National vs. Gold Tone Resonator Ukes

Curly Koa

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Has anyone been able to do a side-by-side comparison of these two resonator brands in person? I'm wondering whether the National sounds that much better . . . I have played a National and loved it. Played a Kala and hated it.
 
Have you played the new Kala tenor reso with the larger cone? Wonder how much better it sounds than the original one.
 
I had one of the brass body import resonator ukuleles. I'm pretty sure they are all made to the same specs in China. It had bad tuners, a factory setup, bad intonation etc. By the time I had the tuners and the biscuit replaced and spent time getting the thing positioned for better intonation, it was loud but not a sweet as a National. The National cones are hand spun by craftsmen and they make a huge difference vs a mass produced stamped out cone.
I don't know where Kala gets their cones from. I tried a Kala concert size last year and was not impressed by it.
I tried Lil' Rev's Mya-Moe resonator a few years ago and became smitten. Mya-Moe does use National cones. There are a few other uke builders that use National (Russ Morin is the first one that comes to mind) cones.
There are a few that make their own cones such as Ron Phillips. Del Rey describes her Phillips uke "Cuter than a basket of kittens-and ten times as loud!" http://metalgitar.com/
 
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I tried a gold tone quite awhile back and wasn't impressed. I have a national now and love it, but have not had a chance to play them back to back to compare.

The Phillips resonators are incredible, Del Rey did a concert and workshop here about a week ago and her instruments sounded fantastic. they are way out of my price range though.
 
It is quite possible that any National instrument will be superior to similarly designed instruments at any price. I own a National Estralita wood body biscuit cone guitar and the construction is impeccable.

At 25-30 % of the price of a National Resonator uke, the GT Resouke sounds and feels pretty much like one would expect of a uke at that price point.

National's construction techniques and attention to detail result in a uke that is a pleasure to hear and play. You might luck out and get a GT Resouke that sounds good, but I seriously doubt that it will sound or play as good as a National.
 
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It is quite possible that any National instrument will be superior to similarly designed instruments at any price.

I have to second that - the lower-priced resonators out there that I've tried (Recording King and GT are the two that come to mind) have been underwhelming, whereas the Nationals are downright sweet. While I didn't do a side by side comparison, I did play several of the lower priced ones at different times and frankly, hated them all and thought I just disliked resonators. Then I encountered my first National and that changed my mind; I don't dislike resonators, I just dislike low-end resonators :)
 
The only thing I don't like about the Nationals is that they only make a 15 1/2" scale size that's midway between a soprano and a concert.
The builders I mentioned earlier, Mya-Moe and Big Rusty, build tenor size resonators using the National cones. I foolishly passéd on a used Philips 5 string tenor reso a couple years ago. It never dawned on me that I could have just removed the unwanted extra g string
 
The only thing I don't like about the Nationals is that they only make a 15 1/2" scale size that's midway between a soprano and a concert.

They'll do a tenor as a custom - not exactly inexpensive, but then none of their instruments are :)
 
Old thread. I have a GT concert Reso-Uke, and I like it. I was surprised at the quality and tone. I've spent a few minutes with a National, A bit closer to perfection with a slightly better tone. But with a one year wait and six times the GT price? It only took two weeks to find a GT (they sell out of stock pretty quickly). I couldn't find any issues with the quality of construction, intonation, or set up. At least 80% equal of a National for 1/6th the price and 1/26th the wait. The only negative was having to buy a hard case separate from another company. I don't like gig bags.
 
I have both. I play the gold tone more routinely. I find it easy to tune, play, etc.

The National is from the 1980's. It was completely restored by National. The tuners are not as smooth. But it certainly has that Resonator twang.

I'll need to do a test run on the two. If I can pull it together I'll try to play the two and a Sound Smith Resonator I also have.

Wish me luck 🤞
 
no mention of the Beltona...mine rings like a bell...raspy as a 19th century blackshith's shop and loud, loud loud...beautiful workmanship
and while not a ukulele, my Republic HWY49 RESONATOR tenor guitar is all those things too.
 
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