Personally, I’ve been on a hunt for just the right resonator style guitar now for a few months. I seem to have a lot of trouble finding the right balance of tone, feel, and look… which is really the same problem we all encounter with any new instrument purchase.
If you play blues, and particularly acoustic blues, and like to use a slide, there’s such a great vibe associated with resonator style guitars. So I’ve been doing some research and trying some out.
Of course, in my travels I stumbled upon a couple of things of great interest and value. The first is a youtube video by KeniLeeBurgess on how to choose a resonator guitar and bottleneck slide for blues:
But as cool as that is, the electric has always been my “go to” guitar. So maybe I should do something like what this guy Andy Solloway does with Telecasters (read the original version of this at http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/8991215.Blues_resonate_for_guitar_maker_Andy/)
Famous as the sound of Old Blues, resonators were played by greats such as Son House and Muddy Waters, who used their hall-filling volume in times when electric guitars were beyond their pockets.
“They were invented in America and were most popular in the 1920s in the days before amplification,” said Mr Solloway, who works part-time at Craven College, Skipton, as an art and media technician.
Mr Solloway discovered the blues after starting out as a teenage punk guitarist, and now gigs with local soul covers band The Zealots.
“I use one of my guitars on stage and nothing beats getting up there and using it in anger. I love playing slide on it and it brings a really different sound that blends well with everything,” said Mr Solloway.
He described the painstaking process of turning a standard Telecaster copy into one of his instruments.
“I’ll take a quality full-bodied Tele, like a Squire for example, then rout it out to take a metal sound cone and then fit whatever pick-ups the customer wants. The Tele is the best guitar ever made in my opinion.”
His recipe is proving a success, with some 50 of his Sollophonic guitars sold in the last two years to resonator fans in the US and Japan.
Andy can be contacted via his website at sollophonicguitars.co.uk
Definitely something to think about…
6 replies to "Resonator Style Acoustic Guitars For Blues"
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I have always loved the sound of slide guitar, whether acoustic or electric. I have a National tri-cone steel body and I absolutely love it. These are such wonderful instruments, so well made and a joy to play. Thank you for putting these little tid-bits out there for everyone to share. I don’t think you really know how much you really help people with all the free education you give away. Thanks again for everything. Jeff
I REALLY ENJOY YOUR WEBSITE. I JUST FINISHED THIS BIT ON RESONATOR GUITARS (I THOUGHT THEY WERE ALL DOBROS) AND IT WAS VERY ENJOYABLE. I’VE LEARNED A LOT FROM YOU EVEN THOUGH I HAVEN’T TAKEN ANY OF YOUR COURSES. I FEEL A LITTLE GUILT ABOUT THAT BUT IF YOU EVER PUT YOUR BLUES COURSE ON SALE AGAIN, I’LL BE RIGHT THERE. IN THE MEANTIME EVEN THOUGH I CAN’T PLAY MUCH, I CAN REALLY TALK THE TALK.
HI Griff, good information as always, thanks for this.
G
Quick question: do you have an opinion on wooden resonator guitars vs. metal ones? Is there a big tone difference? Obviously, the weight is different, but I was wondering about the pluses an minuses of each material…
Thanks