Resonator Uke

Darthouellet

Darthouellet

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Hi everyone,

I just want to know your opinion about resonator ukulele. What is the big difference between a "normal uke" and a resonator uke ? Do we still have the usual ukulele sound when we play with one of those? Is there any brands that you can suggest to me.

Thanks for your time

Josh
 
Im not sure if this applies to your question. But, a resonator would make your Uke louder, and probably more sustain. I just made a resonator for my Banjo Uke from a solid piece of 5/8" thick mahogany. It mounts on the back of the open banjo bucket. It makes the sound much more rich, and fuller than without it. It is also quite a bit louder now. Not sure how it would go on a standard bodied Ukulele, but it is basically a "sound board". Same principal as a sound board in a piano or other instrument. You see them quite often mounted on the back side of banjos. I also have one on my standard sized tenor banjo.
 
If you mean resonator as in dobro/national type with a cone - those I've heard are still "ukey" but louder, though the tone becomes a bit twangy and may be of a nature to irritate the ears. I had a pretty nice one, but I didn't play it for long sessions because I'd get "ear"itated.
 
I have played one of those resonator ukes, and they are louder and have a more "metallic" sound. The one I tried had a resonator cone and a metal body. It was pretty heavy, but had more "edge" to it's sound. Just like a banjolele, I think it is great for certain types of songs, but not ideal as your only ukulele. I think I would prefer a wooden body with the cone, which would maybe soften the sound a bit. String choice would be important too.

This site has a couple http://www.instrumentalley.com/SearchResults.asp (go to second page to see Recording King)
As for brands (these are more expensive) National http://www.nationalguitars.com/instruments/ukuleles/koa/koa.html, mya-moe ukulele http://www.myamoeukuleles.com/Available/available resonator.html and Beltona http://www.beltona.net/nav/welcome.htm

Ohana was working on one, but it hasn't come out yet. It will be interesting to see what price in comes in at. Their cones are made in the UK.

–Lori
 
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The difference is the similar to the difference between a standard acoustic guitar and a dobro. The ones I've played were louder, but not all that much, and the sustain wasn't that much better than a standard uke. They sure do have a cool sound, though, especially for bluesy / country / bluegrass stuff. And like a dobro, slide riffing is awesome. It's on my bucket list for sure to have one, just for the occasional forray into that sort of sound - a novelty perhaps, but another color for the pallet. I'd even put steel strings on there in an open tuning for the full-frontal bluegrass assault - a true mini-dobro sound!
 
I have one. It is a metal dobro style "Recording King" and I like it, but I am not sure what to do about the action..it is really low and the bridge is right on the resinator thingy and that seems to be a bit crooked...I wish I knew more about how the thing was constructed and/or knew how to adjust the action...and do repairs....I guess I could experiment by taking off the front plate to see what goes on under there....
Anyway...
The sound is brighter and more resonant than my banjolele....but um...yeah..I hate the action on my particular instrument.
 
I've also got a Recording King resonator. The action on mine is decent enough, so I guess I got lucky. :)

The added sustain is nice; I can finally get full payoff for techniques like hammer-ons and pull-offs. It's a lot louder than my other sopranos (other than the Fluke) and has a nifty bluegrass twang. The trade-off is that the cone amplifies certain tones at the expense of others, so it sounds more tinny and loses some richness.
 
poopylungstuffing said:
I have one. It is a metal dobro style "Recording King" and I like it, but I am not sure what to do about the action..it is really low and the bridge is right on the resinator thingy and that seems to be a bit crooked....
Click to expand...
The slightly crooked bridge might be a "compensated bridge". Is it slightly lower on the G string side?
–Lori
 
It actually seems to slant down from the g side...Also, there are string grooves, but if the g string is in it's groove, it goes completely flat...it resonates when it is sitting outside of the groove, but it is buzzy...The bridge seems to be rough hewn and not well proportioned and the resinator is kinda crooked inside it's chamber...but I don't know who normal that is.
When I first got my resinator uke, I don't remember the action being so low for some reason
 
Darthouellet said:
Hi everyone,

I just want to know your opinion about resonator ukulele. What is the big difference between a "normal uke" and a resonator uke ? Do we still have the usual ukulele sound when we play with one of those? Is there any brands that you can suggest to me.
Josh
Click to expand...
I reviewed a Republic reso on my web site. Fun, great sound, but sadly a concert (I'm a tenor devotee) and had friction tuners not geared (which means no steel strings). Very banjo-ukish in sound, albeit not as plinky or brash. Could be dynamite with steel strings - nylon is a little too soft and flat for my impressions of a reso sound (I've owned a few guitar resos).
 
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