How To Choose a Resonator Guitar 

That’s really kind of you to say. Hopefully it opens a few doors for the sound you might want. Don’t forget that anything you buy secondhand you will probably get similar money back at resale so it becomes ‘free’ to try. Get going and experience will tell you which guitar is right for you.

I’d hate to waste peoples time. Jesus, imagine being locked down in a pandemic with no video making experience and sharing a lifetime of experience and tens of thousands worth of equipment for free. What an absolute shit bag. Then imagine being such a weapons grade cunt that you personally got inside someones head and made them start typing and actually wasting their own time typing out passive aggressive dog shit that is a massive waste of their time. Only a true bastard would make that happen. Luckily I’m not like that. I’d hate to be typing out pointless replies like this that just go on and on and on and on and on and on… … … … just to waste your time again by writing pointless things like this… and… this… and… this… ooohh… and… another one! Hooray!! Hey… … … I’ll look forward to you not watching anymore of our stuff as it would completely waste your precious time. After all your time is important… would hate to waste it… … … … … you’ve probably got important stuff to do, like doing some life saving brain surgery, before driving your sports car to meet a hot model for a date. 🎯

Hopefully it gives an idea of where to go!! Get a few different ones. Helps me.

Made it up as I went along. Could have planned it better! Ah well. Might redo it at some point down the line. So long as it helps. I can think of many occasions people have contacted us to say it did. 🎯🎯🎯

Thanks!! 🎯

Nah. My dreadnaught blows any new wood body reso away when strumming. So much so I've given up on acoustic resonators.

Hope it helps!

Many thanks. It’s a wonderful instrument. A perfect blues guitar!!

Thanks!! That’s what many do that are bitten by the bug. You get a Tricone, a steel body, wood body and brass body and then keep going with the different colours! It’s fun and you’ll be the coolest person for miles around. 🎸🎸🎸🎸

Hey David. That’s kind. Learned a lot since making this but it’s good to know the information helps. We’ve had many emails and messages saying what guitars people have bought so it’s good to know it’s helping people choose the coolest and bestest kinds of guitars - resonators!

Hi, agree with your comment and just wondering if you did get a resonator which one did you decide on?

They sure do. It’s a good reason to get loads!

They’re all different but fundamentally the same too! I’ve personally gone through a couple of dozen so far and the more I try the more I find a keeper!!

Many thanks!

Thanks. So true. Very lucky to have them all and TBH many more since. Check out our recent video comparing 10 resonator guitars. All the best. 🎯

A great choice! The prince of resonators!

Awesome! Glad it helped!!

🎼❤️🎼

🎼🎼❤️🎼🎼

Both cool guitars at different price points!! Congratulations. It’s a great world the reso world!!

🎼🎯🎼

Thanks boss. 🎯

Good on him. Congratulations!! We’ve done beer festivals and very few work for us sadly. My trio Leeds City Stompers does great at them. We have the drums and double bass and make a bigger sound that works against the loud talking that happens at beer festivals! Our favourite one to play is The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway Beer Festival every October!

@@TheWashboardResonators I may have to catch a train in October then.👍

Get ‘em all.

A pleasure!

It’s complex but hearing them and choosing ones you like is a good start. TBH the big difference is cone type and then body material is the last 15 or so percent in terms of tone.

Fingers warm everything up. Still a nice sound and very expressive with these. Wood bodies or brass bodies tend to be the most adaptable for lots of styles. I have many guitars and many more coming in over the next few years I’m sure!

Incredible guitar. Sadly (or not) I traded it in against a 1929 Gibson L-1 but I know of a 1932 Duolian that is better and that one day I’ll have!

A pleasure!

A pleasure. Hope it helps!!

Get buying! Guitars are fun and each one purchased makes life significantly better. 🎯

@@TheWashboardResonators I am looking for my next. But please tell my wife why I always need one more.

Sure does. My personal favourite is a good wood body 1928-9 Triolian but sadly I don’t have one. Played a few and still looking.

They can take it! The older ones are well looked after though!!

