resonator guitars

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Resonator_guitar

Hodgkins

Butch Hodgkins is a resophonic guitar maker from Allardt, Tennessee. He began making resonator guitars as a hobby, but after 8 years became a full time builder making instruments with plenty of volume and pleasing, modern type tone. Players of Hodgkins resonators include: Richie Owens, Johnny Beller and Tom T. Hall.

Source: Brad's Page of Steel - Hodgkins

Hensel

Arthur Hensel (or Hansel?) was a Toronto luthier active from the 1920s until the 1940s. He made acoustic guitars, resonators and mandolins for R.S. Williams & Sons Ltd amongst others. His instruments are often marked "Hensel Artist", Hensel also made Barrington guitars both types had their brand name carved into the headstock.

Source: Mandolin Cafe - Hensel

Guernsey

Ivan Guernsey made resonator guitars from the late 1980s onwards until his retirement around 2012. Ivan Guernsey's resonator guitars were played by the best including: Mike Auldridge, Stacy Phillips, and Jerry Douglas.

Fiorucci

Argentinian Pablo Fiorucci tried various jobs after graduation from Colego Marín. When he met luthier Julio Malarino and learned the art of instrument making, Fiorucci determined this would be his career. Pablo Fiorucci now makes and repairs electric, acoustic and resonator guitars as well as teaching instrument making.

Sorce: Pablo Fiorucci website (11 May 2017)

Trinity River

Trinity River is a house brand name of M&M Wholesalers / Stenzler Musical Instruments of Fort Worth, Texas. Trinity River began as a budget acoustic instrument brand, around 2004, with a range of acoustic guitars and bluegrass instruments. Electric guitars and basses were added later. Trinity River acoustic guitars use James Oliver's JLD Pinless Bridge System which prevents the bridge from pulling up and causing the top to belly.

Source: Trinity River website (27 March 2017)

DeNeve

Richard J DeNeve has been making resonator guitars in Pennellville, New York since 1969. In the early 1980s he was working part time, with an output of up to ten guitars per year.

Source: Directory of Contemporary American Musical Instrument Makers.Susan Caust Farrell. 1981

Supro

The Supro brand name was introduced in the 1930s by the Valco company who made a range of Supro amplifiers, electric, acoustic & lap steel guitars as well as a range of accessories. Valco merged with Kay Musical Instrument Company in 1967, but this new company quickly went out of business in 1968 and the Supro brand was discontinued.

In 2013 Absara Audio LLC, owner of analog effect brand Pigtronix, aquired the Supro trademark from former Fender amp designer and Pigtronix associate, Bruce Zinky who was retained as a design engineer. They built a new factory in Port Jefferson Station, NY to make a line of USA-made, vintage-inspired Supro tube amplifiers.  As well as the new range of amplifiers they also introduced a new series of Supro electric guitars and effects pedals.

Source: Supro catalogs - 1948 to 1968

Source: Supro website (15 March 2017)

Delgado

Manuel A. Delgado is the youngest child of guitar maker Candelario "Candelitas" Delgado and his great uncle is Candelario Delgado Flores (Candelas) . He built his first guitar at the age of 12. Although Manuel initially planned to join the L.A.P.D. when his father Candelario was diagnosed with cancer, Manuel returned to help with the family guitar shop in Los Angeles. Following the death of his father in 1996 he was instrumental in the shop's further success and recognitiion. In 2005 Manuel took a short hiatus from guitar making and moved to Nashville with his wife, Julie, to pursue her singing/songwriting career. It was Julie that encouraged him to return to making guitars and "Delgado Guitars" was reborn in Nashville.

Conrad

Conrad brand guitars were made in Japan for distribution in the USA by David Wexler & Company (Chicago). Catalogs indicate that Conrad instruments were available from at least 1966 until 1974. By 1974 there was a full range of Conrad instruments - all types of guitars (including a Dan Armstrong style clear lucite model) as well as mandolins, ukuleles and banjos.

Source: Conrad catalogs 1966-1974.

Clinesmith

Todd Clinesmith began making guitars in 1996 and has been selling them since 1998. Clinesmith is a self confessed Dobro and steel guitar fanatic and he specialises in making steel, resonator and Hawaiian guitars. All of his instruments are hand crafted and made from solid wood. His resonators use a unique soundpost/baffle construction instead of the traditional plywood soundwell typically found in traditional resonator guitars. Clinesmith resonators and steel guitars are played by some of the best in the business including: Michael Witcher, Ivan Rosenberg, Billy Cardine, Chris Funk (of the Decemberists and Black Prarie), Bobbe Seymore, Roger Williams, "Dobro" Dick Diloff, Gene Tortora, Paul Shelaski, Ron Stanley, Jeroen Schmoll,Gerry Szostak, Mike Neer, Mike Bagwell, Kurt Kowalski, Bob Hoffnar, James Williamson, and Jussi Huhtakangas.

Chickenbone John

Chickenbone John is the Godfather of the cigar box guitar in the UK. He's been making and playing cigar box guitars since around 2006. Based in the West Midlands in the UK, he exports his products all over the world He also teaches, run workshops and organizes "Boxstock", the UK cigar box guitar festival. He is a regular fixture at UK music festivals. He also owns and distributes Zipha brand resophonic guitars which are imported from China.

Celtic Cross

Neil Russell started making instruments in 1981 as a hobby (his background was in machine and fabrication shops working with metal). He  went on to make banjos, harps, mandolins, guitars, lutes and a number of different instruments but eventually he specialized in instruments of the mandolin family. For the next 15 years he made dozens and dozens of Irish Bouzoukis, Octave Mandolins and Mandolins. The Chicago Mandolin Orchestra took fifty of his mandolins. By 1998-9 it became his full time occupation. A chance meeting with musician Doug Cox got him building Weissenborn copy instruments. Doug's being the first. Now, 25 years later he's now set up his shop exclusively for slide instruments such as Konas, Hilos and Weissenborn style.
 

GD Armstrong

G.D.Armstrong made his first instrument, a cigar box banjo, at age 10 and has been making instruments ever since. He has worked in a wide varity of trades including farming, construction, US Forest Service, sheetmetal working, ship building and bee keeping! He currently lives near Yamhill, Oregon on 100 acres of woodland where he builds his stringed instruments. Some of his instruments are made with wood from his own property. He is also a partner in Newberg Music Center in Newberg, Oregon. Most of his instruments have been under his own brand name, GD Armstrong, but some have been produced in collaberation with Mark Fitzsimon under the Green Man Humming brand. These were all solid body electric bouzoukis. He also makes a line of custom solid body electric guitars under the brand name of Bluenote which are available only from Newberg Music Center.

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