Resonator on a budget?

[maxwidmer]

which one? I'm looking to spend $500-$700

[ComingApart]

I picked up a Square neck Regal RD-45 with TKL hardcase a while back for around $200 and the sound and quality stills blows me away for the price. Spun cone(spider bridge setup), quality tuners, bone nut, etc. I've never played any of their round necked biscuit bridged instruments, but that have a metal bodied one (RC-1??) that I would love to get my hands on.
You defintley want to play before you pay, I've heard several folks complain about their Regals, but mine has impressed me and everybody who's played it. So your mileage may vary and all that...

[Bob Mc]

"Re makes" Liberty guitars down in Florida. He gets the necks and then overhauls the bodies in a bunch of styles.
They may start in the same factory as the Regal/Saga/Flinthill/etc etc...but they're pretty cool once they're done.I had one of his Copper topped ones for a year or so. For a few hundred more closer to One large, Don Morrison in Oz (Austrailia) has one also.

ALthough as long as you can play before you pay, your $ might be better in the Regal/Johnson arena. QA is an issue form what i've seen, but they can be decent.
http://www.libertyguitars.com/
http://users.senet.com.au/%7Edonjenny/index.htm

[Aaron Schiff]

Round neck I'd go with Regal or (believe it or not) Fender. Square neck, the ones I've seen the most consistancy from are Regal and Flinthill. If you are serious about the $500 to $700 range and are interested in a square neck then you absolutely should check with Paul Beard www.beardguitars.com I haven't checked his site in the past year but he used to sell a Flinthill with all the goodies including new cone, nut and saddle inserts for about $600 plus he would give you a full money credit on one of his custom guitars if you decided to upgrade in the future. If he is still offering that then I would RUN not walk to him. Paul also sells THE video on resonator setup. It is an absolute must if you want to be a serious resonator player. I have two resos, a Fender and a DeNeve custom, and I love them.

[Tom A.]

Definately give Bill Blue a call at Liberty. I got a CopperHead with a pickup and an upgraded Quarterman cone with a case for a little over $500. Sounds as good as a National in my opinion, plus they look great. If you call Bill, be prepared to talk a while. After I put in my order, we talked Telecasters for about 20 minutes, great guy with a fine product.

[stevieboy]

Tom A., what sort of pickup did you get?

[tenstrings]

I've heard people speak well of the hound dog. I get a twinkle in my eye when i look at resos, but I have other stuff to get first.
keep us posted.
brian

[Tom A.]

Originally Posted by stevieboy

Tom A., what sort of pickup did you get?

Really don't know, I guessing that Bill has one brand of pickup but I don't know what it is.

[stevieboy]

Thanks for the response, I didn't mean what brand, I meant is it like a piezo pickup in the bridge or maybe the resonator, with volume and tone sliders like on a lot of acoustics, is it like a P90 or something mounted on the body in what would be the neck position on a tele like I've seen on some resonators. Just a general description would be appreciated, thanks again.

[Tom A.]

Originally Posted by stevieboy

Thanks for the response, I didn't mean what brand, I meant is it like a piezo pickup in the bridge or maybe the resonator, with volume and tone sliders like on a lot of acoustics, is it like a P90 or something mounted on the body in what would be the neck position on a tele like I've seen on some resonators. Just a general description would be appreciated, thanks again.

I assume that it is a piezo, I do know that it is mounted on the cone. It don't have any type of preamp, I use a MXR EQ pedal. I think it was only like $30.