They can take it! The older ones are well looked after though!!

Depends on type of pickup and what sound you want. There are four main camps. The acoustic contact pickup that sits in or on the wooden biscuit. A microphone that clamps to the guitar or on a mic stand. Then the two electric pickup types that you plug into a guitar amp. Type one is a modified cover plate that National call a hotplate (others exist) and has a pickup and controls on the plate. Type two is a slimline pickup that sticks to the body near the neck join. Which is best? It’s apples and oranges. It’s more about deciding which sound you like and going for it. A National Resophonic ‘Reso-lectric’ model has a mixture of acoustic and electric pickups and RU-vid videos show the differences in sound. A good place to start.

Very kind words! Played a couple of steel resonator ukuleles. They always sound lovely. You can extrapolate from this video the sound differences and relate them to a ukulele!

The Washboard Resonators ah, will try some in the music shop when they reopen. Thanks

That Duolian is the clear winner, in both styles...as a reso player I would aspire to acquiring one at some point... it’s a gamble tho...!!! Thanks anyway, good videos Martin..

Both tunings great in different ways. I just did a video on the MM Fiddle Edge! Nice guitars!

@@TheWashboardResonatorsYes, I saw your video on the MM fiddle edge Dobro. They look fabulous and sound great too. Bit more expensive than my Blues '28 but they are a one-off and very difficult to make so I guess that justifies the price. Michael has spent many years bringing quality instruments within the reach of impoverished amateur musicians like myself. He's a pretty neat player too ;-)

That’s about it! I reckon there’s about 10 main models that cover all the sounds. 🎯

Quality choosing. 🎯

Thanks! You’re getting into crazy detail there. I’ve never done a direct comparison. They will affect the sound but to what degree? Possibly a tiny amount. There are more videos to do and a more detailed rundown is planned with a proper expert. We’ll note this and ask in that video.

Buy used and keep saving. Sell and buy something better. You’ll be able to work up to a decent instrument one day. Anyone playing any resonator regardless of cost is still the coolest person in a 10 mile radius.

If you buy a vintage at the right price you’ll make money on it in the long run. Your wife will think you’re a big shot investor and be at least 15% more attracted to you because of all the alpha pheromones. Something to think about. 😵‍💫

@@TheWashboardResonators I'll have to show her this conversation. Ha ha ha.

Thanks! 🎯🎯🎯

Bigger room coming soon. Got about four vintage ukes but there will be more coming,

Hey. Glad they help. It’s what we want!! Never heard of or seen these lever systems. Have only seen Line 6 guitars that do this digitally. Can’t say any more really. I take two guitars out - Standard and Open tuned. Just swap guitars fine and dandy. The string guide follows. Be sure to check the video section or playlists on our channel. Lots of info, comparisons, hints and tips. Thanks! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6xj57GsIUc0.html

@@TheWashboardResonators wonderful, thank you so much. I’m saving up for my first resonator and enjoy trying to play along with your videos

Sounds great! I think cheaper brands can do a perfectly decent job. Even big names or vintage ones can be hit or miss. I like the Michael Messer brand here in the UK and generally the regal and recording king are pretty decent. 🎯

We have a string comparison video that will help. I’d go 13 gauge phosphor bronze Daddario, John Pearse or Newtone.

@@TheWashboardResonators Thank you. Your videos are great, so detailed and informative!

Cool guitar! I’d say that brass is the best middle of the road one!!

@@TheWashboardResonators Agreed. 🎶

Cool instruments. Portable and can be very pretty. Less bass perhaps than a similar normal body size. Have enjoyed all the recording king guitars I’ve seen.

They’re special in their own way for sure! Definitely best for bluegrass style lap guitar, although listen to Christo Ruppenthall for a Tricone being used for jazz style lap guitar. Absolutely killer playing! 🎯

Have you played a beard biscuit bridge guitar. They r sweet to play.

