New Busker Resonator Guitar

[Sollophonic]

This is my new acoustic resonator. It is a Busker MM Blues, with 14 frets to the body. Busker guitars have produced these which are based on the specs of 1920/30s Nationals, and they have similar wide fingerboards, chunky necks, Continental cones, and unlike many low/med priced resonators have the neck angle set to give proper pressure on the cone, and have the neck stick through the body. This one has a heavy bell brass body, and is strung with 15-58 strings. Matt grey burst colour references the slightly later Nationals produced during the early 1930s.

Check them out at www.buskerguitars.co.uk

It sounds and plays superb. Unlike other resonators it works not only in open tunings such as G and D, but also sounds great in standard tuning as well, without the "banjo-like"  tone that other resos have. This guitar has been getting a lot of play time lately, and is my current go to guitar, its so addictive. Busker guitars have certainly raised the bar as far as mid priced acoustic resonators go, and this guitar is certainly a great guitar for the money, compared with the generic acoustic resonators on the market at the moment. With a heavy brass slide, this guitar is awesome!

[WezV]

i love it, maybe i would look better with a few palm tree's but that thing looks set to do the business and the blueish colour really sets it off

[FernandoDuarte]

STOP SHOWING RESONATORS, PLEASE!

The dollar is f*** expensive now, I've just moved and bought all forniture from the house and will have to sell the car because of it... and you guys KEEP temping me with those pictures... Damn you!!!!

[Sollophonic]

I prefer the painted Nationals than the shiny ones personally, so this guitar suits me fine. The shiny, embossed and bright coloured Nationals at the time were the ones made in the late 20s when times were good. This guitar apparently references the more austere ones made during the Depression of the early 1930s. I like the blue/grey colour, reminds me of a battleship. Tell you what its as heavy as one too!

STOP SHOWING RESONATORS, PLEASE!

The dollar is f*** expensive now, I've just moved and bought all forniture from the house and will have to sell the car because of it... and you guys KEEP temping me with those pictures... Damn you!!!!

Yes but these are made in the UK, and the £ is cheaper now!  :lol:

[AndyR]

Gorgeous looking thing :D

I was looking into them a while back and was severely tempted... but I'd just bought my Republic :roll:! I felt slightly less worried when I found they were built in the same small factory/shop in China. The Michael Messer series was commissioned by him and built under his direction, then like the other Buskers they're set up and marketed by Busker in Wales. The Republics are setup and marketed by a company in the US.

If I could justify another reso, yours is exactly the model I'd want :D

Have you ever seem Michael Messer live? He's a stunning guitarist.

[FernandoDuarte]

Yes but these are made in the UK, and the £ is cheaper now!  :lol:

Yes, £1 = R$3,37... :(

[38thBeatle]

Very nice indeed. I want a reso one day.

[opprobrium_9]

That's an awesome color!  I still need to try a resonator.

[MrBump]

I really like that.  It's different.

Ahhh, I feel a rendition of Romeo and Juliet coming on....

A lovestruck Romeo,
Sing a street-suss serenade...

[TheDev01dOne]

I'm gonna agree with Fernando here.. Stop showing me resonators!!

I want a Busker Delta so bad but can't really afford one at the moment. I prefer the finish on the delta with like an aged shiny finish.. I think it looks too clean and neat with the painted ones, maybe they should offer an aged painted finish aswell, that would look way better.

Beautiful guitar though man, pretty much everything I've heard about them has been great, definitely the way to go for a mid-range reso.

Also just to point out, pretty sure they're made in a Chinese factory and then setup in UK. They're made in the same factory as Republics in the US and the Michael Messer guitars aswell, they just get sent to different places for final setup etc.

[FernandoDuarte]

I want a tricone...

[Sollophonic]

I'm gonna agree with Fernando here.. Stop showing me resonators!!

I want a Busker Delta so bad but can't really afford one at the moment. I prefer the finish on the delta with like an aged shiny finish.. I think it looks too clean and neat with the painted ones, maybe they should offer an aged painted finish aswell, that would look way better.

Beautiful guitar though man, pretty much everything I've heard about them has been great, definitely the way to go for a mid-range reso.

Also just to point out, pretty sure they're made in a Chinese factory and then setup in UK. They're made in the same factory as Republics in the US and the Michael Messer guitars aswell, they just get sent to different places for final setup etc.

The finish on mine is pretty thin, and is already starting to "age" , especially the way and the amount I have been playing mine. I keep hitting the body with the slide when I play up the neck, where I strum with my fingers is starting to wear, and so is the handrest on the coverplate. So these are designed to "age" quite effectively, which is apparently what happened to the original painted Nationals.

And FernandoEsteves. I too would like a tricone, its my next purchase when I can afford it. They have the sweetest resonator tone IMO. Trouble is I would have to get one with 14 frets to the body, which means buting a National Resophonic. And they are serious money!

[FernandoDuarte]

which means buting a National Resophonic. And they are serious money!

I know

[TheDev01dOne]

Is there a difference between 14 frets and 12 frets to the body? Apart from the obvious of an extra 2 frets within easy reach?

[Sollophonic]

Is there a difference between 14 frets and 12 frets to the body? Apart from the obvious of an extra 2 frets within easy reach?

The only difference is that the body is slightly shorter, and has a few cubic inches less volume, which has a negligible effect on tone, the same as the diffrence between 12 and 14 fret acoustics. The 12 fret Busker models are steel bodied, I think (certainly the first batch were) and the 14 fret ones are bell brass. The scale length is the same and as such the fret spacing is. I was going to get a 12 fretter, but because I sometimes use a capo at the 2nd fret (and higher too), so having those extra two frets up there was right for me. I played a 12 fret version and I kept hitting the body with the slide (not that I dont do that on this one as well). I guess the solution would be a cutaway resonator, but you only get them on cheaper wooden bodied ones or on National Resophonics like the Radiotones and Bendaways.

If I want even higher slide neck access I play on a Sollophonic like in my avatar