Custom Reso and accessories

Ron Landis · Post by **Ron Landis** » 5 Jul 2018 7:46 am

I don't know if I've shown this here yet but this is my Beard resonator guitar. I engraved the raw brass hardware along with my Charlie's Capo and custom fingerpicks.

Ron Landis · Post by **Ron Landis** » 5 Jul 2018 7:50 am

I intentionally left the hardware un-plated. I wanted the gold color but not as shiny as gold plating. I wanted a kind of "Steampunk" look to it. It seems to look better with a bit of patina on it.

Joe Elk · Post by **Joe Elk** » 5 Jul 2018 8:29 am

Nice! Nice!! Nice!!!
Joe Elk Central Ohio

Former Member · Post by **Former Member** » 5 Jul 2018 9:07 am

Really beautiful !
Amazing artwork!

Joe Breeden · Post by **Joe Breeden** » 5 Jul 2018 11:39 am

Very, very nice. You are extremely talented. What is you day job, and how long did it take you to complete this project? Joe

Ron Landis · Post by **Ron Landis** » 5 Jul 2018 12:51 pm

Thank you Joe. I'm a hand engraver by trade but my specialty is engraving steel coining dies which means I do miniature sculpting backwards. It's like sculpting from the inside out under a microscope with little chisels and abrasive stones. Old school stuff. I engrave instruments mostly for myself. I'm happy and grateful to say my day job has recently been evolving into being a full time dobro player with a young group of very talented musicians and vocalists.

This took a full week to engrave all the parts.

Steve Wilson · Post by **Steve Wilson** » 5 Jul 2018 1:49 pm

Amazingly beautiful! Great job

John Morton · Post by **John Morton** » 5 Jul 2018 8:36 pm

Glad to see you doing this, Ron. It's an honored traditional craft that deserves to live on into the future.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 6 Jul 2018 1:43 am

Incredible craftsmanship. I hope you are able to pass along these skills to another generation. Very elegant. The fingerpicks are astonishing.

Ron Landis · Post by **Ron Landis** » 6 Jul 2018 6:51 am

Andy Volk wrote:Incredible craftsmanship. I hope you are able to pass along these skills to another generation. Very elegant. The fingerpicks are astonishing.

Thank you Andy. I used to teach classes on die engraving and hobo nickel carving. I think I've done plenty to pass these things on but mostly through inspiring and introducing hundreds of people around the world to the art of "Hobo Nickels" which is a folk art of altering Indian Head Nickels into new designs. The art started in 1913 where people would alter the Indian Head on the coin into hobo heads, etc. I'm credited as the guy who took that to new levels and inspired a new generation of carvers. Today, artists and engravers from all over the world are carving coins of all types into truly artistic works that sell for thousands of dollars each. I was the only one doing it in 1993 - 1996 approx. A Peace dollar carved into a skull went viral and now there are so many carvers out there that tool makers are making special coin holders for them, etc. It's a whole industry now.

I'm known as the Grandfather of the modern hobo nickel Renaissance. Or some such term bestowed upon me by the Original Hobo Nickel Society.

Peter Funk · Post by **Peter Funk** » 11 Jul 2018 12:51 am

Wow!! Simply beautiful!

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 12 Jul 2018 6:24 am

Thank you for the education, Ron. I had no clue this art form existed (Hobo Nickels).

Joe Breeden · Post by **Joe Breeden** » 17 Jul 2018 8:04 am

Ron, Post one of the songs that you play with "Opal Aqafia & Sweet Nothings". I would do it but not smart enough. Joe

Ron Landis · Post by **Ron Landis** » 17 Jul 2018 10:02 am

Joe Breeden wrote:Ron, Post one of the songs that you play with "Opal Aqafia & Sweet Nothings". I would do it but not smart enough. Joe

Thanks Joe. I just posted it in "Steel on the Web" forum.

John Morton · Post by **John Morton** » 19 Jul 2018 6:20 pm

Hobo nickels, I never knew! Glad to know about this obscure practice.

I have developed a related pastime, making two-headed pennies. I prefer all-copper Lincoln pennies. I have also done an international edition using the heads of American and Canadian pennies.