It’s a Style 0 deluxe which means it’s a normal one but with engraved ‘wiggle border’, fancy fretboard and white headstock veneer. All brass body. It’s a very bassy resonator compared to the vast majority anyway. Perhaps a slightly muted high end. As far as I’m aware it’s still in production. This one comes from 2004 and is easily one of the heaviest resonators I’ve come across. In around 2010 they switched to thinner gauge brass.

Second hand NRP / Michael Messer brand / Republic are all good calls. Heck if you hunted and waited you could possibly get a real vintage one that’s messed with and missing it’s finish. 🎯

I think they look absolutely shit.

You’ve answered all your own questions here. I’d get a Michael Messer steel body resonator to replicate Johnny Winterd tone. Get a Diamond Bottleneck glass and Daddy Slide Brass and you’ve got the best there.

@@TheWashboardResonators thanks for the advise I will go and check out the Michael messer guitar and slides out. Thanks

Absolutely. But then Tom Waits would sound good on a pump organ, marimba and home made percussion rig. 💪🏻

It’s neither. It’s a 1935 Trojan model. The Thunder Box is based on this kind of guitar but actually made of better quality materials. All newer wood body National Resophonic guitars are of exceptional quality if it’s the wood body sound you like. 👌🏻🎯👌🏻

@@TheWashboardResonators Thank you very much! I have a Tirolian Tri Cone and M! mahogany Baritones Tri Cone from National, thinkin of buying a Thunder Box to round out my resonator stable.. Lol.. Also like that Mike Dowling mahogany model from National, I'm forgetting its name at the moment.. But also might like that "Hot Plate" pick up system they have for it.. Any opinions on that? Anyway! Thanks for the great video review!!!! ; ) Keep on Rocking! : )

Thick glass made by Diamond Bottlnecks. They absolutely make a thicker and warmer tone.

Not flown for a while with guitars. Normally I have a decent case well padded and check it in to the hold.

Any would euro depending on the sound your after. Also the register you sing in matters. I’d choose the one you like the sound of then adapt the playing style and volume when singing. A good one is powerful. Microphones can be useful.

I'm no expert but I'm a singer songwriter and I have a grestch boxcar, spidercone, 12 fret, Wood body, just to give you all the specs lol. I definitely had to adjust the way I play and sing as compared to blasting on my Gibson j-50 lol. But it's added new sounds to my music that I love. I've written 4 songs in it in the month that I've had it. Whatever you get enjoy it. They are magical unique guitars

None sadly. Sure it’s easy enough!

The Triolian will look more 1930s if era correct stuff is important? The raw brass looks worn in a cool way. Personally I think brass is a bit more adaptable than steel generally. It will do regular fingerpicking and get a bit delta blues on bottleneck stuff. The steel tends to ring and have more reverb and trashy ness. Tricones for my money are the most adaptable generally as they sound most like a regular acoustic when strummed or fingerpicked but sustain in a more expressive way on bottleneck. It’s difficult with you being in lockdown as playing them would make more sense. Not sure if I’m helping here or not. It’s a difficult choice. If you’ve got a hero get what they played! For good steel body references try Rory Gallagher, Blind Boy Fuller or Bukka White when he’s playing the plain silver guitar on RU-vid videos. They’re all great examples of steel bodies.

@@TheWashboardResonators What a nice quick reply! I appreciate that. My interest in blues and slide guitar is kind of new so I haven't formed a specific love of any heroes yet like I have with rock guitar. That being said I like the look of Brass more and I generally like to be the first owner of a guitar as I don't plan on selling either. That makes me sway away from the W Series Triolian reissue. Essentially $3999 AUD is $2900 USD or $2100 pounds for a single cone National. To go for a tricone would be another $2500 on top. Essentially I'm trying to understand if the sustain and "best of both worlds" approach a tricone has to offer is really worth a 60% increase in cost.

@@sid_knight so, what did you choose? Haha. That 2nd brass is definately my favourite, just wish it had a tiny bit more sustain.

Can’t bring it to mind specifically. I hope it works out for you!

We did a whole video on resonator strings a few weeks back. The Newtone 15 Gauge Phosphor Bronze would be a great place to start as a good general purpose string but find the video in our video list and hear the different materials to see if you’d prefer something different!

