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December 2004
Posts: 2150
Location: Orlando, FL | What strings do you use on your resonator? It's WAY past time to change the strings on my National and I'm not sure what to use.
What do you like? |
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Joined:
August 2006
Posts: 3145
Location: Marlton, NJ | I just went to the store to buy strings for the first time for mine and they recommended Phosphor Bronze 13 or 15s. The one's that came on mine were too light. I haven't changed them yet... I'll let you know how they are when I do. |
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Joined:
March 2009
Posts: 416
Location: On the Coast - Halfway between SF & OR | I usually use Jagwire nickel wound Gary Morse - Artist Series or D'Addario EFT13 flat tops.
I find the phosphor bronze a bit too bright. |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | medium ph/bz |
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July 2005
Posts: 3410
Location: GA USA | I either missed it or forgot it... when did you get a National, Zilla?
I've just got EJ42's on mine. I figure they say resophonic, so I use 'em. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | EJ42's are intended primarily for squareneck, wooden-bodied spider-cone guitars (i.e. Dobros) They'll work for regular upright slide on a bunch of other resonator guitars but at .016 to .056 they're pretty brutal if you need to fret past position 3. As Beal said, a medium gauge set will do the job, though for slide I always increase the first string to at least a 0.015.
The EJ42 pack says "Resophonic" but really they mean "Dobro" However, now that our litigious pal Hank owns the brandname he's made it known to the industry that anyone using the word "Dobro" except Gibson will get sued. |
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July 2005
Posts: 3410
Location: GA USA | Thanks. That's good info. |
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Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 2150
Location: Orlando, FL | Thanks Paul, I was wondering about the resophonic strings, cause a lot of them seem to be for square necks.
Another question...
The action is just a bit low for slide playing, especially on the bass strings. How can I raise the action. Do I need to raise or replace the nut?
Hey Jas, I've had this for about a year I think. Its a custom M2 I bought on ebay. Here's a picture of one exactly like mine, or it could be mine depending on when the previous owner bought it.
I definitely has a different sound than the metal ones.
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Originally posted by Designzilla:
Another question...
The action is just a bit low for slide playing, especially on the bass strings. How can I raise the action. Do I need to raise or replace the nut?
The best way is to make a new nut, but for a quick fix you can just shim it up. Doesn't need to be much, about 1mm should give you enough extra clearance. You might also consider backing off the neck-rod a tad to get a little more clearance around the middle of the fingerboard. Don't overdo it though.
The M2 is probably the best wood-bodied biscuit-cone reso available. |
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Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 2150
Location: Orlando, FL | Thanks Paul. Just what I needed to know! |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Actually you want to raise the bridge, not the nut for a little higher action. Bring it to G8R bowl.
Also elixers work well with a slide, cuts down the extra slide noise and go up on the high E like Paul said. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | I guess it depends on the player. I've noticed that most of your Resos are low at the nut. I'm not comfortable playing slide with a standard nut action, I like it just a little higher. Not so high that fretting becomes difficult, but just enough to keep it clean, especially with a heavy slide. |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | true |
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a question for all the resonator owners out there