My thoughts on the Recording King Dirty 30's Minnie Bucker Resonator
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- čas přidán 2. 08. 2024
- I went Resonator hunting in Nashville and tried to find the best resonator in the price range of $300-$1000.
In this video I talk about some of the resonator I tried on my day out in Nashville where I did a little tour around some of the guitar stores in town, Fanny's House of Music, Gruhn Guitars, Carter's Vintage and Guitar Center. I tried out some resonators from Gretch, Gold Tone and Recording King but the one I bought in the end is the Recording King Dirty 30's Minnie Bucker.
The Minnie Bucker comes with a mini humbucker and in the video I did a little demo where I recorded the acoustic sound with a mic on the cone and blend it and compare it with the DI sound from the pickup.
Join me on this Nashville guitar store tour and let me know your thoughts.
You can find some of the Recording King resonators here:
thmn.to/thoprod/526357?partne...
You can support my work and get access to all of my exclusive TABS and theory lesson on my Patreon page: / kbald
00:00 Is the best best resonator I could find for under $999
00:51 What I was looking for
01:15 Nashville guitar store tour
04:19 The one I bought in the end
05:10 Acoustic vs pickup demo
05:39 Is it any good? - Hudba
What a cool trip & city to find a guitar. So awesome! Congrats (now gotta finish watching !)
I just got one and I’m in love with it. Same tuning nightmare at first but once I lubed the nut with some graphite, it fixed it right up. Tunes great and stays there. Fantastic instrument for the price. I love Recording King.
Very thorough review, thanks!
Thanks for the great review! Your guitar looks like it checks all the boxes for me too. Btw, I was in Iceland last Sept. and loved your country!
Great review . I'm shopping for a resonator , I just love the sound and been wanting to add one for the fun of it.
I have the same one, it was gc’s display so I got it for $109 a couple days after Christmas. I’m really pleased with mine.
Hope you enjoyed your trip to the US and thank you for the nice videos!
Thank you man! Had a great time in the US and we’re already planning our next trip ☺️
Thanks for the input on the intonation!
Hope you found it helpful ☺️
Based on your review i also bought one. The tuners and strings were awful, so i replaced those. It now stays in tune, plus i gave it a decent set up with a heavier string set. It works well. Thanks for taking the time to review this, i would have not bought it believing it junk as the price was low :-0
Hey, looking to buy one of these myself. Looks like you guys passed through my home town of Greensboro, NC. Hope you all enjoyed yourselves and left with a good impression. I am planning a trip to Iceland later this year and have heard so many wonderful things about your country. Thanks for the video, cheers!
Hey Ryan, we absolutely loved it on the trip and we’re definitely coming back one day ☺️
I’m sure you’ll love Iceland, there is a lot to see and do here 🇮🇸
If you’re interested you can get in touch on Instagram and I can give you updates on gigs etc 👍
@kbald_
SOUNDS GREAT
PERFECT PRICE
w/ lots of authentic dirtyness
I’m still learning but have seen advertisements for this guitar at Guitar Center every day for the last month and I love the music you make in your video.
If you ever come back to Nashville, I’ve got a beer waiting on ya. Thanks for the review
🤜🤛
Awesome man, glad you enjoyed the music. I’m looking forward to my next trip to Nashville ☺️
THank you for the video. I hope you had a good trip to the US South.
Thank you man 👍 Had a great trip and already looking forward to the next one ☺️
Never played one but didlay banjo with Hank Williams Sr's drummer who played Dobro in a city park in McMinnville, OR, back in the 80-s. Slide, has it's attractions but I'm mostly country/ bluegrass and rock.
With good strings it is amazing, a Woody sound between guitar and a banjo, the cone is very resonant. I personally like the fact it is not exotic wood because I prefer exotic woods when they are forest. Slide? Fingerpicking is as fine
One of the best guitar reviews I've seen! Thanks for making it. That is a really amazing guitar, now I want one! I'm interested to hear how it strums and slides in Open C, though. How about a Bon Iver cover? 😅
Thanks for your review.
My reso experience. It's long but hope it helps . . .
I have most of the metal resonators under 1 K USD (although now its prob 1200 USD range now) , the Gretsch (Fender) bobtail etc. They tend to have issues that early 90's import guitars, they either have tone and suck at playability, or tone is meh and the playability is fixable to where its good. HOwever I know friends who have brass body resonators made by resonator luthiers (4 K USD range) and they are great sounding and well playing, plus the weight is manageable (heavier compared to heaviest solid body electrics but . .. ). I have played a Mule, National, and one made by Mike Lewis. The Mike Lewis is probably the best sounding one and they all play really well. The Mule is musical and easy to play and notes blossom as they decay. The National has the bell cream tone of its tricones.
I have decided to stop messing with 1K and under and get something worth playing.
The only one I don't have is Royall, supposedly they are the best of the 1K - 1.5K range and have both tone and playabilty. They are imported but they mod them and possibly recone or trim the cones . . . But they are behind in orders and always out stock since 2021. I was going to inquire but I have a mule coming and so if I like that I'll just save up for a Mike Lewis and another mule (backup) and sell off the import ones.
