under a little screwed on plate. You may be able to remove the cone and unbolt the neck and and sand a little off starting at the smaller part of the heal and working up. Doesn't take much. Maybe a 32nd of an inch to zero. Don't remove any wood where the finger board meets the neck or you will screw up your scale. Hope this helps ya. Jeff
