I was recently gifted a Gold Tone bass resonator with a broken headstock but that's not the issue I'm reaching out about. As prep for the headstock repair I removed tuners, strings, cover plate, cone and spider etc and discovered something interesting. The cone support ring, which is the full depth of the guitar on this instrument, while nicely glued to the top is not attached at all to the back. Touching, but not connected. The ring has kerfling around the outside, top and bottom, so my guess is it's meant to be glued but whether that step was missed at the factory or they were less than generous with the glue (there's very little evidence of squeeze out anywhere inside the guitar) and it has let go in the meantime I don't know. Does anyone have any experience with these guitars? Should it be glued? As it is, tapping on the back produces a bit of a buzz where the ring rests but since I've never seen or heard the instrument played I'd like someone to confirm before I glue it. Thanks
goldtonemusicgroup.com/goldton...ments/pbb
I would recommend contacting Goldtone directly with your questions. Good luck!
^^^+1 any questions I’ve had, Dave gets back promptly.
david@goldtonemusicgroup.com
Contacting Gold Tone is of course a great suggestion by others, their customer service is usually very good..
I've never seen one of these Gold Tone reso basses in person, but I would imagine the soundwell would be similar if not identical to one on the six string Gold Tone/Beard guitars. I would be interested in seeing a photo though I don't recall off the top of my head seeing kerfing around the bottom edge of soundwell on the six string resos in the past.
Thanks for all the replies. It sounds like contacting Gold Tone is the way to go. I'll do that before I go any further.
For the member who wondered about the kerfling, it is impossible to see without a mirror as it's on the outside of the ring but I can feel it there same as up top.
quote:
Originally posted by Panama BlueThanks for all the replies. It sounds like contacting Gold Tone is the way to go. I'll do that before I go any further.
For the member who wondered about the kerfling, it is impossible to see without a mirror as it's on the outside of the ring but I can feel it there same as up top.
Keep us posted as to what you find out from Gold Tone.
Sidebar: the term is actually "kerfing" (no L). I think because the word rhymes with purfling (with an L), the decorative strips often found adjacent to binding on the outside of a guitar, it might get sort of lumped in with that term.
Edited by - MarkinSonoma on 03/12/2026 14:00:04
Thanks for the correction on kerfing. Can you tell I haven't used the term much?
I haven't heard anything back from David at Gold Tone but decided to glue the joint anyway since I'm sure it should be secure.
The instrument is back together again and plays really well. Action is a little high but that's something to address down the road. The tone is very nice. Not as jangley as a six string just smooth and powerful. I'm very pleased with the repair(s) and the help from the folk in this thread. Thanks to you all.
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