Resonator guitar
|
A modern tricone resonator guitar, with electric pickup |
A
resonator guitar or
resophonic guitar is an
acoustic guitar whose sound is produced by one or more metal
resonators rather than by a wooden guitar belly.
Resonator guitars are of two styles:
* Square necked guitars designed to be played in
steel guitar style.
* Round necked guitars, which may be played in either the conventional
spanish guitar style or in the
steel guitar style.
There are three main resonator designs:
* The
tricone design of the first
National resonator guitars.
* The single inverted-cone design of the
Dobro.
* The spiderless single cone
biscuit design of other
National instruments.
Many variations of all of these these styles and designs have been produced under many
brands. The body of a resonator guitar may be made of wood, metal, or occasionally other materials. Typically there are two main soundholes, positioned on either side of the fingerboard extension. In the case of single cone models, the soundholes are either both circular or both f-shaped, and symmetrical; The older
tricone design has irregularly shaped soundholes. Cutaway body styles may truncate or omit the lower f-hole.
National tricone
The resonator guitar was developed by
John Dopyera, seeking to produce a guitar that would have sufficient volume to be heard alongside brass and reed instruments, in response to a request from
steel guitar player
George Beauchamp. Dopyera experimented with configurations of up to four resonator cones, and cones composed of several different metals.
In
1927, Dopyera and Beauchamp formed the
National String Instrument Corporation to manufacture resonator guitars under the brand name
National. The first models were metal-bodied and featured three conical aluminium resonators joined by a T-shaped aluminium
spider which supported the bridge, a system called the
tricone. Wooden-bodied tricone models were also produced with bodies sourced from the
Regal Musical Instrument Company and other established guitar manufacturers. Cheap
plywood student instruments were particularly used for conversion to resonator instruments.
Dobro
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A dobro style resonator guitar |
In
1928, Dopyera left National to form the
Dobro Manufacturing Company with his brothers Rudy, Emile, Robert and Louis,
Dobro being a contraction of
Dopyera Brothers and also meaning
good in their native
Slovak language. They released a competing resonator guitar with a single resonator with its concave surface uppermost, often described as
bowl-shaped, under a distinctive circular perforated metal coverplate with the bridge at its centre resting on an eight-legged aluminium spider. This system was cheaper to produce, and produced more volume than National's tricone.
National biscuit
National countered the Dobro with their own single resonator model, which had previously been designed by Dopyera before he left the company, while continuing to also produce the tricone design which many players preferred for its tone. Both the National single and tricone resonators remained conical with their convex surfaces uppermost; The single resonator models used a wooden
biscuit at the cone apex to support the bridge. Both companies at this stage were sourcing many components, and notably the aluminium resonators themselves, from
Adolph Rickenbacher.
National Dobro, Hound Dog, and Gibson
After much legal action, the Dopyera brothers gained control of both the
National and
Dobro companies in
1932, and subsequently merged them to form the
National Dobro Corporation. However all production of resonator guitars by this company ceased following the US entry into the
Second World War in
1941.
Emile Dopyera (also known as Ed Dopera) manufactured Dobros from
1959, before selling the company and name to
Semie Moseley, who merged it with his
Mosrite guitar company and manufactured Dobros for a time.
In
1967, Rudy and Emile Dopyera formed the
Original Musical Instrument Company (OMI) to manufacture resonator guitars, first branded
Hound Dog. In
1970 they again acquired the
Dobro name, Mosrite having gone into temporary liquidation.
OMI was acquired by the
Gibson Guitar Corporation in
1993, who announced they would defend their right to exclusive use of the
Dobro name, which had come to be commonly used for any resonator guitar.
As of 2006, they produce several round soundhole models under the
Dobro name, and cheaper f-hole models both under the
Hound Dog name and also their
Epiphone brand. All have a single resonator, and many are available in either round or square neck.
Regal
As well as providing wooden bodies and other components to both National and Dobro from the very early days of the resonator, the
Regal Musical Instrument Company produced entire resonator guitars under licence from Dobro from the early
1930s.
In
1937 they secured exclusive rights to manufacture resonator instruments, which were sold under various names including both
Regal and
Dobro. During the Second World War production of resonator guitars ceased owing to material shortages, and did not resume afterwards. Regal ceased all production of fretted instruments in
1954.
In
1987 the brand and trademark reappeared as a brand of
Saga Musical Instruments.
As of 2006 they produce a large range of resonator instruments, including both single and tricone, metal and wooden bodied, round and square necked. As well as 6 string guitars, there are 4 string bass models.
