…..or you could just buy one of those metal mutes
cheap experiment and you’ll like the sound

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Originally posted by lapsteel

…..or you could just buy one of those metal mutes
cheap experiment and you’ll like the sound

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Yeah -- I do practice with a "Mike's Mute" and it does indeed yield some of those tonal qualities, but not quite what I'm looking for...

I have a 4string with a 6" cone that's fun to play around with, but I've never played on one with that diameter.

It has an active neck pickup, which is okay. I have found putting a passive onto the underside of the cone gets a better sound.

Not really helpful regarding the original questions, but I did build one myself -- as pictured.  The unamplified sound is sweet but remarkably wimpy, at least compared to a banjo.  I suspect that's true even with a resonator back.  In demo videos online, you don't really know how far they cranked up the recording mic to get the sound they're sending you.

The actual sound of the thing is included in https://www.its.caltech.edu/~politzer/resonator/resonator.pdf.

It took a while, but step-by-step I think I figured out what our ears identify as the identifying characteristic sound common to all resonator guitars and what is responsible in the physics.  (That's the sort of thing I like doing.)  The whole saga is stretched out between October 2022 and May 2024 at https://www.its.caltech.edu/~politzer/.  Along the way, I claim to have identified what makes banjos ring.  (It's very closely related.)

I bought this Chinese made resonator from Thomman in Germany for small money. It’s their own brand Harley Benton. It packs a lot of punch with a humbuker and a piezo. All passive. It was easy to rasp down the neck to banjo setup. Good fun instrument. The only thing is that it has a 25.5” scale length.

Thanks for the thoughts/suggestions all!

I enjoyed your write-up davidppp (and will likely poke around some of the other related info you’ve published!) But you raise a good point regarding volume. The Mike’s Mute idea, while it has some commonality with Resophonic tone, is too quiet for what I'd like… I was hoping for an acoustic volume at least similar to a typical national style guitar — but maybe that’s unrealistic considering the higher note timbers and smaller air cavity/resonator.

And to ACastle ’s point… the magnetic pickup would capture the vibration of the string — but I guess at that point it’s mostly sounding like an electric guitar… would probably need some other pickup assembly to capture the “Resophonic” aspect of the tone.

In the one video I found online of a Resophonic banjo playing along with other instruments -- in this case the Capek and a washboard player -- the banjo was indeed hard to hear on the merit of it's acoustic volume alone.

Ehhh… I dunno…

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Originally posted by TimFoster

Thanks for the thoughts/suggestions all!

I enjoyed your write-up davidppp (and will likely poke around some of the other related info you’ve published!) But you raise a good point regarding volume. The Mike’s Mute idea, while it has some commonality with Resophonic tone, is too quiet for what I'd like… I was hoping for an acoustic volume at least similar to a typical national style guitar — but maybe that’s unrealistic considering the higher note timbers and smaller air cavity/resonator.

And to ACastle ’s point… the magnetic pickup would capture the vibration of the string — but I guess at that point it’s mostly sounding like an electric guitar… would probably need some other pickup assembly to capture the “Resophonic” aspect of the tone.

Ehhh… I dunno…

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When I started listening carefully and thought hard about how things work, I was surprised by how much of the whole body sound is captured by magnetic string pick-ups.  They're commonly used on resonator guitars, and the Kavanjo (https://kavanjo.com/) is used on banjos.  While strings drive the soundboards, the soundboards also drive the strings.  Sustain is the simplest but not the only shared quality.  Banjo ring and reso twang, as described in my linked stuff above, also are directly shared.  I can't believe that there aren't more subtle things that are just hard to name.   

I have a reso pese shaped Tenor guitar (same as the tenor banjo) from Amistar (great instruments from the czeck republic) love to play it!
I doesn’t have a pick up installed

Wonderful banjopaolo — I can tell plenty of volume on that one…

Makes me think maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to write off the Gold Tone dobro-styled offerings — those seem easy enough to get ahold of in the US… in the clips I’ve heard the full body seemed to lose some banjo character, and perhaps not as “sweet” as the Capek/Rickard in isolation… but I guess ya can’t have it all if chasing volume too

I have Gold Tone's Dojo, I like the tone a lot. Nothing to do with a banjo, of course. I find the resonator tone does indeed come through while using the pickup - the Dojo produces a much different tone from my electric banjo.

Of course, if you have the budget for a Rickard, then buy that (it's one of my dream banjos). Or have one made for you to your specs?

I had an electric guitar with active pickups. It was easy to convert it to passive pickups.

I had a Resnick made with a tunneled 5th string..

It was a good deal n fun to play..
Lots of sistain...

I let that go a good while back..
In favor to a modifyed mute I now use..

Also I have the 5th string tuner on the tailpiece...
Much more convenient for the used of a bottle type slide..

Hey STUD figmo Al Al — missed this one… pretty cool!  I've definitely come to hate the 5th string tuner post when playing slide -- all too easy to bump into!!  ;-)

I’ve been trying different bridge attachments, brass fittings under the feet, all sorts of random things to try and get the best compromise of sustain, “snappiness”, tone, volume and note definition… definitely seems like you can’t have it all! Add mass, ya get more sustain, but less high end, volume and separation etc…

I haven’t nailed it quite yet but still trying.

But curious to hear about that ResNick. I’m thinking that would probably be one of the louder/fuller sounding Resophonic banjos on account of the deeper body… how did it hold up volume-wise against something like an acoustic guitar? Any moreso than your current setup?

I practice with a “Mike’s mute” and the tone with a slide is pretty great — good sustain, not too tubby and still pretty good note separation… but it’s just waaaaay too quiet for playing with others….

The is a video of Ross Nickerson playing one on youtube..

It is as loud as a doro..if not even a tad louder..