Mbradford6288 - Posted - 10/25/2008:  21:31:05

Anybody play them? How do they stand up to other brands? How close do they get to a national? I understand that nationals will sound better, but I don't have $3000. Suggestions welcome.

Thanks,

Matt

Jimmie - Posted - 10/25/2008:  23:20:57

Republics are an excellent value, and Frank's a good guy to deal with. You'll find them championed all over the slide/reso/steel sites.

meldooby - Posted - 10/27/2008:  09:04:25

It's my understanding that Republic buys Chinese and only
does setups on them.

Mel

D.G. - Posted - 10/27/2008:  10:34:14

I'm also interested in the Republic guitars for the same reasons.

I had a Regal round-neck spider for a while that was ok, but it developed bad rattles and when I opened it up, I found that the screw-holes for the cover plate were off-set, so half the screws didn't even bite into the wood hence the rattles. I'm concerned about similar issues with the Republics.

Brad Bechtel - Posted - 10/28/2008:  08:22:41

You should contact Frank at Republic Guitars directly and share your concerns. He has been very responsive in the past.
republicguitars.com/contactus.html


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Brad''s Page of Steel:
well.com/user/wellvis/steel.html
A web site devoted to electric and acoustic lap steel guitars

Mbradford6288 - Posted - 10/30/2008:  22:42:12

Well, I bit the bullet and bought one based solely off of the Harmony Central reviews, which I tend not to trust, but I needed a second instrument quick, so there it is. I bought a tri-cone squareneck and I'll tell you what, I'm blown away.

I pulled it open when I got it, and you know, there's some glue residue on parts and a weird joint on the stick, but looks good overall. Put it together, strung it up with some EJ42s and this thing screams. For $600 it's a cannon. Loud, clean, clear, with a good focus. Bass is a little thin, but I think upgrading the cones and bridge assembly would probably fix that.

My only gripe is the gears, totally lame. That being said, this thing looks killer and sounds killer. For $600 I'm not gonna complain. Totally awesome purchase on day 1. Now we'll see how it stands up to being gigged hard.

Brad Bechtel - Posted - 10/31/2008:  13:14:32

Congratulations on the purchase! I hope you'll be very happy with it.

=================
Brad''s Page of Steel:
well.com/user/wellvis/steel.html
A web site devoted to electric and acoustic lap steel guitars

MitchC - Posted - 10/31/2008:  14:07:11

Congrats Matt !

So are you going to get into the National cone / bridge upgrade thing or leave well enough alone ? I may pop for the Republic tricone squareneck someday here soon myself.

How is the nut height ? High enough to use a flux capo ? What about the string spacing at the bridge ? Is it comparable to a "normal" sq.neck reso or is narrower spacing ?

Mbradford6288 - Posted - 11/01/2008:  03:28:20

All things being equal, I would say that my Dobro "dobro" has a higher action, but I use Beard capos and they work fine. Spacing seems similar to my dobro. Definitely going to upgrade cones and bridge, as well as gears. In fact, the gears are a little scary and they're getting upgraded first.

MitchC - Posted - 11/01/2008:  04:34:12

When you upgrade the gears / cones etc. please post ? Have you found what gears are a direct replacement without having to drill new holes ?