La Resoña

"La Resoña" is a word play on "resonator" and "review" and it is both my first ever resonator build and a review of everything I've learned about making a good instrument. There were some challenges with this build but I am very, very satisfied with how it turned out.

This a custom build using a mahogany box provided by the customer. That box once housed a Smith & Wesson gun cleaning kit and dates back to 1976. It is very sturdy, well aged and seasoned and has a nice resonance, but with four strings I felt it still needed some maple bracing under the hood. The sunburst was applied with a combination of red cherry stain and a torch, and a similar treatment was used for the face of the headstock. The truss rod cover is laser cut and engraved and silver hardware can be found throughout this instrument. The snakeoil humbucker is buttery smooth and quiet and faithfully reproduces the unique tones this guitar produces.

New for this year and going forward with all future builds, the serial number and name information is laser engraved on separately mounted wooden plate on the bottom of the box rather than directly engraved on the neck as I've done in the past. I went with a lighter gauge string set (36/26/17/13) to let that resonator vibrate and tuned it to a very "traditional" GDGB. String action is low and the intonation is dialed in and plays nice and smooth. Yeah, it sounds like a resonator, with good sustain and a rich twangy tone that is reminiscent of a good banjo.

This is a custom instrument built to customer specifications. If you would like me to create a resonator guitar for you, send me a message!

Serial number 2603061, handcrafted in Las Cruces, New Mexico.