Other National instruments
After the formation of the
National Dobro Corporation, the term
National was often used to mean an instrument with a non-inverted cone, to distinguish these designs from the inverted-cone
Dobro. Makers particularly used it for single-cone
biscuit designs, as the relatively elaborate and expensive tricone was for some time out of production. Players and collectors also used the term for the older tricone instruments, which despite their softer volume and rarity were still preferred by some players.
In
1942, the National Dobro Corporation, which no longer produced Dobros or any other resonator instruments, was reorganised and renamed
Valco. Valco produced a large volume and variety of fretted instruments under many names, with
National as their premium brand. By the early
1960s, Valco was again producing resonator guitars for mail order under the
National brand name. These instruments had biscuit resonators and bodies of wood and
fibreglass.
In the late
1980s, the
National brand and trademark reappeared with the formation of
National Reso-Phonic Guitars.
As of 2006, they produce 6 string resonator guitars of all three traditional resonator types, focusing on reproducing the feel and sound of old instruments. Their other resonator instruments include a
12-string guitar,
ukeleles and
mandolins.
Resonator guitars are most often used:
* In
bluegrass music, traditionally a square necked
Dobro played as a
steel guitar.
* In
blues, traditionally a round necked
National pattern, often but not always played with a
bottleneck.
These stereotypes are often disregarded by top players. Crossing musical boundaries is an even stronger tradition of resonator guitar playing.
A common
cliché in
cinema is to use slow slide resonator guitar music to introduce a rural scene set in the Southern USA, see
Dobro#Trivia for details.
Styles and positions
The resonator guitar is most often played as a
lap steel guitar, and the more common square necked version is limited to this playing position. Square neck instruments are always set up with the high action favoured by steel guitar players, and tuned to a suitable
open tuning.
The round necked version is equally capable in either lap steel or spanish guitar position. It may be set up with a variety of action heights, ranging from the half inch favoured for steel guitar (making use of the frets almost impossible) to the small fraction of an inch used by conventional guitarists. A compromise is most common, allowing use of a
bottleneck on the top strings but also use of the frets as desired, with the guitar played in the conventional position.
Many different tunings are used. Some square neck tunings are not recommended for round neck resonator guitars, owing to the high string tension required, which in turn requires the stronger square neck.
Slack-key guitar tunings are most suitable for bottleneck playing, and conventional E-A-D-G-B-E guitar tuning is also popular.
Image:Lapstyle.jpg|resonator guitar played lap steel guitar styleImage:Fingandslide.jpg|resonator guitar played bottleneck styleImage:Bluesman cropped.jpg|resonator guitar played spanish style In bluegrass music
The resonator guitar was introduced to
bluegrass music by
Josh Graves, who played with
Flatt and Scruggs, in the mid-
1950s. Graves utilized the hard-driving, syncopated three-finger picking style developed by
Earl Scruggs for the five-string banjo. Modern players continue to play the instrument this way, with one notable exception being
Tut Taylor who plays with a flat pick.
Tuning for the resonator guitar within the bluegrass genre is most often an
open G with the strings pitched to G B D G B D , from the lowest to highest. Occasionally variant tunings are used, such as an
open D: D A D F# A D.
Other notable bluegrass players include
Mike Auldridge,
Jerry Douglas, and
Rob Ickes.
In country music
The resonator guitar was used in older
country music, notably by "Brother Oswald" of
Roy Acuff's band, but has been largely supplanted by the
pedal steel guitar.
In blues music
|
Arvella Gray on cover of Heritage HLP 1004 |
The resonator guitar is also significant to the world of blues music, particularly the
Southern style of
country blues that grew out of the
Mississippi Delta and
Louisiana. Unlike country and bluegrass players, blues players play the resonator guitar in the standard guitar position, with the strings facing away from the player. Many use slides or bottlenecks.
Many players in the
1920s and
1930s, including the great
Son House, and others like
Bukka White,
Tampa Red and
Blind Boy Fuller, used the instruments because they were louder than standard acoustic guitars, which enabled them to play for a larger crowd in areas that did not yet have electricity for amplifiers. For the same reason street musicians like
Arvella Gray used resonator guitars while
busking, e.g. on Chicago's
Maxwell Street. The instrument is still used by some blues players, notably
Taj Mahal and
Alvin Hart.
Varieties of resonator guitar
Single resonator guitars with a bowl resonator and spider (
Dobro style) are often heard in
bluegrass music, while tricone (
National style) instruments are still preferred by many
blues players. Single-resonator biscuit (also sometimes called
National style) instruments are also currently produced, and give a different sound again.