@@TheWashboardResonators Oh, okay, tx for help.

It’s a National Resophonic Style 1.5 Tricone. Very much a current model. New they’re around $4k. I’m in the UK but bought live used for the equivalent of around $2.2k. Edit: Hang on… just clicked into the time stamp you suggested. It’s not a Tricone. It’s a Style O. A 1934 Style O. The Style O before it is a newer 2004 one. Generally you’ll find the newer ones to be a bit fuller sounding but flatter on the top end. Vintage ones will be lighter sounding but far more complex and exciting on the top. Vintage ones are fairly easy to track down (be prepared to pay $3-10k) but can come with a host of potential problems. Not dissimilar to owning and driving a classic car vs a new one. Fun and interesting but expensive to maintain and idiosyncratic. For a start they’re very up and down between being good or not. Then you have the issue that the materials especially neck construction in the 1920s / 30s was cheap and not expected to last 80+ years. They can be bent and twisted. Other issues are fatigued cones and bodies splitting. Anybody buying a vintage one sight unseen might have to price $3-600 to have a resonator specialist rebuild it to give 100%. There’s still no guarantee it will be a good one. It’s likely, but not guaranteed. The thing about resonators is even if everything is fully dialled in then the combination of neck, body & cone might have a magic combination that makes angels sing or they msg combine to make a dead flat mess. Generally old ones are decent to great once dialled in. This particular 1934 one that you’ve flagged is nice and has had work done. I’d say it’s a 7/10 one compared to others. I know of a 1932 that is 10/10. It’s considerably louder and has more of everything tone wise - it’s one I’m trying to get the owner to eventually sell me! We have videos comparing vintage vs new that go into more detail and talk about this issue of sound. In my opinion you’ve picked a good instrument. For me a good vintage brass or wood body is the ultimate resonator guitar for being full and capable of handling all kinds of music. 🎯🎯

@@TheWashboardResonators thank you so much for the detailed reply! Let the searching begin 😅

Hi Eric. They’re about 80% the same. Steel has more zing. Brass is full and rich. German silver is similar to brass. It’s generally more complex with more overtones but perhaps is quieter than brass. I personally feel that wood or brass are the best ‘do all’ resonator guitar materials.

@@TheWashboardResonators Thanks for the reply. The only Tri Cones that are going to be available soon are the cut always, do you loose much sound from the cut away? But there is a brass one available soon and now with you saying that you like the brass maybe I will get that one and it has no cut away.

You’ll loose a bit of sound but I don’t think it’s enough to worry about. From circa 1926-1935 pretty much all Tricones were German Silver (AKA Nickel Silver AKA Engraving Brass). If you’re after the traditional Tricone sound you hear on Tampa Red or Oscar Aleman records then that’s good. Sweeter tone. Brass is a bit stronger sounding.

A 1933 12 Fret Steel Body Duolian with rolled F-holes in Duecco finish. After 1937 he used a 14 fret Steel Body Triolian in ‘Piano Grain’ brown. Any steel body gets close. If you can get actual vintage examples of these models then you’re golden. I know folks with these exact models because they’re Fuller fans. Obviously no pickup. Just acoustic into a mic.

I’d go wood body Tricone for that.

@@TheWashboardResonators thanks for the quick answer

They all do except the Trojan. The neck stick you talk of tends to add volume and clarity. 🎯

My neck stick is ~2"" shhort of touching the rear. It will be worth it, althouggh I was ? Whether all that vibration would weaken the seam under the string claw

Tampa Red. 🎯

I think you need about 5 to cover all the sound types! Tricone, Steel Single, Wood Single, Dobro etc. 🤩

This is pretty much the exact thing with these guitars. Perhaps a 5k€ model will be the inspiration to keep improving! 🤓

@@TheWashboardResonators my beloved blonde, understanding the pain of aging, made me the perfect 50th gift : a Fine Resophonics Tricone ! Coming after a 1936 Style O (upgraded by Mike Lewis) I don’t find any reason to moan...

