Neck Reset Cost More on a Resonator than a Guitar?

[Jason West]

Hi all.  I am looking at purchasing my first resonator and since I love 1930's guitars, I am looking at a 1930's Regal with a wood body and spider bridge.  Unfortunately, after all these years, it is in need of a neck reset.  Now I've heard that the cost of neck resets is usually more for resonators compared to acoustic guitars, but I am curious if that is usually in regards to metal bodied resonators or if all reso's usually cost more.   

I am in the SF Bay Area and am looking at getting the work done at Gryphon (that's how I found this site), but I want to make sure it is cost effective with the purchase cost and the reset.

Thanks,

Jason

[Russell Vance]

Jason,

Resonators have a neck stick which is a piece of wood going from the bottom of the neck heel back into the body and in old and new instruments this can become lose or out of tolerance w.r.t the neck 'set'  - similarly some of the fretboards are screwed to the body with screws usually hidden under fingerboard dots which can be finicky to save and remove on old instruments in the process of neck work.  The use of heavy strings on these older instruments generally means the necks have issues even without resets.

Given the rudimentary construction (think recycled plywood packing crates and "anyoldwood" necks) and the need to be very careful when touching anything on these instruments its not surprising that they attract a premium on detailed and major work.  There are also more repair guys doing 'standard' neck resets on acoustic guitars than are specialists in "Hubcaps"  - maybe bit of supply and demand economic theory in the price mix as well.

Gryphon will give you a quote - compare that to the usual range of acoustic neck reset prices if you are curious.  But, comparing Reso's to Acoustics is apples to oranges.   Gryphon are top of the food chain with repair quality so don't be misled by backyard quotes or kids prattling on the web about how they do work for free - it don't work like that, especially with instruments which may be worth something.

Nice to meet you Jason, good luck with your impending rattler,

Rusty.

[Joshua Levin-Epstein]

Greg Mirken, who appears around here on occasion, is well experienced with resonator guitars. You might want to talk to him, as well.

http://www.shadetreeguitars.com/index.html

[Frank Ford]

If you're buying an instrument that needs substantial work, make sure you find out specifically what that work will entail BEFORE you commit to buy.  Making assumptions or taking third party advice can make for an uncertain outcome. . .

[Jason West]

Thanks for all the replies guys.  I really appreciate the input.  I had never known about resonators having a neck stick.  Thanks Rusty.  You got me searching in the right direction and  I found a website that has some great photos of a resonator being repaired which has helped me understand these instruments a little bit better.

I'll check out Greg Mirken's site Joshua, thanks.  I am actually shooting a documentary up in Neveda City so I'll have to check out his shop on my next visit.

I hear you Frank about finding out specifically what needs done before proceeding.  The guitar is being sold by a reputable dealer that is also a repair shop.  I asked them what it would cost to have the repairs made and they said they are too busy at this time to do the repair and are selling as is.   That had me a bit nervous as I was thinking to myself "well if they don't want to do the repair than what other problems are there...."

[Rory]

Just my 2 cents, but I would suggest trying some modern dobros before you commit to an old one. Most hot slide players I know started on old vintage dobros but nowadays they play modern ones. To my ear (and probably theirs) old ply box dobros, built like tanks with lots of 'extra' glue have a very lets call it 2 dimensional sound. Good quality modern days dobros (say Beard or Scheerhorn) have a more complex, richer sound. You'll avoid a bunch of repair work and you'd be supporting a luthier that is alive and needing an income too. Just compare old Jerry Douglas recordings to modern ones, well there is no comparison.

Rory

[John Cartwright]

Hi folks,

I hope my question isn't too much of a digression from Jason's question, but his query brought up a memory of an unfortunate neck neck rest outcome experienced by a college art professor and good friend of mine some years back.  My late friend and mentor, Stan Sporny (AMAZING painter, by the way) had a vintage Dobro metal body, single resonator, that needed a neck reset back in the mid to late 1990's.  He called upon one of the two best luthiers in central West Virginia to do the work.  The luthier did a fantastic job when it came to cosmetics and finish of the neck-reset, but Stan swore that old Dobro never sounded the same afterwords, and not for the better.  As I recall, he said it lacked the sustain and "sweetness" it once had.  I know that the luthier in question was getting up in years at the time, so it's possible he wasn't quite up to his established reputation, but it always made me cautious about guitars that have had a neck reset and why I'm just now doing a neck reset on my 1948 Gibson LG-2 (with much sweating and a lump in my throat the whole way) though it's needed it since I purchased it in 1996.  (Doing my first neck reset with great success on my friend's Harmony Sovereign boosted my confidence enough to try my Gibson - Halfway through now on the LG-2, and things are going well.)

Anyway, my question of pertinence is this:  Is there a greater risk of negatively affecting the tone of a resonator guitar in performing a neck reset by comparison to the same surgery on a regular acoustic like a Martin or Gibson, etc.?

I certainly hope my query does not discourage Jason from making the purchase that he desires.  The above mentioned situation could be a very isolated situation, as I've had very little experience with resonators at all.  I've played them a few  times, and that's it! Just thought I would ask since Jason's question was in the ball park of my question.   Pardon any digression.

Thanks! 
 

[Greg Mirken]

John, the dowel stick has to rotate up toward the guitar's face as the neck rotates back. They are secured at a couple of points in the body by dowels attached to the dowel stick with brads and wood discs jammed against the body. When the neck is reset the dowels have to be replaced or shimmed because the clearances all change. It's possible in Mr. Sporny's reset that the position of these supports was changed, or even that the dowel stick now contacts the cone.

To answer your question, I suppose there's nearly as much risk of improving the tone on a resonator by doing a reset.

[John Cartwright]

That's very good to know, Greg.  I've never been inside one, so I had no idea. Time for some research, as I'm now very curious.

Thanks!