A friend of mine recently bought a dogbowl resonator cbg on Etsy. To be honest, it didn't have much "resonator" to it, but was built well and played in tune. A friend of his saw it and wanted a resonator cbg of his own. Long story short, I got the commission.
I know lots of you have made dogbowl, paint can lid, etc resonators, but for the life of me, I couldn't find one locally that had any more than a dull metallic "thunk" sound. Probably looked like an idiot scouring local stores and thrifts flicking various pan lids and bowls hoping for something musical. Anyway, I went back to the drawing board.
While researching resonator guitars on Wikipedia, I discovered that National's original design used 3 aluminum cones and a T-shaped bridge. They called it a "tricone". They added the more popular single cone version to the line a couple of years later. Further research revealed that tricones are still out there and are preferred by many players for their balanced tone - not as harsh or in-your-face as the single cone variety - yet still distinctly a "resonator". So a tricone it was. Now, where to find cones that will fit in a CBG...?
As it turns out, the bottoms of Arizona Tea cans are perfect. They're larger that normal aluminum cans and, if you shave off the cylinder part, it leaves a nice, domed surface that is ridiculously strong.
Now, three holes for the ridged bottom to sit in, a maple T-bridge and a cedar brace on the backside (which got shaved down quite a bit in the end).
Most of the rest is pretty standard stuff - neck-through, notched box (I made the box) and a 25" scale. Since the bridge has to be further in on the body, the neck was a bit longer than ususal. 23 frets, to be exact. Getting the bridge location and neck angle right was a bit of a challenge. There was only a minor bit of bridge adjustment possible and the string height couldn't change much either. Measure twice, cut once? More like measure 10 times, and cut with your fingers crossed. Ultimately, it worked!
For the pickup, I borrowed an interesting design from Highlander. They make a magnetic pickup specifically for tricone guitars. Single coil under the bridge with a piece of steel mounted on the bridge. Picks up any movement in any axis. Pretty interesting. And it really works! Would benefit from a preamp but the tone is there.
This was a fun build and I have another order already. Pretty happy with the Tricone! Be sure to scroll to the bottom for a quick sample video.
Comment
Thanks Grandpa! Yes, I use a zero fret on all my guitars and ukes. I think they work great. I use super jumbo fret wire for the zero and medium/medium for the rest of the frets. The "nut" is just a string guide. The slots are carved deep. For me, this guarantees that my string height will always be correct. Also seems to improve intonation, sustain and makes tuning smoother too. I'm a fan.
Hal, it looks like you built your tricone using a zero fret with a "false nut" string tree. How does that work for you?
Great lookin' tricone, Hal. Sounds like a good player. I, too, built a dog bowl git, and while it was a fun build, it also was dull sounding. I ultimately converted it to a "big box" license plate git, much better sound to me. I am starting another reso- git today, using a real resonator. You have set the bar high! Maybe a tricone in my future. We'll see. Again, congrats.
I remember barefoot cajun did one of these a few years back and it worked well, he used ali. beer cans, nice job Hal
Started by Bill Andy in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Southern Ray on Tuesday. 11 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Bill Andy in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Taffy Evans on Sunday. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by J. D. Woods in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 26. 8 Replies 1 Like
Started by Southern Ray in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 26. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by J. D. Woods in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by BrianQ. Apr 25. 4 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Rich Butters in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Crazed Fandango Apr 22. 4 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Nomad Jack in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by J. D. Woods Apr 17. 7 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Moritz Voegeli in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 14. 6 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Apr 10. 14 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Tom T in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 9. 9 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Southern Ray in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 4. 7 Replies 1 Like
Started by Timothy Hunter in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 27. 1 Reply 2 Likes
Started by Taffy Evans in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 10. 1 Reply 3 Likes
Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by BrianQ. Mar 9. 4 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies 1 Like
Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Ken I in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Brian partington Mar 8. 8 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Southern Ray in Cool gear discussion - that's not cigar box related. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 6. 5 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Taffy Evans in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 5. 4 Replies 2 Likes
Posted by Vlad on March 31, 2024 at 11:48pm 0 Comments 1 Like
Posted by Vlad on March 6, 2024 at 2:32am 5 Comments 2 Likes
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 28, 2024 at 2:09pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 17, 2024 at 11:00pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by Vlad on February 11, 2024 at 1:06am 1 Comment 1 Like
May 11, 2024 from 11am to 8pm – Speakeasy Grill
0 Comments 0 LikesMay 30, 2024 from 6:30pm to 10pm – The Casual Pint of Huntsville
0 Comments 0 Likes© 2024 Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker. Powered by
Cigar Box Nation is presented by C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply, your one-stop-shop for Cigar Box Guitar parts and accessories!
You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!
Join Cigar Box Nation