Paul Ryan - Posted - 02/22/2021:  13:14:00

I have a squareneck being repaired, and part of the repair is a damaged cone (long story). Anyway, I was thinking of replacing the Quarterman with a new Quarterman but the shop recommends a Beard cone since the Quartermans are now being made in China. Has anyone heard that? There's probably not a whole lot of difference in the two brands up to now, but if the new Q's are not made here, thinking of going with a Beard. Wondering if anyone else has heard this about the new Quartermans? Thanks

docslyd - Posted - 02/22/2021:  15:41:19

….partial to Scheerhorn cones myself....but, it might help to know what guitar you are having set up.

MarkinSonoma - Posted - 02/22/2021:  16:26:26

Paul - bogus info from the shop in Toronto.

This is not the first time I've heard this rumor so I was curious and called Rob at Blue Note Woodworks in southern Oregon. Rob is a luthier and a retailer/distributor of Quarterman cones. 

Rob goes way back with John Quarterman and worked at OMI Dobro in southern California in the '70s. 

He gave me the scoop on John. The man is 79 but still doing his thing as a one man operation. Rob told me that at one time John had been training a guy who was doing quite well at the spinning skills, but had to quit because he was going through a divorce and for whatever reason had to leave California.

Rob said that he asked John "when are you going to give up the baby?"  but John has no intention of hanging it up any time soon. Good for him! Maybe some day he'll  die while working at the lathe. 

This is significant: the only 10 9/16" Quartermans Rob has for sale right now are cosmetic blems. There is sort of a stain or discoloration on part of the cone but Rob said it does not effect the sound.

Due to the pandemic the supply chain for the aluminum alloy Quarterman uses had been interrupted. As has been the case in many industries. I called my local bike shop yesterday because I needed some inner tubes for our rode bikes and they finally got some in.  They were out of stock for months. 

Rob also said there was a significant item with John's machinery which apparently requires re-tooling and repair and that threw a wrench into the works as well. 

So no ETA when new non-blem Quartermans are available, but as long as John Quarterman is alive and kicking here in California, they aren't "being made in China."

As far as "what's the best cone?" I think it's one of those deals like when guys who own pickups get together and discuss who makes the best truck. Ford? Chevy? Dodge?

Rob is a personable guy and told me if anyone wants to call him with any questions go for it - but he might not always be available to pick up the phone so leave a message and he'll call you back. 

Edited by - MarkinSonoma on 02/22/2021 16:41:00

docslyd - Posted - 02/22/2021:  19:36:31

.....Ford....

sovio - Posted - 02/23/2021:  04:55:46

Eric, What is it about Scheerhorn cones that make them your cone of choice?

docslyd - Posted - 02/23/2021:  07:48:15

I have tried Beard, Quarterman and Scheerhorn and, to my ears, the Scheerhorn are the most "open" and "lively". Disclaimer...."to my ears"....and there are as many legitimate opinions as ears and I know that describing sound is about as futile as describing color. I think all of the above would be a fine choice, however. When I do a new set-up, the Scheerhorn is just my cone of first choice.

sovio - Posted - 02/23/2021:  09:34:16

Thanks, Your opinion is what I wanted. Do you know if Tim S. still spins his own cones or are they done by National ?

docslyd - Posted - 02/23/2021:  12:18:45

Tim spins his own. National spins National. Last time I checked, you could get a Scheerhorn cone at Elderly....but who knows for how long.

MarkinSonoma - Posted - 02/23/2021:  18:08:54

Unless something has changed recently and Eric has the inside scoop, as far as I know Tim is still spinning the cones for the Nati-horns. It is posted as part of the specs for the Scheerhorns on the National website. National of course spins the cones for their other styles of guitars and ukes.

I took Tim's setup class 10 years ago at ResoSummit in Nashville. I think he'd been spinning his own cones for maybe two or at the most three years at that point. He did a demo comparing his cone vs. a Quarterman.  He suspended each cone on a string then tapped the edge with a small metal tool to get it to ring. He wanted to show one characteristic of his cone that it would ring longer with more sustain than the Quarterman. No question - it chimed longer. 

The question is, does this make it superior to the Quarterman cone? Not necessarily. One might prefer for lack of a better term a tighter more focused sounding cone where a note decays faster than is the case with the 'horn cone. Not unlike an acoustic archtop jazz guitar where you're the rhythm player. You might not want all the sustain of a guitar like a flattop D-28, the faster decaying note of the archtop might be preferable. 

docslyd - Posted - 02/23/2021:  18:34:09

....no inside scoop, Mark. You said the same thing I did, except I didn't mention or refer to National built Scheerhorns....When I said National, I was referring to National branded guitars.

docslyd - Posted - 02/23/2021:  19:35:32

...in addition and by the way and besides....as Mark alludes to....
I do think that not all guitars are best suited to have exactly the same cones. For many years my Jones sounded fantastic with a Quarterman and I have a 30’s model 27 that sounds great with a Beard. Generally, as mentioned above, I reach for the Scheerhorns as my go-to...but just like strings, some guitars, and certainly ears, beg for something of a different sound.

Three_Eyed_Willy - Posted - 02/23/2021:  22:51:34

Regarding Quarterman cones -- I realize tricones are a completely different animal from spider bridge resos. However, I just took a set of National cones out of my Republc tricone and replaced them with Quarteman cones. They sounded much better than either the National cones or the continental cones that came on the instrument.

And as others have pointed out, the Quarterman cones are NOT made in China.

Three_Eyed_Willy - Posted - 02/24/2021:  19:41:55

If your reso is made in Asia, and is NOT a Gold Tone Paul Beard signature model, you will probably need a slightly smaller cone than a 10 9/16". I just put a Replogle cone in my Gretsch. It took a 10 7/16" cone. The active part of the cone is basically the same, though. It sounded a lot better than the one that was in the instrument. I also replaced the spider with one from Replogle.

Don't be afraid to discuss what you want to do to your guitar with the guys making the cones. They know a LOT about what you need, and they are not reluctant to help.

So, why didn't I order a Beard cone for the Gretsch? He didn't have any that were the right size. He also didn't have any Beard tricone cones. I hope he's okay.

Jim McNab - Posted - 02/26/2021:  17:49:10

quote:

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Originally posted by sovio

Thanks, Your opinion is what I wanted. Do you know if Tim S. still spins his own cones or are they done by National ?

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Funny thing, I contacted Tim about his cones a few days ago. I asked him if he was still spinning them himself and he confirmed that for me. If you get a Scheerhorn cone, Tim spun it. And I'll throw in my .02: I have only had Quarterman cones and Scheerhorn cones in my guitars. I remember the difference between the Quarterman and the Scheerhorn when Tim did a demo between the two for me when I had a guitar at his shop in TN for a set up. The Scheerhorn rang like a bell and the Quarterman had a bit of a ring and a quick decay. After comparing the two, the Quarterman had sounded great in the Scheehorn it came out of, but when Tim set the guitar up with one of his cones, it was a much livelier guitar. 

wlgiii - Posted - 02/27/2021:  08:55:44

Side note- is anyone besides Mr. Quarterman spinning lug cones for short spiders?

daver - Posted - 02/27/2021:  13:13:42

quote:

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Originally posted by wlgiii

Side note- is anyone besides Mr. Quarterman spinning lug cones for short spiders?

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Was about to rreply and say "no one is making lug cones" or "you can't spin a lug cone".  Good thing I looked this up before I made a dern fool of myself!