Great idea making the masonite work, I was just curious. I've thought about building a "home depot" bass lately, just to see if I could, and this is inspirational, albeit a cut well above what I'll be doing...
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Something Different. My newest resonator bass.
- Thread starter moonshinegtrs
- Start date
yikes that looks good. ive been looking into a resonator guitar for a bit now, but hell that was before id seen a resonator bass as nice as this one! i eagerly await the clippage
Love the sound of a resonator guitar - almost tempted me to learn guitar instead of bass. 
Looking forward to seeing and hearing a long scale (34 inch scale) version.
Will visit your site from time to time and start saving my pennies.
Good luck.
RJM
Looking forward to seeing and hearing a long scale (34 inch scale) version.
Will visit your site from time to time and start saving my pennies.
Good luck.
RJM
- Jan 28, 2009
- 2,929
- 4,152
- Disclosures
- Owner: Moonshine Custom Guitars
I offer a Bartolini system that allows blending between the two pickups(volume & tone still passive),as well as a full on active Bartolini preamp as options. The standard set up is passive volume/tone with the lipstick p/u on at all times and the piezo activated by a push/push switch on tone pot. Moonshine.
Sound clips coming...
- Jan 28, 2009
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- Owner: Moonshine Custom Guitars
Just a quick update: I am finally getting sound and video clips of both the Resolectro Bass and a guitar version(you know,that other instrument,with the skinny strings)recorded next week. The video portion will even be in high definition(I have no idea if that actually matters,sure sounds cool though!). I will be posting a couple of clips here and have the rest available to see/hear at my website. I owe a huge "Thanks,Man!" to an endorsee of mine: Danny Lee Ramsey(Link Removed) for helping me out with this,because though I know my way around a pin router,I pretty much turn into Homer Simpson when it comes to studio stuff. To everyone who has commented and/or has contacted me,Thank you for your patience and your interest. God bless... Moonshine (www.moonshineguitars.com)
- Jan 28, 2009
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- Owner: Moonshine Custom Guitars
I just got my sound clip for my Moonshine resolectro Bass. As a bonus, My endorsee and great friend; Danny Lee Lamsey also had a video clip recorded at the same time. I also had the same done for my Resolectro guitar as well. Here's a link for both:
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This is as beautiful to look at as it is to listen to.
How did you make the resonator? How many hours on it?
Just being curious!
How did you make the resonator? How many hours on it?
Just being curious!
- Jan 28, 2009
- 2,929
- 4,152
- Disclosures
- Owner: Moonshine Custom Guitars
Thanks for your interest. I've been building resonator basses since 2000. I was looking for an alternative to the standard acoustic bass guitar,which I find to be an oxymoron,because they can't really be useful unless they have electronics & are plugged in.
I started out making them quite deep(up to 5 1/4"!) in an effort to increase the volume,I find that the resonator adds more midrange to the instrument, thus allowing it to "cut through" when being played with other acoustic instruments. Unfortunately, the deeper bodies seem to lose bass frequencies(it is my belief that the soundwaves cancel each other out between those bouncing off the back and those coming off the cone in the deeper bodies).
I did have success in building an acoustic resonator bass using the standard "Dobro' thickness(3 1/4"). The best wood combination turned out to be solid mahogany back & sides with a spruce top and a 3pc. mah/walnut/mah. neck with a brazillian rosewood fingerboard. The body did use a soundwell and I found that the neck angle was crucial in the acoustic output of the bass.
After building a customer a thin body resonator guitar(1 7/8" thick). I was really impressed with the volume of the instrument acoustically, he actually mic'd it in the studio,not plugging it in at all. It stood out in the mix really well.
That is what gave me the idea to build a thin body reso. bass. It has contiuously evolved over the years and while I think that the solid wood long scale model has the best acoustic tone, the Resolectro model, which is a short scale instrument with a body that consists of high grade pine/swamp ash frame and masonite for the top and back really nails that old school 60's hollowbody bass tone when plugged in and still has quite a bit of volume when played acoustically. The thin body models do not use a soundwell.
As for the amount of time involved in building these; I have worked very hard designing these to be built as production instruments, utilizing templates along with pin routers, which allows me to build a high quality instrument, while keeping labor cost to as much of a minimum as possible. At this time, If I were to concentrate on solely building these instruments(I currently do a large volume of repairs, as well as my production), I could build six instruments a month. I do operate a one man operation.
Once again, I thank everybody for their interest. I am now building a baritone(Tic-Tac) version of the Resolectro as well as a semi hollow bass version minus the resonator. I will have photos of these instruments as they are completed.
God Bless. Moonshine.
I started out making them quite deep(up to 5 1/4"!) in an effort to increase the volume,I find that the resonator adds more midrange to the instrument, thus allowing it to "cut through" when being played with other acoustic instruments. Unfortunately, the deeper bodies seem to lose bass frequencies(it is my belief that the soundwaves cancel each other out between those bouncing off the back and those coming off the cone in the deeper bodies).
I did have success in building an acoustic resonator bass using the standard "Dobro' thickness(3 1/4"). The best wood combination turned out to be solid mahogany back & sides with a spruce top and a 3pc. mah/walnut/mah. neck with a brazillian rosewood fingerboard. The body did use a soundwell and I found that the neck angle was crucial in the acoustic output of the bass.
After building a customer a thin body resonator guitar(1 7/8" thick). I was really impressed with the volume of the instrument acoustically, he actually mic'd it in the studio,not plugging it in at all. It stood out in the mix really well.
That is what gave me the idea to build a thin body reso. bass. It has contiuously evolved over the years and while I think that the solid wood long scale model has the best acoustic tone, the Resolectro model, which is a short scale instrument with a body that consists of high grade pine/swamp ash frame and masonite for the top and back really nails that old school 60's hollowbody bass tone when plugged in and still has quite a bit of volume when played acoustically. The thin body models do not use a soundwell.
As for the amount of time involved in building these; I have worked very hard designing these to be built as production instruments, utilizing templates along with pin routers, which allows me to build a high quality instrument, while keeping labor cost to as much of a minimum as possible. At this time, If I were to concentrate on solely building these instruments(I currently do a large volume of repairs, as well as my production), I could build six instruments a month. I do operate a one man operation.
Once again, I thank everybody for their interest. I am now building a baritone(Tic-Tac) version of the Resolectro as well as a semi hollow bass version minus the resonator. I will have photos of these instruments as they are completed.
God Bless. Moonshine.
Wow! That is really cool. I hadn't thought it possible for a body that thin to be so loud acoustically. Definitely the best spin on the resonator instruments that I've ever seen.
That is really inspiring. I was going to build an acoustic bass for my girlfriend for Christmas. She's been complaining about only having a so-so guitar to bring to acoustic jams. She's really a bassist, not a guitarist (and previously a church organist).
I'm schooled in solidbody and semi-hollow construction only, so this seems to open up some new possibilities. Would an 1+3/4" resonator body be loud enough for acoustic jams?
That is really inspiring. I was going to build an acoustic bass for my girlfriend for Christmas. She's been complaining about only having a so-so guitar to bring to acoustic jams. She's really a bassist, not a guitarist (and previously a church organist).
I'm schooled in solidbody and semi-hollow construction only, so this seems to open up some new possibilities. Would an 1+3/4" resonator body be loud enough for acoustic jams?