They are all heavy. the RK 9 lbs +
Recording tricone WITH BASEball D neck, (RK has since changed it to 1.75 in and C neck, but mine is 1.8-1.9 in like original Nationals, TBH its almost like a dang classical guitar). It sounds beautiful, my friend has multi-nationals and he says it has the cream bell thing they got. I got it for 700 USD via guitar center deal, but now they are 1.2 K ish range. But it needs a neck reset (and I'd have to ship it out to a reso expert and the labor plus he has replace the saddle, and shipping is insane) and the action in the first five frets is credit card thick to mid pencil tip and by the body join it is 2 pinky thickness (almost is). I have shaved the saddle almost where the strings are touching the T brace. At first I was going to exchange it but the tone is unreal and GC had other RK metal tricones but they sounded so bad compared to mine, and I figured I could get it fixed later, so I kept it.
RK has changed their newer tricones, and seems they are better built and with playability (tone varies, and after checking 5 instances it doesn't nail the tone of mine) straight necks and regular C necks with 1.75 in nut. I have taken mine apart and the inside is almost exactly like my friend's Style 0 Tricone and has good cones, the thin spun ones. Other RK users have re-cone theirs with national cones. I also took the bracing (has power coat paint) and removed the paint (aluminum bracing) and its louder now and sustains even more. But I don't know how to reset the neck so I'll take it to someone. It has some sentimental value as this was my first acoustic (my mains are a student concert size taylor and epiphone DOT ES-335 ).
The Gretschs come with Fender's V neck. THe V neck is hella prounounced, unlike their vintage tele's or strats, that have the soft rolled v (oh how good that Eric Johnson strat soft V) . Action is Fender acoustic (a little high but easily remedied by nut and saddle adjustments). The bobtail is a spidercone with steel body, and it has acoustic pick up. It sounds like a regular acoustic, so it isn't unique, and the weight is high 9's, also it notes die quicker than a regular acoustic. I'm prob going to sell it, because if I wanted a regular acoustic, I'd get a taylor or yamaha around 600-800 USD and they are lighter. The Gretsch honey dipper is a different story. It has that classic banjo ish metal sound. It's a single cone and its brass body. It too is around 9 lbs, but I'll keep it for the unique sound it has. It's a little harsh, but when played with my finger / finger tips / pads its better.
The Republics are all tricones and all across the board with tone. They have playability and necks are great. I have brass one (best sounding one) that has a bell like tone, but it isn't as creamy or sustains like the recording king, but it was way easier to play and the neck is set right, and also has a 1.75 in neck so it feels like a stand acoustic C neck. They are set up well. I have a steel body one, and its just loud and jangly tone. The tone is unique but its more on the loud boomy side. I may keep it.
But if the mule is absolute (like my pal's) I'll probably focus on the luthier made ones and sell all cheap import resos (but keep the recording king)
thanks, this is just what I need I will have to order one in exactly that colour.
Awesome man, I’m sure you’ll be happy with it. Having that mini humbucker really makes the difference.
Nice story. Nice road trip. And the guitar sounds great. You don't have to spend thousands of $ to get a decent sounding resonator.
I just got one... Not bad. Fun to play. Better slide than finger picker.
That Gretsch Bobtail didn’t sound bad!
I digg ur Choose sounds good ✌️👍🎸
great video
Intonation is so important when buying any guitar, resonator guitar is not only for slide playing it’s great also for finger picking.
Indeed
Just watched a fairly new review on the particular model of which I thought I would purchase but this guy absolutely slated the extremely rough finish of the fret ends! He seemed genuinely shocked by this.
Recording King dirty 30's-- $229 was my choice after playing the expensive versions because historically 1930s musicians didn't have much cash, it has the Delta dirty sound that takes me straight back to the 1930s.. . ( I am never going to clean this guitar) I will have it worked on just a little bit , and put different tuners on it and a Shure 57 mic . Sometime I will buy a antique resonator after much searching.
Tu vídeo es muy completo y honesto, da una idea exacta de lo que ofrece el instrumento. Yo tengo actualmente un resonator de la marca Busker, pero estoy buscando un segundo dobro, con cuerpo de madera. He visto algunas buenas opciones en la marca Gretsch. Muchas gracias por la revisión. Saludos desde España. Like y suscripción. :)
¡Hola Matojo! Bienvenido a mi canal. Me alegra mucho que te haya gustado el vídeo y que te haya resultado útil. Me gustaron mucho los resonadores Gretch y tengo que decir que el Boxcar es una gran opción si buscas uno sin camioneta. Espero que encuentres un buen resonador de cuerpo de madera.
Saludos desde Islandia y espero que esta traducción haya salido bien.
@@Kbald me.pasas info ando buscndo 1 resonador
Thx for the informative and well-presented video!
