TD's Resonator (GHR-1)

I could not resist and ordered the new GHR-1 resonator kit. I have no knowledge of resonator style guitars - so I will treat it as a learning experience. I have checked out some information about resonators and how to set them up -Stewmac have a few good resources about
setups at https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-id...up-techniques/

and spider bridge at https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-id...-guitar-setup/.

I have a few ideas floating around about how I want to finish the kit - ATM darkish brown with a slight burst on the front. I may set it up purely for slide! Not 100% committed to this! Or try a nut extender!

Looks good in the box:

5 ply basswood body looks nice. Triple binding on top and single binding on back.
The back is arched.
The cone ledge looks like paulownia pine - the corners need a bit of sanding. And a few glue drops will need to be cleaned/trimmed off.
Looks like the neck curvature is 15".
Scale length - back of nut to 12 fret is 322 mm, so the scale length will be about 648 mm.

Mock build to follow.

If the back and sides look like the one on the shop site it will be great!

I have heard aspersions cast, but I really like paulownia. It's been used in Asian musical instruments forever. a good tonewood, and it should help keep the guitar light.

Will you put a pickup in it?

Interesting that the radius is 15". Usually all kits have been 12". I would hate to have to get another sanding block ;-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fender3x

If the back and sides look like the one on the shop site it will be great!

I have heard aspersions cast, but I really like paulownia. It's been used in Asian musical instruments forever. a good tonewood, and it should help keep the guitar light.

Will you put a pickup in it?

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It does seem to be light.

As for a pickup: not at the moment.

I have sanded around the cone ledge wood, and used a razor blade the remove the excess glue spots around the rim. The cone now sits flat on the ledge. The spider had one leg sitting a bit higher than the others, so I used the Stewmac technique of raising the inner part of the leg on a shim and gently tapping with a rubber hammer. Worked well.

Then did a bit of a mock build to test for string alignment and height.

The string alignment seems good and easy to adjust by moving the cone/spider/bridge combo around the ledge and/or moving the tail screw. (This is also how string length is changed)

String height seems a bit uncertain as the strings will compress the spider and cone. I assume this can only be done correctly at the end of the build! At least the height of the bridge can be adjusted by sanding the base of the saddle or adding a shim. The saddle also needs to be cut at the middle so as to gain access to the screw/bolt holding the spider to the cone.

One thing that did concern me was the fact that there is no block on the top shoulder to anchor the strap button. So, I made a pine block, shaped to the outside curve of the body, and glued that into place.

That's an innovative solution. Is there a reason you did not want to put it in the heel of the neck?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fender3x

That's an innovative solution. Is there a reason you did not want to put it in the heel of the neck?

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Actually, it did not occur to me:(. The acoustic that I own and the images I found online had the strap button on the shoulder.

So, there are lots of easier options!

https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-id...strap-button-/.

I need to research more!

I put a button on my acoustic in position 4 about 2.3mm from the bottom of the heel. It has felt pretty good and does not get in the way of fretting. I am almost glad I didn't know about other options at the time. I think of position 5 as being more modern. I don't think I have seen it on an old guitar, but you see it on new ones a fair amount. That said, I have seen at least one resonator with it in position 5.

I am assuming you plan to play it in normal playing position, and not face up?

BTW I put the strap button on position 2 on my fretless ES4-B bass. It is good there. No problem with the case since it's a thinline and the case is designed for a full sized acoustic bass. But otherwise, I don't think I'd want it there...

Positions 4 and 5 seem like very good options for this kit as the neck heel is rounded like in the Stewmac picture. My acoustic has a very pointed neck heel and therefore 4 could not be an option.

1 and 2 could be a problem with cases.

I will be playing it in normal position.

I will be watching with interest.

Did some neck work today: levelled the frets, filed the frets, checked with fret rocker, repeat. Filed the fret ends. Polished the frets. Also cut out the headstock pattern and sanded the neck with 180 to 240 g.

I have had another look at the ability to adjust the string length for intonation. The bridge/spider/cone have the ability to be moved on the cone ledge, and rotated, to give the shorter high e string length and longer Low E string length.

As mentioned earlier, the distance from the back of the nut to the 12th fret is about 322 mm. For the D string, since it is less affected by rotation of the bridge, I can get a range of lengths from about 646 mm to 650 mm (without any rotation of the bridge). I think that is a good range.

My electric guitar with a similar nut to 12 th fret length has the D string intonated at 648 mm. I know that different strings will require different intonation lengths.

Sanded the body and neck to 240 g. Filled a couple of lines of missing wood fibres with pine coloured Timbermate. Sanded back. Then gave the body and neck a coat of Ubeaut sanding sealer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trevor Davies

I have had another look at the ability to adjust the string length for intonation. The bridge/spider/cone have the ability to be moved on the cone ledge, and rotated, to give the shorter high e string length and longer Low E string length.

As mentioned earlier, the distance from the back of the nut to the 12th fret is about 322 mm. For the D string, since it is less affected by rotation of the bridge, I can get a range of lengths from about 646 mm to 650 mm (without any rotation of the bridge). I think that is a good range.

My electric guitar with a similar nut to 12 th fret length has the D string intonated at 648 mm. I know that different strings will require different intonation lengths.

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I get why you are measuring the D string...although the measurements are making me scratch my head. Usually the lengths are either "Fender" or "Gibson." 25.5" or 24.75" respectively. Your measurement is closest to standard Fender (which is what my acoustic is). It should be between 324 adn 325 mm to he middle of the 12th fret.

