Dobro or not

As you can see
http://www.music123.com/Resonator-Guitars-d574.music?src ="resonator"
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/search/d=tp?q=resonators
http://elderly.com/new_instruments/cats/50N.html
Woodbodied resonators start at $139 and up.
The online stores usually have a good return policy, just check it if you go that route.

I'd also suggest having a read through this article by Michael Messer.
http://www.michaelmesser.co.uk/tgm8.htm

From what I've read, Johnson and Regal are usually considered good Chinese makers.
And yes the style is heavy. You can buy high quality aftermarket cones separately, though I'm not sure how easily they'll fit into the various brands.
Can you tell I really, really want one?
Good luck, hopefully Ric will come by with some more advice.

Edited when I finally woke up :)

Hi,

If you do decide you want it after a bit of research, take two $100 notes out, wave them at him and say "sorry, but this is as high as I can go".

Excellent chance he'll jump at them. When stock goes really "cold", retailers will often take anything to be rid of it.

Good luck.

only thing i could find on "101" was a company called "route 101 guitars"

there was something about designing your own guitar online, but the links wanted a name and a password before i could access their site.

i found a few reviews on route 101 electric guitars but no mention on any 101 resonators.

if you want a resonator i would suggest researching the brand and model with info he should be able to provide.

if the company is out of business, but made nice guitars then it could be a good deal, on the other hand....

if this is going to be your main instument then get the best you can afford. if it's just going to be a "filler" then i would try a beater model like the ones MF sells. they get pretty good reviews if i remember correctly.

My guess is that it's a rebrand from one of the main Chinese factories. But whether it's a rebrand of a good one or a bad one, I don't know.

I think it's Musician's friend which has a 45 day return policy.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/content/doc_id=92532
You might consider ordering something just for comparison's sake :?

Chinese resonator guitar made 10+ years ago? Unless it's been reconed with something like a Quarterman cone, give it a pass. The Chinese-made resonators (Johnson and the like) have only been approaching decent in recent years. Even then, these usually need a few mods to improve the sound. Cones from many (esp older) Chinese models are known to be very poor in quality, producing poor results.

In 2001 I bought a Johnson JR200 "Chicago Blues" model similar to what you describe above online from Mandalay Music for $185. It was a very decent guitar, and its cone was decent. It's a "spider bridge" type of reso, like a Dobro.

Resonators are a niche market. It's very uncommon to find a music store that has a variety of them in stock, or knows anything about how to set them up. "Try before you buy" simply doesn't work. Nearly everyone I know with a reso has bought it online, learned from discussion boards and independent research how to set it up themselves, and in many cases have done some upgrades. Trying one out as they're shipped is misleading. They put wimpy little strings on, and won't sound right. Also on a spider bridge, the adjustment of the tension screw in the center of the bridge and cone is critical. It affects the tone and volume, the playing feel and the action height. It's simple, but a shop owner's not likely to know about it. Back out the screw until it's completely slack. Then gently turn it in until you just feel a slight resistance. If you had the strings off it would be more obvious as the point where the legs of the spider are just beginning to exert pressure against the cone, but with a gentle touch you'll feel it with it strung up. That's the zero point. Turn the screw a half turn tighter past that point and play it. Then try tighteneing and loosening in 1/8 turn increments until it feels and sounds best to you. Stewart McDonald recommends between 1/4 turn and one full turn tight. On my old Johnson I went slightly tighter than that, but if you overdo it you risk crushing the cone. When the screw's slack, the action's low, the strings feel floppy with a lot of side-to-side slack as you pick, and they'll spring up and down easily with pressure on the strings. As the screw's tightened, the action gets higher, the strings feel snappier, and the tone gets louder and brighter. (Within the normal range of adjustment.) I found the limit on mine was that the bridge would rise due to the increasing "spring rate" of the bridge/cone combination, and would get too close to the hand cover over it.

My current resonator is a Johnson copy of a National Tricone. I really like them for blues, though many people favor the biscuit-bridge single cone National types, and they're a lot cheaper. You can get a Tricone with hard shell case for around $500, and a nice biscuit for maybe $300, I think. (I don't have one.) My Johnson is one of the first Chinese-made Tricones, and needed some upgrading. I've put in new cones, a new saddle, removed one of the "mushroom" supports inside and moved the upper one closer to the neck end of the body to enhance the vibrations of the back, and I've put .017-.070" strings on it for playing mainly slide in Open D and Open G. Last year I bought another one for my teacher, and it was perfect out of the box, needing only heavier strings than it shipped with. The Chinese have gotten the hang of building them right.

