That’s good to know. They’re difficult beasts. It may need more specialist help if it continues! All the best.

Exactly. They’re unique and beautiful but they are technically mechanical and like anything mechanical they fall out of whack. Weird ghost notes are often a case of the biscuit slots getting worn out of shape and the string choking in the slot. The slots need to ramp either side of where the string sits. Specialist resonator luthiers are worth their weight in gold.

Glad it all helps. It’s all we can ask for!!

Perfect. You’re lucky there. These things can be endless and complex. You had the dream resonator rattle.

Great! Thanks!!

Some people over egg it. True you can spoil them and true specialist luthiers do better jobs if you need work but ultimately they are put together to a pattern and can be tweaked. If you ness up let someone skilled fix it!

@@TheWashboardResonators BTW, great reso content, you won a follower ! 👍

Excellent. Sometimes it’s all it takes.

The Washboard Resonators,sitting on the lounge with a broken ankle with nothing to do but play my resonator, your channel has been really handy

I use 16s on the bottleneck guitar and my guitar that I tune down a whole step. Works well in both cases. Like yourself I find 13s on resonators perfect and 13 or 12 on regular acoustic to be perfect.

Happy to help. Tricones by their nature have so much to go wrong and often need help. Have a try and see if it helps. Good luck!

Pleasure!

Hope it helps!

Not a clue TBH. Seemed like thin card or thicker paper.

Thanks!! 🎯

👌🏻

Think that was the issue here. Some crusty dark mess under the cones I cleaned off. Like a dust and sweat paste. 🥴

It’s down to personal preference regarding playing style, neck angle and what you can get from the neck relief. I’d always recommend a specialist luthier but understand it’s not always possible or cost prohibitive. Around 3mm at fret 12 and 1.5mm at fret 3 is a good general set up that allows for mixed fingerstyle and slide. I did a video about intonation and getting resonators in tune which covers a few points about setup. I think I might have to do a video about resonator setup and similar ideas. You can sand the saddle but bear in mind the string slots are key to allowing your resonator to work properly. I’d knock a touch off the saddle and see how it goes. Perhaps 1 or 2mm. After I might be tempted to take .5mm of the bottom of the nut and see if it works. 🎯🎯🎯

@@TheWashboardResonators Thanks for the quick response.

There is a video about intonation that you’ll find on our channel. Not always possible on resonators unless you get one of the few resonator specialists to do a set up and make a new bridge piece. In europe you’d be contacting Mike Lewis at Fine Resophonic or Steve Evans at Beltona instruments. In the US it’s Marc Shoenbergher.

Depends if the instrument is seriously lacking. Recording Kings are generally pretty decent. The NRP hotrod cones are superior products but is it worth adding that many hundred dollars worth of parts to a guitar already OK? If you’ve got the money it can’t do any harm so long as a competent luthier does a fresh setup on the guitar. 👌🏻

You’re looking for a 13 - 17 degree string angle to get a good break angle. In order to get this and the guitar be playable it may be the case that you need a neck reset to make the guitar work at its best. Also on dobros your find that there is a screw into the cone which can be fine tuned. Too loose and it buzzes, too tight it chokes. I suspect it’s one of these two. Otherwise the cone on vintage ones can fatigue but that’s less likely.

@@TheWashboardResonators Thanks. My dobro is not vintage it is new, a custom order from Fine Resophonic made by luthier Mike Lewis. My local luthier seemed to think it was the lack of string break angle that resulted in insufficient downward tension of the strings to rid the buzz. But Mike believes it is not the string break angle issue, and it is the way he makes his dobros and he has had no issues with buzzing with his setups. Unfortunately I had the reso shipped to me halfway across the globe, so I can't visit his shop to have him resolve the buzz issues.

bebenavole Not sure I follow. The wood saddle is glued in on mine and stays put. Didn’t touch the saddle in this video. Did clean / reseat everything else which seemed to fix it. Let us know if we can advise further!

i meant the t bar. i move the t bar under tension and it usually goes away

bebenavole of course. Works well. Should always go towards the bridge though!

It will. Not enough to worry about. It’s a resonator after all.

@@TheWashboardResonators i agree with you , some brands have a lot of movement on the rear bridge these would take a litlle time to setup properly i think ..

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My god, no buzz at the end of that video, but we don't really know the culprit. I assume you've just got more used to pulling them apart, but as a clumsy idiot, I'd rather let other people with good skills do that.

I really wanted a tricone, love the sound of those things...

For me Tricones are the best. Especially wooden bodies (but that’s a separate conversation). You’re right to want one but they are monumentally difficult instruments to keep in good order. Even the ones from the good old days of the 1920s and 30s can develop issues and buzzes or never be able to put out the full tone. There are a number of issues that could develop. Let’s lust them and work through to check; 1/ cover plate tightness. Play the guitar and press the plate down. 2/ tailpiece, either touching the guitar top or the string ends not been seated right. Slacken the strings and put a piece of card between the tailpiece and guitar. Also wiggle the ball ends. 3/ Bridge and cones. The seat of the aluminium T-bar on the cones can rattle. A tiny touch of Vaseline and reseat of the whole system can take the rattle away. Also if the cone sinks then the lip of the body well can touch the inside of the cone. As per the video pushing the whole assembly a whisker can help. 4/ Bad string. I find when G & D strings get worn from fingerpicks they cause a rattle because the string is essentially choked. 5/ Trussrod. I’ve seen a friends resonator rattle and it couldn’t be located until I pulled the neck back. We found that the trussrod was loose and resonating inside the neck channel. An expensive repair but it fixed it. 6/ Loose tuners, tuner buttons, bushings and screws. Sounds odd but my old archtop developed a rattle and it took a while to locate it and find it was the tuner button. Touch of superglue and the rattle went away. Hopefully that helps to start.

@@TheWashboardResonators Thanks very much for the list. I'll keep that list handy. Funnily enough, my triolian seems to be without a rattle today. I think the high humidity and slightly hotter temperatures yesterday must have just caused the issue, though if that's the case it will probably reoccur until it's properly fixed. Really appreciate your channel. Great resource for people just getting into resonators and nationals.

Sometimes it feels this way!

Blursed Knight It’s good to know where to look. There are other places and of course using a professional luthier is advisable.