Copper resonator?

[Tgraham]

Having ventured into resonator building I’m pondering whether to build a copper one.
Not a PB build but an just idea at this stage, copper gotta be easier to work than brass I figure
Any thoughts or ideas

Damn this guitar building bug

Cheers
graham

[Trevor Davies]

It appears that GAS has struck!

As in a full copper body, or just the coverplate?

[Tgraham]

Full copper body Trevor
Probably biscuit bridge type
Or attacking and old acoustic and turning it into a reso

[fender3x]

Full copper body Trevor
Probably biscuit bridge type
Or attacking and old acoustic and turning it into a reso

If you do the latter, please start a diary on the "Non-Pit Bull Guitars" part of the forum. That would be a fun one to watch ;-)

[Tgraham]

Will do Fender

[Tgraham]

Priced copper sheeting OMG that’s not going to happen.
Just for interest here’s a pic of a hybrid reso that’s on the market here - hhhmmm
https://youtu.be/lRh9wgQElco?si=wxt-ajDYr1ryKZDD video of making a reso with recycled guitar very simple and damn clever

[Dikkybee007]

If you had have done a copper body about 20 years ago it would have been much cheaper but copper has gone through the roof due to its usage in EV's which has pushed the price up.

My only concern with the copper is the weight as you would need it to be fairly thick to support the resonator as its fairly soft. You could have put in supports I guess if the thickness was about 1mm thick but the weight would have been a problem plus the joining of the faces to the sides would have been a bit of a problem with warpage. Depending on what process you were going to use to weld the parts. Solder would leave a silver join, copper silver solder would be closer but the join would be still noticeable. You could tig weld the parts using thin slices from the base material but keeping it straight would be a nightmare.

Brass maybe slightly cheaper but again the welding would be noticeable and its only slightly lighter than copper.

Aluminium would be my choice as you could make it out of 1.6mm which is easier to TIG weld plus if done neatly you would leave the welds without having to dress them and the weight would not be a problem even if you made it out of 2.5mm thick. You can polish it to a bright finish or buff to a satin finish plus it doesn't go green like copper.

[Tgraham]

Thanks for that db, I will consider aluminium a bit more now.
For the present I’m going with the modify an old acoustic idea, I’ve started a thread in non PB builds
Cheers
graham