If you look here you can see the Johnson reso line. Call and ask John for a price.

BTW, Quarterman makes excellent cones for spider bridge resonators. Their cones for biscuit bridge and tricone resonators are not highly regarded by many. I had Quartermans in my Tricone for a few years (because the original Chinese cones were truly awful), and they were an iimprovement over those, but the Continental cones I now have in it (which ship in new Johnsons) are a vast improvement. I got them from a fellow who splurged for National Resophonic cones. He said he couldn't tell the difference with the Nationals instead of the Continentals, but I sure could tell a difference between the Continentals and the Quartermans! My wife, shuttling clothes between closets upstairs, hollered down that it had a much fuller, richer tone! (Pretty good volume, too.)

thanks for all your replies.

I have an acoustic guitar. I intend to use this one for blues' delta blues and slide tunes. I intend it to be in open G tuning all the time.

the guitar looks like this one :
http://coast2coastmusic.com/cgi-bin/cart/JR200.html?id=oYtPQ9ut

ric - can you give some more details about setting up or a url detailing such thing ? I'm interested in the crunchy sound of blues playing guitar.

the strings currentlly on that guitar were I think 015 or more - they felt hard to play or maybe the guitar was tuned to high.

guess I'll to take my tuner and play with the guitar for some time.

What do you think of the deal as a whole ?

Well, that's the first Johnson model I had. A very playable, nice sounding cheap guitar.

Over on Stew-Mac's site somewhere there's a PDF file on setting up a resonator of the spider type, but I've already given you most of what it says above. Other than that, the trussrod adjustment is the same as with any guitar, and intonation is done by slackening the strings and rotating the cone to tilt the bridge just about like it is on a flattop acoustic, so the treble side is slightly closer to the nut than the bass side. The 12th fret note and the 12th fret harmonic should be about the same on both the first and sixth strings, but as with most acoustic guitars, intonation is a compromise and you'll likely never get all of the strings perfectly intonated. Most people use these to play bottleneck, with most fretting being done on the lower frets where it's not a big issue. If the action is too high (about 3/32" to 1/8" at the 12th fret is about ideal), you can remove the saddles and sand down the bottoms until they're just right, or if the strings are too high at the nut end the slots can be filed deeper. Bottleneck players mostly play in Open G or Open D and like heavy strings. A great set is the Martin Bluegrass Resonator Guitar strings, nickel wound, .016-.056", available for something like $3.35 a set from Just Strings. I've used those for several years. On my Tricone now I have a custom set made up from Just Strings' bulk nickel wound electric and plain strings, .017 and .020" plain, and wound .028, .038, .052 and .070". For Open D and Open G, I wouldn't tune them up to Open E, Open A or standard.

On the Big Road Blues Forum there are many lengthy discussions in the archives on the topics of buying, setting up, modifying and repairing cheap Oriental resonator guitars in the archives that you can search out. Most of the guys on there have or have had at least one.

The spiders, biscuits and tricones all have their own sounds and characteristics. It's good to listen to different ones to see what you like the sound of. National Resophonic has put out CDs with people playing stuff on their different resos so you can hear what they sound like. That and Catfish Keith's recordings with his National Baritone Tricone really got me hankering for a Tricone. Couldn't afford a National, so I got a Johnson.

thank you soooo much ricochet.

Very informative.

Thanks again.

You're very welcome.

Resonators are a niche market. They're not everybody's cup of tea. Those of us who like them generally REALLY like them. Bet you'll have a ball if you do decide to get one.

2-3 years ago I promised Nick I'd write an article about resos. One of these days I've got to get a round tuit. Probably good I didn't rush into it, 'cause I've learned more in the interim and have a better understanding of some things. There are plenty of REAL experts who know a lot more than I ever will, but I love these instruments and have tried to learn everything I could about them over the last 4 1/2 years or so.

Hey Ric, do you have Bob Brozman's book, the History and Artistry of National Resonator Instruments?

It's on my list of things I need to get. I know lots of the stuff I've been picking up is coming secondhand out of that.

I bought a copy in liu of the $2500 1928 National Tricone that keeps calling my name.
You should definately get ahold of it before writing an article, it's very informative although like anything it probably needs to be crosschecked with other experts. The books is also in need an editor and an index, but it's fairly readable and well laid out.

Yeah, I plan to do that. Meanwhile, maybe someone better qualified will step up to the plate. :D