The Steel Guitar Forum

I have Johnson Resonator but I do not know how to send pictures. I bought it new back in 204 in Smithfield N.C when i was in the Music Store with my good friend Ray Walker who we lost a little over a year ago.The Steel Guitar world lost a great guy who Built Walker Seats and Road cases. One great person.
Sam White

I see there are a fair number of Clinesmiths included in this thread.

This is my "A Game" guitar, a Clinesmith made from Western big leaf maple. I've worked in the horticulture industry most of my life including several years with a wholesale garden rose grower, and I'm big on roses. This is the "Rose dobro," with a rose inlaid on the 12th fret instead of fret markers, and the strap by Bobby Poff of Wyoming is rose-themed, Bobby also included a beautiful Celtic cross.

A few years ago at ResoSummit in Nashville I had Tim Scheerhorn replace the original Quarterman cone with one of his own cones and the guitar sounds better than it ever has.

Gotta have Ivan Guernsey represented here, right?

Schoonover spider with a Fishman NV P/U. I don't get tired of the sound of this one.

I L Guernsey has the nicest machine head, but you need a wallet to go with it.

Jouni! I wish my wallet was that fat! That's my camera case!

Here is a sound file recorded today after finishing some moderation to this instrument over the past week
Link to Christmas Carol

http://picosong.com/kYkS

Dennis Saydak wrote:I built this one from a Beard Kit.It has a Fishman Nashville pickup and sounds great.

Nice!

very nice. are kits still available? affordable?

Yes to both questions.
Here's a link for more information.

Here are two square necks:



On the left is a Republic brass body tricone. On the right is a Gann walnut body dobro. Both are real attention-getters when they get to play out.

These 3 all came from the same famous microwaved black walnut log. Body depths range from 3-1/4" to 3-7/8".
Tops and backs 1/4 inch slab cut walnut. Sides 1/8th inch mahogany or walnut.. Baffle resonator support.

The skinniest one sounds the best to my ear.



The top and back thickness in the walnut produce pretty much the same tone and volume no matter who built it. Here's a DeNeve copy of one of these Walnut Jones, and it's pretty difficult to detect a tonal difference (for me, anyway...)


I have owned three Scheerhorns and several other top end boutique guitars, in addition to one of the above Jones's. For $1400 brand new, I play the DeNeve more than any of them-they sound great, and you don't have to mortgage your house to buy one...

A Group photo from a year or so ago, fast pace of change means only the Duolian, Sq neck tricone and single cone Beltona remain, the others have flown the nest. The Dobro on the end is also a keeper (all Walnut Dave King made in the UK)
The Golden fiddle edge is also a keeper as I inherited it from an old Buddy who had also inherited it from another friend & ex forum member (Colin Brooks)

I have a Gann Dobro currently in bits, I will try and source an old photo prior to my disassembly (fingerboard & finish issues) it will be resurrected sooner or later.

I guy at work had "an instrument in the closet" and it turned out to be this RQ Jones. He wanted to give it to me, but I insisted on buying it and gave him a fair price.

This is my “Tim built” Scheerhorn. Quilted maple, it was Tim’s personal ‘show’ guitar (as in ‘show his workmanship’) for the years just prior to his announced retirement.
I call it my ‘Shroud of Turin’ guitar. If you look just right at the back of the guitar, you’ll see the face of jesus, or is that Jerry……which Jerry?

Some remarkably beautiful examples posted above. Congratulations on such fine instruments fellows.

Modest appointments but terrific sound in this 2016 vintage Tom built Appalachian. Large body of African mahogany and cedar. Hardware is Beard over Scheerhorn, bone nut, synthetic composite saddles.

Open body with posts and internal baffle...also upper bout lined with polycarb material. Tom states this was an experiment to add sparkle to the mahogany. I don't know about that...but it sounds great.

Great playing instrument with a big warm sound and good volume. I've had prettier guitars but none with this fine a tone.

Those are a lot prettier than my crusty old Style O from the 1930s!

~Lee

Yeah, too bad you're stuck with that old thing!

Nice to see Jerry's Tom Warner Appy in the mix. I ordered a Tom Warner (from after he sold the Appalachian name/business to Tony) basic reso a few years ago. Very sad to learn that Tom died from COVID just a few months after I received it. Mine is from the opposite end of the spectrum from Jerry's - very basic with Birch ply top and back with plain maple sides. This was on Tom's recommendation as I had asked what he thought would work best in the tropics where I live, with humidity almost always in the high range! He installed a Fishman Nashville pickup at my request, and I later retrofitted it with a Hipshot as I play a lot in open D as well as G. Amazing how great his resos sounded for the very affordable price.

After spending several years primarily playing blues harp and singing in a local blues band, I'm now back to working on dobro and lap steel - still blues, but trying to play a wider range of styles, with everything from swing blues to country blues.

I've still got my Sho-Bro 7-string as well (see my profile pic). It's a sweet reso as well, but despite adding a Beard "Legend" cone, it does not sound as good as Tom's.

My Fluger Weso-Weiss hybrid.

Gold Tone Paul Beard round neck, square neck, and National Resophonic.

Bobby Wolfe ported resonator