DjangoBooks.com

Home› Guitars, Strings, Picks, Amps, Pickups and Other Accessories

Tricone - anyone use one?

13

Comments

  • Lango-DjangoLango-Django Niagara-On-The-Lake, ONModerator
    Posts: 1,855
    John Reynolds--- thanks for the tip, Jon. He's a guy after my own heart as he plays both six string guitar and plectrum banjo really well in the archaic style I love.

    I think we might be brothers from different mothers, because our hair styles look a lot alike, too!

    :-h
    Paul Cezanne: "I could paint for a thousand years without stopping and I would still feel as though I knew nothing."

    Edgar Degas: "Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.... To draw, you must close your eyes and sing."

    Georges Braque: "In art there is only one thing that counts: the bit that can’t be explained."
  • Lango-DjangoLango-Django Niagara-On-The-Lake, ONModerator
    edited May 2014 Posts: 1,855
    Hey, Jay, what do you think of this one? It's got a cutaway, a feature I like…

    http://www.kijiji.ca/v-guitar/markham-york-region/new-aiersi-steel-body-tri-cone-resonator-guitar-metal-chrome/561465279?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

    I think it's pretty nice-looking, but if the sound really sucks, I could do one of those Sheerhorn upgrades you recommend…?

    Will
    Paul Cezanne: "I could paint for a thousand years without stopping and I would still feel as though I knew nothing."

    Edgar Degas: "Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.... To draw, you must close your eyes and sing."

    Georges Braque: "In art there is only one thing that counts: the bit that can’t be explained."
  • rimmrimm Ireland✭✭✭✭ Paul doyle D hole, washburn washington
    Posts: 605
    I got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell
  • JazzaferriJazzaferri Victoria B.C.Moderator Dunn Ultrafox, DuPont MDC20 Gretsch Chet Atkins CG
    edited May 2014 Posts: 3,707
    @rimm certainly is a loud guitar...his intonation with slide is ...errrr....welllll.....don't quite know how to put it.......

    Will, I have never heard one but it looks like a biscuit bridge and Scheerhorn cones are for spider bridge. Cone goes the other way. Biscuit bridge top of cone is the centre and are centre loaded ......in a spider bridge style, the center of cone is the bottom and they are edge loaded. Quite different sound.
    The Magic really starts to happen when you can play it with your eyes closed
  • JazzaferriJazzaferri Victoria B.C.Moderator Dunn Ultrafox, DuPont MDC20 Gretsch Chet Atkins CG
    Posts: 3,707
    The original Selmacs had sound boxes but the generally accepted use of the term resonater guitar refers to those guitars which work on a similar principle to a loudspeaker and have a cone that creates the sound
    The Magic really starts to happen when you can play it with your eyes closed
  • Jeff MooreJeff Moore Minneapolis✭✭✭✭ Lebreton 2
    Posts: 476
    I love the sound of those guitars, but all had that plate over the bridge.
    Can't imagine not wanting to damp with the right hand.
    Can you tear the plate off? It must be protecting something or it wouldn't be there but what is it protecting?
    "We need a radical redistribution of wealth and power" MLK
  • JazzaferriJazzaferri Victoria B.C.Moderator Dunn Ultrafox, DuPont MDC20 Gretsch Chet Atkins CG
    Posts: 3,707
    If you damp on the bridge it has the same effect as placing a hand on the bridge and several hands on the back and sides of a regular guitar all at the same time. Plus one can damage the cone with just a little too much force.

    The Magic really starts to happen when you can play it with your eyes closed
  • Jeff MooreJeff Moore Minneapolis✭✭✭✭ Lebreton 2
    Posts: 476
    Sounds like hands off. I suspected the bridge and cone would be one unit. Is that whats going on?
    "We need a radical redistribution of wealth and power" MLK
  • JazzaferriJazzaferri Victoria B.C.Moderator Dunn Ultrafox, DuPont MDC20 Gretsch Chet Atkins CG
    Posts: 3,707
    In the tricones there is a netal bridge that connects to the centre of the three cones with a wood bridge insert that the strings run over,

    In a single cone spider bridge the wood inset sits in the spider bridge which transmits the vibes to the edge of the cones. I know two dobro layers that have removed the top part of the guards from the cover plates. Both are pros and are very careful to not over stress the cones with hand damping. Their results are stunning, but they both have been playing for decades.
    The Magic really starts to happen when you can play it with your eyes closed
  • Greg RubyGreg Ruby New
    Posts: 1
    Thanks Michael for bringing this conversation to my attention.