I have an RK rattlesnake with the fishman Nashville pickup. I love playing it and share some of your observations of RK, but I am an upright bass player normally, so maybe not the best reviewer. Occasionally I hear some rattling (ha ha) inside the cones. Since I'm new to this type of instrument, I'm not sure if this normal or not, I suspect not. I find the Fishman Nashville internal pickup to be weak, I may need to buy a Fishman pre-amp for my belt to give it a boost.
Was wondering if you have ever listened to any of Chris Whitley's resonator work?
I have the fortune to live about 5 miles from Paul Beard's shop. If I progress on the instrument and can warrant upgrading, I may move up to a Goldtone. If you're ever back in the states sometime, and also moving up maybe we go over and visit Paul's shop here in Maryland.
Take care, I hope to come back and visit Iceland again sometime, I love your country!
Thank you 😊
Thank you for watching ☺️
Sound you got at around 3:40 very nice!
Thank you! This is is a mix of the Aston mic pointed at the cone and a direct signal going through my Kemper.
Sounds great. I think it sounded better with just the mic.
Kannaðist við hreiminn, geggjað myndband! Mun sennilega kaupa mér einn svona!
Já, hann þekkist víða hreimurinn 😅🇮🇸 Sá svona í Hljóðfærahúsinu um daginn á um 70þús.
Sé pínu eftir að hafa ekki keypt sqareneck þar sem ég er farinn að spila meira á hann eins og lap steel.
@@Kbald já haha, ég sá hann einmitt til sölu þar og ákvað þessvegna að kíkja á CZcams á einhver myndbönd um hann. Takk fyrir svarið!
Hi, thanx for the review! Could you do a tutorial on your slide playing? All the best, cheers 👍
I have the Recording King RR 36 round and it sounds very similar and very loud
Great review. What do you think now? And what's was your favorite? I am looking but I cannot travel much these days
Hi, I really love the plugged in sound, I saw you had it di through a Kemper but was wondering if there was a particular setting or if it was in the style of a certain amp as it seems to work really well with that guitar style?
Hey - very similar story here! I was in Nashville last week and bought this guitar at Fanny's. Just one quick question: have you had to set up this guitar for slide playing? I feel it's almost playable the way it is but perhaps could do with slightly higher strings. What do you think? Many thanks!
Tasty!
Thanks!
Very cool. Did you intentionally go to America to buy a resonator? Or was this a family vacation and you decided while you're there you may as well make a youtube video buying a guitar? I think you made a great choice in the end. Looks / sounds fantastic. I like how you got into the local garb: Nashville shirt, cowboy hat, etc. PS: Just read no volume knob for your guitar's pickup. doh
You made the right choice and for far less than $1000. Sounds great, amped or not.
Thanks for your honesty review, i would buy this guitar but listen the harley benton clr custom line, for 100$ difference maybe it's good guitar resonator with gold tone, can you tell if try these guitar?
Hey Alex and thank you for checking out my video. I haven’t tried out those Harley Benton’s yet but will definitely look them up.
They were in constant backorder and I had to get a black one instead, it plays fine after my usual adjustments.
Small first-test video: czcams.com/video/DctLIem5YJI/video.html
Intonation will be out because the action is high for slides, so you can’t judge it the same way
What brand and size strings do you use/recomend?
Wonder what could be changed to help it stay in tune.
I have D'addarios on my Recording King Minnie Bucker currently. I want to put on Elixur mediums, to get a louder tone but I'm concerned it will put too much tension on the tuners. Do you thinnk it's okay?
Are these made with solid, real wood or a Masonite type board material? Ive heard both… thanks,
Raylan
I've been wanting a resonator guitar since forever. I'm attracted to the metal body models, but they seem to sound like a tin can. My logic dictates that a wood resonator would have a warmer sound. I don't know which one to get?
The guitar you're playing, and maybe any resonator guitar, kinda' has a banjo sound to them. All in all, they sound great.
I think you are right, the wooden body resonators have a warmer sound. Maybe try the Gretsch metal body I talked about in the video, that one has a pretty warm sound actually.
@@Kbald Yes, the Gretsch Honeydipper is also on my list.
I've been checking out the guitars at Royall Resonator Co., Regal, Recording King and the Epiphone Dobro Hound Dog. I don' want to spend more than $1,000.00.
Cool story bro
Thank you 🙏☺️
Gott stöff! Gaman að sjá Íslending með svona vandaða youtube rás 😄
Er einmitt að fara til Austin yfir páskana, spurning hvort að einhver resonator laumist með heim ef ég finn einhvern sexy 😎
Takk fyrir það ☺️ Góða skemmtun í Austin 🎸🇺🇸
Hmm, played it, not impressed at all. Waiting to check out a Gretsch
The Gretsch Boxcar is amazing, really liked that one. Doesn’t come with a pickup though, at least not the one I tried.
If you don't mind the extra weight of the bell brass body the Gretsch Honey Dipper is a truly great resonator for the price. I added the Justin Johnson surface-mount humbucker and couldn't be happier.
republic guitars are far superior for the price
thanks from sweden 🇸🇪👍
Takk frá Reykjavik 🙏🇮🇸🎸☺️