The resonator guitar is a type of acoustic guitar that produces sound by carrying string vibration through the bridge to one or more spun metal cones, instead of to the sound board (the top of an acoustic guitar). Resonator guitars were originally designed to be louder than regular acoustic guitars, which were overwhelmed by horns and percussion instruments in dance orchestras. The body of a resonator guitar may be made of wood, metal, or occasionally other materials. Typically there are two main sound holes, positioned on either side of the fingerboard extension.
Invented at the beginning of the 1920s, they originally used aluminum resonators and quickly became associated with Hawaiian music and early country music, especially bluegrass. Aluminum-bodied resonators are still made, and popular for their distinctive tone; however, most modern resonator guitars are steel-stringed acoustic guitars fitted with a metal resonator. The resonator assembly includes a spider bridge.”
What is a resonator guitar?
A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar that produces sound by carrying string vibration through the bridge to one or more spun metal cones, instead of to the sound board (the top of an acoustic guitar). Resonator guitars were originally designed to be louder than regular acoustic guitars, which were overwhelmed by horns and percussion instruments in dance orchestras. They became prized for their distinctive sound, however, and found life with several musical styles well after electric amplification solved the issue of inadequate guitar sound levels. Resonator guitars are loud and bright, and cutting, but not as loud as a similarly sized flat-top steel-string acoustic. They are generally played acoustically, but some models also come equipped with pickups for electric amplification.
Resonators should not be confused with electric “resonator” guitars such as those manufactured by National Reso-Phonic Guitars. These guitars use resonators designed similarly to the Dobro (see below) but do not have any acoustic resonating chambers; they rely entirely on electronic amplification. Resonator guitars are most commonly played in blues and bluegrass music, but also feature prominently in slide blues and Hawaiian music (see slide guitar). The first resonator guitars were developed in
Resonator guitars are also known as “dobros”, because the first ones were made by the Dopyera brothers in California. These guitars quickly became popular in country and bluegrass music, and they continue to be used there today. The main difference between a resonator guitar and a regular guitar is that the resonator has a metal cone or cones inside it that make it louder. The first resonator guitars had three of these cones, like the one in this picture.
The resonator was invented by John Dopyera, who was born in Slovakia. He came to the US with his family when he was a child. They lived near San Jose, California, and John learned to play guitar there. In the 1920’s, he developed the resonator so that musicians would sound louder over dance bands and other loud groups. His brother Rudy helped him market them at first; later they had a falling out and Rudy started his own company making dobros called “National.”
In the 1920’s National String Instrument Corporation was in the forefront of resonator guitar design and manufacture. Today we still make resonators, but our product line is much larger and more varied. We feel that a short history of the resonator instruments we manufacture would be helpful in understanding them.
In 1926, John Dopyera (Dopyera Brothers) left the National String Instrument Company to form the Dobro Manufacturing Company with his brothers Rudy and Ed. Their idea was to produce a resonator guitar with a single “biscuit” cone that had its bridge mounted on a spider so that the cone could vibrate more freely than on previous designs where the bridge was attached directly to the top of the cone. This idea was patented by John Dopyera, but later versions of this design were also patented by National String Instrument Corporation and became known as “Tricone” guitars for their three-cone design. The Dobros were popular for playing Hawaiian music and were commonly called “Hawaiian guitars”. It is interesting to note that during this time period National produced several thousand steel guitars for Hawaiian music.
The Depression killed most of the demand for these instruments and both companies struggled until 1934 when National came out with an electric instrument called an Electrified Spanish Model or ES
A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar that produces sound by carrying string vibration through the bridge to one or more spun metal cones, instead of to the sound board (the top of an acoustic guitar). Resonator guitars were originally designed to be louder than regular acoustic guitars, which were overwhelmed by horns and percussion instruments in dance orchestras. They became prized for their distinctive sound, however, and found life with several musical styles well after electric amplification solved the issue of inadequate guitar sound levels.
The body of a resonator guitar may be made of wood, metal, or occasionally other materials. Typically there are two main sound holes, positioned on either side of the fingerboard extension. In the case of single cone models, the sound holes are either both circular or both F-shaped, and symmetrical. The older tricone design has irregularly shaped sound holes.
Resonator guitars are distinct from electric guitars which depend on electrical pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into electrical signals for amplification via a loudspeaker.
A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar that produces sound by carrying string vibration through the bridge to one or more spun metal cones, instead of to the sound board (guitar top). Resonator guitars were originally designed to be louder than regular acoustic guitars, which were overwhelmed by horns and percussion instruments in dance orchestras. They became prized for their distinctive sound, however, and found life with several musical styles well after electric amplification solved the issue of inadequate guitar sound levels.
Resonator guitars are played in a wide variety of musical genres, most notably bluegrass, blues, country and Hawaiian music. The resonator guitar was invented in the 1920s to amplify Hawaiian slack key music. It is a 30-inch scale instrument with three metal spinning cones that produce a distinct tone found in traditional Hawai’ian music as well as American folk and country blues.
Resonator guitars, or resophonic guitars, are unique in the world of musical instruments. A resophonic guitar’s sound is made by a metal resonator instead of the wooden soundboard that acoustics have. They have been around for more than 90 years and will remain a factor in our musical culture.
Resonator guitars play louder than acoustics because they use a metal cone to project the sound instead of wood. The cone acts as a speaker and projects the sound through the top of the guitar.
The first resonator guitars were made in 1927 by National String Instrument Corporation out of Los Angeles, California. They were made to compete with Gibson’s newly developed line of acoustic archtop guitars. These early resonators became popular with Hawaiian musicians who used them to play slide guitar in a style called slack key. Resophonic guitars were also popular in western swing and country music during the 1930s and 40s, but they never caught on in bluegrass which was one of the reasons why National went out of business in 1941.