If it is Fender spec, your high E should intonate at about exactly 650mm...so if the D is also at 650mm it would most likely intonate longer than that. How sure are you about your measurements? I'd get out my measuring stick if I were home to see how much variance there is on my F and G necks...but I am actually South of you for a few days on a business trip to Chile... (apropos of nothing, but I wanted to get it in there).

It may not matter too much. The physics of string intonation is so opaque to me that I tend to think strings intonate where ever they feel like it...and Lots of acoustics have straight bridges or slants based on guesses.

On a separate note... I really like the shape of the headstock.

Thanks fender 3x. And yes, string intonation does get a bit weird! I have a Fender acoustic - definitely not 648 scale! The high e comes in around 642 mm! I assume it is intonated correctly - maybe I will check.

Today I have stained the body and neck with FW jarrah stain, diluted to 33%. The binding was taped beforehand, but some stain seeped under the tape.

Then spent a while scraping the binding! Not my favorite job. I used a safety razor blade clamped in a short length of dowel jig.

Then gave it all 2 brushed on coats of wipe-on-poly.

This is looking so good! FWIW I'm sure these are supposed to be 25.5" scale.. I thought I clocked the nut-to-12th-fret as exactly 324mm.

Thanks Tim. I'm waiting for some cooler weather before I can add some water-based poly clear coats. Thankfully, next week looks a bit cooler!

I forgot to share that I had sprayed the front of the headstock with mtn94 black around the time I added the tru-oil. Both the paint and the Tru-oil have had time to gas-off.

Today I have sprayed on 4 coats of Cabots water-based gloss poly.

I will leave it for about a week, then add a brown burst around the front, and add more clear coats.

Looking good Trev.

1+ It's stunning!

Thanks vh2580 and fender3x.

Work and weather have slowed my progress on this build. But, I have added a logo to the headstock and yesterday managed to add a few coats of Cabot's water-based satin poly to the body and neck.

I think I will forgo the burst. I'm worried about being able to clean the binding after, and also that taping the binding will result in lifting/damaging the clear coats. I should have done the burst immediately after the stain coat!

I have also picked up some open back Grover tuners (98 series), with the push in bushings.

That's coming up a treat TD

Thanks Dave.

The neck is now glued in! There was a tiny gap on the lower side of the neck, which has been filled with some CA glue.

Almost ready to play ;-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trevor Davies

Thanks fender 3x. And yes, string intonation does get a bit weird! I have a Fender acoustic - definitely not 648 scale! The high e comes in around 642 mm! I assume it is intonated correctly - maybe I will check.

Today I have stained the body and neck with FW jarrah stain, diluted to 33%. The binding was taped beforehand, but some stain seeped under the tape.

Then spent a while scraping the binding! Not my favorite job. I used a safety razor blade clamped in a short length of dowel jig.

Then gave it all 2 brushed on coats of wipe-on-poly.

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I love your idea about the razor blade clamp for scraping the binding! I've always done it by hand using my fingers as the clamp... I think your idea would be more accurate. I'll be doing that on my next build! Thanks!

P.S - It's looking awesome!

Thank you Moparnut.
The razor blade jig idea came from McCreed! It works a treat.

Today I have sanded back the CN glue marks around the neck and made a 3-ply truss rod cover. The kit came with a black spearhead shape truss rod cover, but I like the look of the 3-ply with the white edge.

Much nicer than the one that comes with the kit!

Thanks fender3x.

I have also given the neck join area, body front and sides 3 more coats of satin poly. I must admit that spraying a whole guitar was a lot more difficult that the individual neck and body. I think I need another jig! It has now rested for a week.

I have now also glued in the nut and added the tuners and truss rod cover.

Today I have added the screened sound hole covers - the sound holes need a slight sand to get them to fit.

Then added the bridge to the spider - to access the screw between the spider and resonator cone (which is in the middle of the bridge support on the spider) the bridge needed to be cut down the middle and about 3mm taken off.

Added the spider to the cone.

Then I added the tailpiece, which was positioned right in the middle of the base of the body so as to get the strings parallel down the neck.

Then added the strings and tuned up. The bridge ended up slightly angled to the body to get good intonation.

But it all worked and sounded great.

Then I undid the strings and removed the bridge.

I then added a maple/ebony spider bridge. It needed to be sanded quite a lot to fit the bridge support on the spider. I have it about the same height as the bridge that came with the kit. Cut it in half and shaped the ebony top to a triangle. I did not worry about staggered lengths as I want it solely for slide.

Also placed on the coverplate. Added the strings again. The coverplate holes allow you to move the spider/cone/bridge assembly to align the bridge and change the string intonation length.

Tuned to open G , grabbed my slide, and had a play. It sounds great.

I will get some better pictures soon.

That is such a cool guitar. Will be interested down the line in whether you stay satisfied with keeping it acoustic or succumb to the temptation to put a pickup in it ;-)

Thanks fender3x. Anything could happen, especially as I have a few spare pups laying around!

All stock parts except for the Grover 98 series open back tuners, truss rod cover and the maple/ebony bridge. The colour is a diluted FW jarrah (though I could have used FW cedar!). There is a slight darker brown burst around the neck pocket. Finished with sprayed on coats of Cabots water-based satin poly. The logo and staff pattern are Cricut cut vinyl stickers.

I have the string setup quite high for use as a slide guitar. I love the sound it produces! It feels nice to play, (the body is a bit smaller and shallower than my old acoustic which I find uncomfortable to play!)

Final pictures:

That is a really great looking guitar. Glad it sounds as good as it looks!

I think there is an opportunity to be the first to post one on the galleries forum ;-)

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...hp?f=58&page=2

Question from left field (pun intended!).
This is listed as right handed kit but with a change of nut and adjusting the intonation by turning the spider, do you reckon it could be made up as a lefty?