resonator guitars

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Resonator_guitar

Weber

Weber Fine Acoustic Instruments originated in 1997 in Bozeman, Montana when Bruce Weber, Joe Schneider, Bob McMurray, Steve Birch and Paula Lewis established the Sound to Earth shop in Bruce's barn. Bruce Weber et al. had been employees of the Gibson owned Flatiron mandolin and banjo company in Bozeman but when Gibson decided to relocate mandolin production to Nashville they opted to stay in Montana and start their own traditional instrument building company. By 1998 they had moved from Bruce's barn to their own workshop in Belgrade, Montana and had a product line-up of around 20 mandolins as well as mandolas, octave mandolins, and mandocellos. The company moved again in 2004 to larger premises at the old Logan school, 25 miles west of Bozeman.

Moondog

Moondog Guitars was a short lived acoustic guitar & violin brand established in 2007 in Cardiff, UK by Tim Nicolai, a professional acoustic guitarist since the 1980s. The company operated mainly through mail order - with a 14 day approval period so people could try each instrument at home before committing to keep it. Their range of Moondog guitars from the Grand Concert down to the Wolf were hand made by a small team of experienced luthiers (in China?).

Source: Moondog Guitars website (archived 2007)

Melofonic

Melofonic acoustic guitars were made by Valco from the 1940s to 1960s. Some were "faux resonator" guitars - with a metal resonator plate on the front of the guitar - but no actual resonator cone in the body.

Source: 1001 Guitars to Dream of Playing Before You Die By Terry Burrows. Hachette, 2018.

McCormick

Mac McCormick apprenticed from 1965 to 1967 with Leo Erickson, a notable luthier, in Omaha, Nebraska. He then founded his own business McCormick Guitars, and moved his shop from Ralston, Neb., to San Jose, Ca., Lubbock, Tx., and in 1987 he settled in Columbus, Georgia.  McCormick loves to make instruments from scratch and has made over 350 instruments, no two exactly the same.

Source: McCormick Guitars website (6 March 2018)

Maudal (Music Machines - M^3)

Maudal Music Machines (M3) are custom electric guitars made by Martin Maudal. Muadal previously worked with a chainsaw on a small tree crew. He used that opportunity to hand pick some tone wood supplies- maple, walnut, ash, alder, cherry, sycamore, apricot, plum and many others native (or transplanted varieties) to the Claremont Ca area. Any woods used that he can't get locally are sourced from sustainable supplies. Maudal builds every M3 guitar by hand, one at a time. His unique designs include the Maudal Woodface which bridges electric 6-strings and resonator guitars - aiming for a tonal combination of Strat with biscuit resonator cone.

Source: Maudal Music Machines article (1 March 2018)

Magno Tone

Magno-tone resonator guitars were made by Dobro and included the Cyclops and double Cyclops guitar (with a single central screenhole was or two smaller ones in a single frame respectively). Dobro typically used the Magno-Tone, for the instruments sold through Montgomery Ward. The single Cyclops were made from around 1932 to 1933 and were then replaced by the double-Cyclops guitars made from 1933 to 1936.  Some Magno-tones were made by Regal.

Source: The Hawaiian Steel Guitar and Its Great Hawaiian Musicians. Lorene Ruymar. Centerstream Publications, 1996

Source: Vintage Dobros: A Guide. Tom Gray. Vintage Guitar Magazine. June 1999.
 

Madill

New Zealand folk musician Peter Madill started making guitars using skills learned from a cabinet-making apprenticeship in the 1960s. He joined a violin repair business in 1973 which became The Stringed Instrument Company, a haven for musicians wanting anything from repairs to a custom builds. Madill was making guitars, mandolins and violins for New Zealand's top folk musicians but stopped making insturments in 1987 - in search of a more stable income. In 2007 Madill moved back to Dunedin and began making guitars again.

Source: Madill Guitars & Violins website (5 February 2018)

Liberty

Bill Blue established Liberty Guitars in 1987 in rural New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Liberty produced inexpensive resophonic guitars until around 2010. In 2001 Bill descibed how the company got its name:

Lebeda

Jirí Lebeda has been making musical instruments since 1978. Lebeda plays in a bluegrass band in the Czech republic, and he concentrates on making bluegrass instruments - mandolins and resophonic guitars in particular. No private businesses were allowed in the Czech (socialist) Republic when Lebeda first started, he worked part-time until restrictions were lifted in 1989. Since then  Lebda has sold his mandolins and resophonic guitars on the international market.

Source: Lebeda Guitars website (12 December 2017)

Kendall (Colin)

Colin Kendall has been building stringed instruments since the 1990s, specialising in acoustic guitars and folk instruments. Colin formerly worked with Steve Jones as Jones Kendall Guitars, producing resonators and other guitars, he now creates a wide range of handmade instruments including mandolins, mandolas, citterns and bazoukis using traditional methods and materials. Kendall works from his basement workshop in Bury, Greater Manchester and has a strong presence on the UK folk festival circuit.

Source Colin Kendall website

Jones Kendall

Jones-Kendall was established by Steve Jones and Colin Kendall who produced quality handmade acoustic guitars and stringed folk instruments in Bury, UK.  They shared a passion for pre-war American acoustic guitars and aimed to recreate models from that era. Steve was a working musician and carpenter. Colin Kendall, formerly an arts and crafts teacher, had been making folk instruments since the mid 90s. Jones Kendall stopped around 2007, but Colin Kendall continues to make guitars under his own name.

Source: Jones Kendall website (Archived 2006)

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