Katana VentraIP

Resonator guitar

A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar (often called a "dobro"[1]) is an acoustic guitar that produces sound by conducting string vibrations through the bridge to one or more spun metal cones (resonators), instead of to the guitar's sounding board (top). Resonator guitars were originally designed to be louder than regular acoustic guitars, which were overwhelmed by horns and percussion instruments in dance orchestras. They became prized for their distinctive tone, and found life with bluegrass music and the blues well after electric amplification solved the problem of inadequate volume.

String instrument

Dobro

1920s

Medium

Fast

Resonator guitars are of two styles:


There are three main resonator designs:


Many variations of all these styles and designs have been produced under many brand names. The body of a resonator guitar may be made of wood, metal, or occasionally other materials. Typically there are two main sound holes, positioned on either side of the fingerboard extension. In the case of single-cone models, the sound holes are either both circular or both f-shaped, and symmetrical. The older tricone design has irregularly shaped sound holes. Cutaway body styles may truncate or omit the lower f-hole.

available from Regal

Basses

(see Resonator ukulele) produced by National and Dobro 1928-1940

Ukuleles

Banjos

Tenor guitars

and mandolas

Mandolins

Mountain/

Appalachian dulcimers

Viola guitars

As well as resonator guitars, resonators have been used on:

The National name is now used by , a company founded in 1987 and unconnected to the original National, specializes in reproductions of historic instruments of all brands, not just National pattern instruments.

National Reso-Phonic Guitars

The Dobro name has undergone several ownership changes throughout history, and has been owned by since 1993. Gibson manufactured Dobro branded instruments under its Epiphone division up to 2020. Since then, no Dobro branded instruments have been produced.

Gibson Guitar Corporation

The Regal name, similar to Dobro, has been bought and sold several times since its original owners went defunct; the name has been a brand of since 1987.

Saga Musical Instruments

a classical guitar that features an external resonator.

Brahms guitar

Slide guitar

Resonator guitars

maker of resophonic instruments

Chanticleer (UK)

Resonators Explained by Paul Kucharski

American fretted musical instrument makers (pre-Civil War to WWII)

– Vintage resonator guitars

Notecannons

Resonator Guitar Physics 412