Well, I suppose that would be “dobro” (generic,) since I actually bought a rather cheap resonator guitar.
I was passing through Waynesboro, Tennessee yesterday, and spied a small music shop. Remembering that I needed guitar strings, I stopped in.
The first thing I saw on the wall was a square-necked Kay resonator guitar on sale for $225.
“Uh oh,” thought I. Normally cheap dobros don’t have that great rich, metallic dobro sound. I’ve played Regals, enders, and a few other ones that might as well have been just acoustic guitars with metal decorative flourishes. Really crappy sound. But having been kinda sorta in the market for one for a long time (and I didn’t want to spend a mint on an old National,) I felt obligated to give it a whirl.
Man, it sounded GREAT. Soaring highs, rich, booming lows. And it had a fantastic layered dobro sound. I sat there and picked for half an hour, trying to find fault with it, before I just threw up my hands and decided I had to make the purchase. Granted, it has the cheapo fake-wood (I forget what the term for this is in instruments) sides and back, but it has a spruce top.
I didn’t get screwed did I? I don’t feel like I got screwed, because it sounds so damn good, but from a purely market-value viewpoint, did I get bent over? I’ve had some trouble finding a reliable price quote online (not that I have any intention of reselling it.)
The backstory makes me feel a little bad, though. The guy said some dude dropped in on the way through between Chattanooga and Memphis and told him he really neded some money. I hate to see someone have to give up their instruments to eat, but if you’re out there, fella, I promise I’ll give it a good home. And thanks.