The Steel Guitar Forum

Dear forum members, I was driving thur a small town south to Orlando today and stopped at Jimmies Vintage Guitars. He had a sweet D 10 MSA (had to touch) and I ask if he had any Laps, he had two 40's backalites of unknown brands and he said "I got this hi end lap that is a resonator also, WTF i said in my mind, he opened up the case and I freaked out. From being a forum member, I had seen Marrs steel before but always pedals guitars. I read tonight that DUANE MARRS is quite a man and his steels rock. I was not going to buy because of short $, but i had my picks and bar and ask to take her for a ride. I hit the Reso switch and my head popped off, I was so blown away, she has tone and sustain for ever, i put down the Visa. I paid $500, after reading the forum, it was a fair price, it seems to a pretty late mode, with all the tone controls, a George L pickup and three tone knobs, RESO TONE, RESO INTENSITY, AND STEEL TONE. If any one has any info on this I would love to hear.

I'm not familiar with these. What exactly is the "reso" aspect?

it sounds like a steel and hit the switch it sound like a drobo, i have never heard of before, search the forum for marrs cat can , i just did and you will find out all I know, have a good one

A empty cat food can is used as the resonator.
Erv

As a dobro player, I've never thought the Marrs cat can sounded anything like a dobro. It is a bad imitation at best, but has the advantage of giving a dobro like sound without having to worry about feedback.

I have an 8 string model, it's very cool and can produce quite an array of sounds - currently I have it tuned to E6th but when tuned to G it sounds very close to a dobro !

I generally use my Beard MA6 these days though as it has the Fishman JD pickup system and Aura !

Here's a pic - same generation as yours !

I have an earlier or cheaper version of a Marr's Cat can. It looks the same except, It has no controls on it. Pretty Huey Black. With it was a couple aluminum tubes that attach to the legs of a pedal steel and 2 round wooden plugs has been attached to the bottom of the guitar that fits in the tubing. I take it, That some one had a single neck steel and had them attached together. The bottom of the guitar has a felt like coating so it could be laid on the neck or a steel without damage.
This one was out of tune but was close to Dobro tuning. When I got it. I will get a picture the next time I have a camera out.

These things are the ticket for drum and electric bands. The reso circuit is very realistic. I promise with a dobro tuning in capable hands, if you turn your back, you won't know the difference from an acoustic reso in those situations.

No feedback issues and you can hammer as loud as necessary without problems. And you can do double duty for lap steel, slide etc. for rock, blues and just plain ol' no pedal country stuff.

I had one of the first original RGS models back in the late 80's long before this Fluger model.

With a Match Bro, BoBro etc., it did the reso job nicely. Even Gary Morse used one of the MB/RGS rigs for Dierks Bentley tours.

Nice score Marc. You'll enjoy that little axe a lot.

I was not happy with my fender LS 52, and wanted a better Lap, I really bought it for a nice lap, and the RESO was a bonus. Love the sound with no RESO. I like the pickup very clean.

I have this 8 string version for sale in The for sale section

I just dug mine out.....an earlier model Mars "Cat Can" with no controls (just like my playing).......I bought this on the forum about 12-14 years ago for $250.....without any other external dobro pedals it's like....tint of dobro....kinda like filling a glass half full of orange juice and the rest with water.....it's cool for what it is and can squeak by unless you're in a bluegrass band.....it looks like the Fluger models are upgraded......both the 6 & the 8 string look real nice and I would have no problem paying $500......













This is the "cover plate" down below......underneath the plate is a cat food can as the cone.....but it's Purina, the best can you could get back in the day.....mine is either the 94th made or the 76th thousandth.....depending how you look at the serial number.....

It's primary value for me is getting a good enough Reso tone when playing in a loud band with drums. It is also really nice to be able to switch right over to a steel tone and add effects. I hope you enjoy it!!