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Originally posted by MarkinSonoma

Okay - we need some correction here regarding RK spider bridge resos and specifications.

The Leadbetter is not a basic RK model that has been upgraded. It's a different design than the other two in the product line. The Phil model and the Professional both  sell for around $750. 

The Leadbetter is made of  laminate  maple and  it has an open body soundpost construction. The Professional is  made of laminate mahogany with more traditional  construction, it has a soundwell with parallelogram openings like you'd find in an early 1930s Los Angeles built Dobro. 

Phil did indeed get  one of his hot rodded by Bobby Wright with upgraded Beard components. 

Here is where the ball was dropped. Phil's hot rodded prototype according to his son Matt, a fine player himself, came with the wider nut like the professional @ 1 15/16 inches. Something got lost in translation between Recording King which is headquartered here in the Bay Area and the factory in China.

In  the Facebook Dobroholics group there was a recent  topic where  multiple Leadbetter owners were discussing how they did the conversion to wider nuts that end up flaring out slightly over the edges of the neck. My contribution was that it's ridiculous that players should have to do this  - Recording King should just correct the situation and build the model with a wider neck and nut.

Matt Leadbetter wrote that he was going to call RK since he is sort of the custodian of his late father's legacy and find out why they put 1 3/4" nuts on his dad's signature production guitar. Unless I have missed it, I have yet to see  any results from the phone call. 

As far the different parts included on the Leadbetter vs. the Professional, that are pretty much the same. Again, both sell for around $750. The one complaint beyond the narrow nut on the Leadbetter is that the tuning machines aren't that great. 

If I owned either model and it was my only reso, I'd probably just play the heck out of it with the stock parts and save my money for a higher end guitar down the line. I've played both models in a couple different guitar shops and I've said all along, I think they are good bang for the buck as is. But I also have to admit that I'm curious what an upgraded cone and a #14 spider would do for the sound. 

 

Thanks for your very thorough reply, MarkinSonoma.  You answered my question on if it's worth it to upgrade cone, spider, etc. on my current RK (Leadbetter).  I am curious, too. But I'll probably just wait and look for something else in a year or so when I'm more accomplished (I hope).  I really appreciate the historical context.
 

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