I've just installed some genuine National cones into my 'Vintage' AMG3 Tricone, and the difference is amazing. The sound is now richer, fuller and more Delta. Before this I thought I'd get very little benefit from National cones, but now I realise they make all the difference. It looks like I've got to record something to share this with you ezFolks. Listen out! TJ

Marty Smith has just asked me for more information about my metal TRICONE resonator, so for all those who want to know, here goes. It is a shiny nickel-plated brass and mechanically amplified guitar, a prewar design.

Back in the late 1920s banjos in bands were getting louder (and they still are!) by adding a resonator plate at the back to reflect the sound forwards. In fact they were drowning out the guitar players so in 1927 in the guitars defense Dr John Dopyera and associates at NATIONAL Guitars came up with the TRICONE resonator guitar design. The strings vibrate 3x6" diameter inverted thin aluminium cones built into the body. These act like speakers and throw the sound out. In fact when playing at first it I thought it was muted, but then found out it is very directional as the people in front of me were cupping their ears.....The cones needed heavy strings to vibrate them, and the high string tension meant the guitar had to be strong. A beefy mahogany 'V' neck and a metal body were the answer. The metal body is an Art Deco piece of art, it could just hang on the wall as decoration. Some models also have elaborate designs of flowers or Hawaiian hula girls etched into them. Original examples are much prized by collectors.
The TRICONE design came first, then cheaper single cone models followed in both wood and metal guitar bodies. The TRICONE is however still considered to be the ideal resonator for playing slide. Most people have seen the famous shiny metal STYLE 'O' as seen on the Dire Straits album cover. These characteristically have a round silver sieve plate under the bridge which covers and protects the cone. The DOBRO guitar (short for DOpyera BROthers), as played by county musicians, is another type of single cone resonator with the metal cone facing outwards like a conventional speaker. It is also known as a spider bridge resonator as the cone is vibrated via a bridge attached to the rim of the cone by spokes. Shortly after the National resonators hit the shops Blues players adopted them as they were loud and have a special raw sound that we now associate with those prewar blues, metallic and emotive. Even the humble UKE has not escaped this reso treatment and there is a resonator Uke made today by National.

The electric guitar came and of course the rest is history. Somehow though the resonators never went away, as electric guitar to date cannot faithfully reproduce that strange metallic sound of a slide on an acoustic resonator guitar. Recently cheaper Chinese and European copies of these resonator guitars have made them more affordable. They have opened up the bottom end of the market. At the top end though a National is still seen as the ultimate resonator to own. I admit that my TRICONE is a Chinese copy as my funds were limited, but every new resonator owner like me secretly harbors a desire for an original old 1930s National resonator, a guitar that wears it history with pride, a guitar that has accumulated plenty of MOJO on the way from all those who have played it.....Even Paul Simon could not resist when he sang 'The Mississippi Delta shining like a National guitar' ......Perhaps I was born fifty years too late and on the wrong continent as those old slide blues played on a resonator still make my heart skip a beat.
Regards TJ

You never stop learning and music is no exception. I've had a great year here on ezFolks listening to all you ezFolkers and producing some tracks of my own. Being part of this friendly community has been fun and very stimulating. A few words can make a lot of difference so thanks for all the support (and leg pulling) I've had from all of you ezFolks on the Forum. In my own way I've tried to encourage new ezFolkers, most of whom have now gathered momentum and are unstoppable! Watch out world.
Richard, thanks for creating and maintaining ezFolks.

I have honed my skills at recording and now I'm set on writing some new material........ Best Regards from Oxford, UK.