Many bluegrass players prefer wooden bodies, blues players either metal or wood. The early metal-bodied instruments were generally of better quality than the earliest wooden-bodied ones, but this may not be the case with more recent instruments. Metal bodies may be brass, aluminium or steel.
Fibreglass has also been used as a body material, and a
marble bodied resonator guitar is commercially available. Both metal and wooden bodies are often painted, or wooden bodies may be stained or lacquered, metal bodies may be plated or plain.
Bluegrass players tend to use square necks, while blues players tend to prefer round necks. Square-necked guitars give a slightly greater variety of possible tunings, while round-necked guitars give a much greater variety of playing positions.
Single resonator instruments can have round soundholes with screens, round soundholes without screens which many players used to remove anyway to improve the bass response, or f-holes, often with gauze screens which are also sometimes removed but have an important function in strengthening the belly particularly if the body is of wood.
An enormous number of combinations are possible, most can be found either on old or new instruments or both, and many styles of music can be played on any resonator guitar.
Electric instruments
Although the original aim of the resonator was increased volume, some modern instruments incorporate electric
pickups, and players add pickups to non-electric instruments, and use the resonator purely for its distinctive tone. As the resonator is far more sensitive to
audio feedback than any
semi-acoustic guitar, the design of these pickups is extremely critical and specialised.
|
Advertising for a Regal resonator ukelele |
As well as resonator guitars, resonators have been used on:
*
Basses, available from Regal
as of 2006.
*
Ukeleles, produced by National
1928-
1940.
*
Banjos.
*
Tenor guitars.
*
Mandolins and
mandolas.
*
National Stringed Instrument Corporation.
*
Dobro.
*
Regal Musical Instrument Company, under licence from Dobro (the only licence granted).
*
Valco.
*
Original Musical Instrument Company.
*
Mosrite.
*
Amistar.
*
National Reso-Phonic Guitars.
* Numerous smaller manufacturers and individual
luthiers.
Regal manufactured for many brands under its licence, including
Regal,
Old Kraftsman, and
Ward.
US patents
* #1,741,453 covering the
tricone.
* #1,808,756 covering the
Dobro.
* #1,896,484 covering the
biscuit single cone resonator, lodged in the name of Beauchamp.
*
Duane Allman*
Mike Auldridge*
Bob Brozman*
John Butler*
Billy Cardine*
Cindy Cashdollar*
Eric Clapton*
Bruce Cockburn*
Jerry Douglas*
Garrett Dutton*
Blind Boy Fuller*
Rory Gallagher*
David Gilmour*
Josh Graves of the
Foggy Mountain Boys*
Andy Hall*
Brad Harper*
Alvin Hart*
Corey Harris*
Bill Homans (aka "Watermelon Slim")
*
Sol Hoopii*
Son House*
Rob Ickes*
Glenn Kaiser*
Chris Thomas King*
Mark Knopfler of
Dire Straits - a National is featured on the cover of their best selling CD
Brothers In Arms*
Randy Kohrs*
George 'Speedy' Krise*
Phil Leadbetter*
Taj Mahal*
Michael Messer*
Keb' Mo'*
Stacy Phillips*
Ernie Power*
Tampa Red*
David Richey (formerly of
The Everybodyfields)
*
Ivan Rosenberg*
Emily Robison*
Eric Sardinas*
Tut Taylor*
Derek Trucks*
Sally Van Meter*
Bukka White*
Chris Whitley*
Johnny Winter*
Gene Wooten*
Steel guitar.
*
Brief history of the resonator by
Phil Leadbetter on the
Mel Bay website.
*
Resonator Guitar Website for The Dobro® Lap Style Guitar Player.
*
The Dobro story at the
Gibson site.
*
Valco National Reso Glass instruments with pictures at the
Jeff Lang site.
*
Amistar site, including the
marble bodied model.
*
Regal Dobros at
Folk of the Wood.
*
Regal Dobro bass at
Folk of the Wood.
*
National page at a collector's website.
*
Dobro page at the same collector site.
*
More Than You Really Wanted To Know About the Dobro by
Ken Brown, detailed history.
*
AMERICAN FRETTED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MAKERS, pre-Civil War to WWII, comprehensive list.
*
Mandolin Cafe, resonator mandolins and mandolas.
*
Elderly Instruments show a
highly unusual resonator mandolin.
*
National Reso-Phonic Guitars.
*
Resonator Guitars on LP/CD covers.
*
Brad's Page of Steel, a comprehensive list of resonator guitar manufacturers.Custom Luthiers:
*
Paul Beard*
Todd Clinesmith*
Brad Harper*
Tooter MeredithRelated Sites of Interest:
*
ResoGuit*
Reso-Nation
