Eko Resonator

In the early decades of the 20th century, there was an increasing tendency for ‘modern’ musicians to play in ‘ensembles’, and the birth of resonator guitars corresponded to the growing need for guitarists to compete, in terms of the volume of their instrument’s sound, with other powerful-sounding instruments, such as banjos and mandolins, and later with the increasingly numerous wind instruments of American jazz. The resonator was structured with an ingenious system involving the insertion of one or more vibrating cones, made of light metal, inside the body of the guitar. These were attached by the vertex to the bridge, according to a function very similar to that of the ‘cones’ of electric loudspeakers. The vibrations, thanks to the direct contact between the strings and the cones, were greatly amplified. The combination of a sound characterised by midrange frequencies, strong attack and low sustain means that the resonator guitar is at its best in the fast arpeggios typical of rural American music. The Resonator by Eko Guitars is constructed with a Spruce top, Sapeli Laminated Mahogany back and sides, Mahogany neck and a 20-fret South American Roupana fingerboard. It mounts an Eko-branded mini-humbucker with Volume and Tone controls, comes in a Glossy finish, with a 43mm nut and 650mm scale length.

RESONATOR BY EKO GUITARS BULLET POINTS

• Spruce top;
• Eko mini-humbucker pickup;
• 20-frets fingerboard;
• Quality/price ratio.