    Yes - I do own a National Resophonic Tri-cone and I love it!!

    I first became interested in the resophinic sounds of the National Tri-cone guitars from the music of Oscar Aleman as he played both a Selmer D-hole and a National Tri-cone.

    Since I discovered Oscar and Django around the same time, their legendary status has always been on equal footing in my mind. Through the years I have poured through the recordings of both artists and continue to find inspiration from their ideas and musical mastery. When I recorded Besame Mucho with Pearl Django, I borrowed heavily from Oscar's melodic work and during my years with Hot Club Sandwich, we recorded and performed many of Oscar's arrangements and repertoire. I am also starting to think that Oscar may have been the first jazz guitarists to also be a master at playing Choro as well.

    I have been transcribing many Oscar tunes for years. Finally, I am in the final stages for the upcoming DjangoBooks release of the Oscar Aleman Play Along Book vol. 1. complete with play along CD....sooo....

    And I thought a tri-cone would sounds great on it...and it does!!

    After meeting Mike Dowling at a music camp a few years back, I played one of his resonators made by the National Resophonic Guitar Company in San Luis Obisbo California and was hooked. http://www.nationalguitars.com/home.html These folks have carefully recreated the original design of John Dopyera and they sound great!! I highly recommend the book by Bob Brozeman on the history of National guitars. Anyhow, Mike put me in touch with Don Young at the National Resophonic Guitar Company and after many conversations with him, I acquired a nickel plated brass cut away tri-cone .

    Don and I talked on the phone quite a bit beforehand...I explained I wanted a sound similar to Oscar's for the CD/book, but also needed something that was versatile on the band stand since I would be using it both for rhythm and lead playing. I wanted sustain and warmth but also needed it to be crisp enough for rhythm playing. A cut-away would also let me get some of the higher notes I sometimes get carried with. Basically, I needed a jazz model not a blues guitar. We concluded a nickel plated brass cut away tri-cone would the instrument as nickel is a little warmer in tone. When I got it, I was blown away. It is a sophisticated instrument!

    Don also let me know that if there were any changes I thought should happen, let him know.

    After playing it for about 6 months, I sent it back down to get a new neck as the one on it had too severe a taper. It was too wide in the higher frets compared to the lower ones. They custom made a new neck with similar specs to my Favino in terms of neck width and scale. And since it was on the workbench, I extended the fretboard to 22 frets (high D). It is outstanding! These folks are so very easy to work with and so care about the player getting what they need!

    The guitar has a great dynamic range as the notes played lightly are still very full but when you play loud it has quite a bark. What strikes me most is the sustain...you can let one note ring! It also has very cool overtones. It also handles well as a rhythm guitar. It is really its own sound but it does everything I need it to do. That said, it is not nimble like a well set up Gypsy guitar.

    I had it on the band stand the other night with The Casey MacGill Hi Five - a 5 piece dance band. I use it regularly with the Bric-a-brac trio (accordion, guitar and bass), and the Post Alley Ramblers (New Orleans flavored jazz) and I use it with my 4 piece gypsy jazz group. I'm cutting a CD in September with the Rhythm Runners and plan to use it there too! I love everything about this guitar!

    Attached is a short audio sample (Out Chorus from Sweet Georgia Brown) from the upcoming Oscar play along...

    Happy playing and stay tuned for the book release!!

    ~greg

    MichaelHorowitzpickitjohn
Sign In or Register to comment.
Home  |  Forum  |  Blog  |  Contact  |  206-528-9873
The Premier Gypsy Jazz Marketplace
DjangoBooks.com
USD CAD GBP EUR AUD
USD CAD GBP EUR AUD
Banner Adverts
Banner Adverts
Sell Your Guitar
© 2024 DjangoBooks.com, all rights reserved worldwide.
Software: Kryptronic eCommerce, Copyright 1999-2024 Kryptronic, Inc. Exec Time: 0.025072 Seconds Memory Usage: 1.085861 Megabytes
Kryptronic