tomvwash - Posted - 03/19/2024:  12:21:12

I am considering a new resonator, one or the other in subject line. A resonator guitar will not make up a majority of playing / practice time, which should mean opting for the Royall (or similar) but I also don't want to be left still considering a National. I'm not actually finding a solid comparison between these two guitars. Thank you for any advice and insight.

MarkinSonoma - Posted - 03/19/2024:  14:27:03

Welcome to the hangout Tom.



If you haven't figured it out already, the majority of the members here are primarily lap style resonator players but there are a fair number who play standard and bottleneck style.



Several years ago I was able to babysit a buddy's metal body National roundneck Tricone (made around 2000) for close to a year because he was in the Middle East doing some contractor work. When he came home I didn't want to give it back to him. No one would ever mistake me for Ry Cooder playing bottleneck, but I sure enjoyed having that guitar around. On the other hand, me being one of the world's biggest Cooder fans - Ry doesn't care for resonator guitars. 



A year or so ago a guy was playing a Royall metal body tricone at a park near me, doing some busking, and I liked the sound of that guitar. I have played in stores tricones from the likes of Regal and Recording King (since there's a possibility these are all made in the same Chinese factory with some subtle differences depending on the brand) and they all sounded pretty good but this Royall - maybe because it was relatively recent - kind of sticks out for me as sounding quite good. Perhaps they have final setup and assembly more dialed in at Royall than the other companies who import these guitars.

Though not in the same league as the National - it shouldn't be, since depending on the the model a National can go for four to five times the price of a Royall. I did a YouTube search myself for a few minutes but couldn't find an A/B comparison either. Similar to your situation this would be for myself something I wouldn't play nearly as much as my other guitars, unless I won a decent lottery, the Royall is a no brainer.

And since I'm in Northern California and Royall is down in Santa Barbara, the logistics of acquiring one would be pretty convenient for me.

Edited by - MarkinSonoma on 03/19/2024 14:32:38