You’re in the best company!

There’s loads. Republic brand or Michael Messer brand are excellent at the price bracket. You can go on eBay and put in ‘resonator’ to the search bar and set the price to your upper budget. Depends how ‘cheap’ you want to go. You can get a resonator for as little as $200 second hand but at this price it’s a risk if it will be 3/10 or at best 6/10 sound compared to something $1500+ that might be 8/10+ in terms of tone.

@@TheWashboardResonators Thanks for the reply.

So you like Steel Body single cone! Excellent. In many ways the ultimate blues / slide resonator. Given a choice between a steel Triolian / Duolian I’d usually go Duolian. It would probably be a tad louder and richer. The one Miss Rogo is playing is a beauty. It’s listed wrongly on the video. I’ve watched this video and it’s a stunning instrument. I now have one of these 14 fret Duolians and it’s my loudest guitar. In the video it’s actually a 1934/5 or 6. This is because of the 14 fret body join and kind of headstock it has. For me a good vintage resonator is the top of the tree but often they need work to bring them up to a decent playing spec. It can be specialist and expensive. I gig with instruments made by a newer unrelated company called National Resophonic. Their guitars are incredible and in some ways have improvements over the vintage ones. They usually give a more fuller range of frequencies and can be dialled in to play in a more modern way. You’re looking $1500+ here. Beyond that I’d recommend Republic guitars at $650+ or Michael Messer at a similar price point.

@@TheWashboardResonators thank you so very much for your long and informative answer. I mainly want to play blues/slide on the guitar, so a Duolian it is, then, and I need a 14 fret to the body, because that is what I am used to slide on. (I actually wondered about her guitar being 14 frets on a ‘31, because I had watched this video just before, but I thought maybe they changed the neck at some point or something.) I have had a look at the Republic Duolians available here in Sweden right now, but both seems to be bell brass bodies, so I am going to listen to some more of those before I decide what to buy. The Michael Messer sounds perfect, but I have to look into what the cost will be, this brexit stuff is really ruining buying stuff from uk. Again, thank you so much for the help! Oh, just one thing, would you happen to know what material thickness they used in the bodies of the resonator guitars in the thirties? And is there any difference now? Take care!

It can be played warmer by using plastic picks. Especially celluloid ones. Modding is hard but I have a steel body that someone added a 1mm cork gasket on the body between the cone and body. Takes some of the zingy-ness away. I then put Newtone Nickel resonator strings on and that took away much of the trash can sound. We have a video called ‘How To Amplify A Resonator’ and I briefly discuss this string subject there. The other option is to buy a wood body! Hope this helps. 🎯

@@TheWashboardResonators Thanks for answering quickly ! Many ideas w/o answers e.g.! How would one who finds the warmth a hinderance says, "its a muddy mess"..he's got a bell brass body, single cone,an ebody top sits on maple biscuit. How can he "unmuddy" his sound. R. Hand muting and complete control from years of practice(2)... Any ideas on this situation ?

Depends on many factors. $200-100,000. Reverb.com will tell you exactly.

Don’t know really. Used Gretsch spider bridge perhaps.

@@TheWashboardResonators What about the Epiphone Hound dog Taylor or the Recording King swamp dog?

It is!! 👌🏻👌🏻

Wish I did! Would like far more and will get many more!!

We did a vintage vs new comparison and follow up video talking about the results for the viewer vote of which sounds best. IMHO, a good old one is best but old ones are finicky and need expensive rebuilding work to sound 100%. New ones are generally reliable and consistent. Generally a bit warmer and fatter but perhaps less exciting. I have both and love them equally. 🎯

You mean the finger picks or bottleneck slide? No broken fingers here!

Just generic delta blues. Similar to the song ‘Wallking Blues.’

@@TheWashboardResonators any tips on how to learn to play like that

We all love MK. ❤️

@@TheWashboardResonators Glad to hear it. Thank you for the videos. I have no business thinking about types of guitars at all. I still need to learn how to play what I’ve already got.

That’s autism.