Acoustic Electric Resonator Guitar For Sale (2024 Update)

This was my first metal body resonator, have a Gretsch wood body res that I really like that has a great tone and action, and wanted a metal bodied one for the more aggressive twang, which the Swamp Dog definitely has! I'm modifying mine-stripped off the green patina in favor of the natural bell brass, upgrading the tuners, cone and bridge, and in the process found that the "revabond" fingerboard kinda sucked out of the box. It's painted/treated with a black dye of some sort to look like ebony-which very quickly and easily ends up on your fingers-not cool! Maybe they skipped a step at the factory to seal it better, but I'm not the only one to have that issue. I've sanded whatever it was off the board and have no problem with the way it looks/feels now, but I don't think I'd buy it again-or any other guitar with a revabond anything on it. Before you say "you get what you pay for", I didn't expect it to be on the same level as a National-and for me it's definitely a keeper, at the same time this is not a bottom of the barrel resonator, and we shouldn't have to look like we've just been fingerprinted after playing it.Will

Great tones out of a beautifully constructed guitar. Great looking distressed green and brass coloring is eye catching. Glad I got it.mkan1113

I spent a lot of time attempting to research this model and find out more about before buying it. Being such a new model, their wasn't much information. I had a Regal years ago and gave up on resonator guitar because I could not get the sound I wanted. I have stayed away from resonators since then because I assumed it was my inability to play one properly. After taking a chance on this Recording King I am happy to say I was wrong. I love the sounds this beauty puts out, and it plays great. Despite being made in China, Recording King produces quality instruments that are inspected and setup in the USA. Even if you decide you don't like the sound of this resonator guitar (sound great to me though!) you can hotrod it out with an aftermarket cone and have a stunning looking and sounding guitar.Otter

I wanted to check-out an electric resonator guitar without breaking the bank. This one was better-than-expected, but I didn't end up keeping the guitar.guys-great-guitars

The construction is marginal, the intonement is terrible, the cone and spider are junk, as are the strings. If you're a half-decent shade-tree luthier you can make it into a good resonator, but it requires a new cone and spider and nut and saddle and strings, routing out the rear of the cone shelf for proper intonement spacing, much filling in and smoothing and leveling of the cone shelf, shimming of the tailpiece, and maybe even a new cover plate. Mine now sounds really good, but the parts cost more than the original guitar and it required many hours of luthier work. All that not withstanding, still much less expensive that a comparable off-the-shelf properly setup high-end resonator.drrickt

this thing is the second one i bought on ebay, the first was the non cutaway model. loved it. but had to let it go. so i wanted another, and bought this one. it arrived today well packed and F A S T fast. the guitar is beautiful, no immediate flaws i saw, and was set up well for slide. the neck is straight no sharp fret edges, and the preamp is capable of some nice sound sculpting, 4 bands.. bass mid treb and presence… just what the doctor ordered. it's a nice round neck and the action is kinda high, but you want that for slide. sounds great accoustically or amplified. for 159.00, it is impossible to get a better deal anywhere. factor in the fast free shipping, and it's an unbeatable combo. you always wanted one of these, admit it… well, at this price, you can get one and if you don't like it, sell it for more than you paid for it. nicely made instrument for this price point for sure!phatjbp

Still playing at home and recording in home studio. Like the guitar but will be changing strings and setting up with a different nut.GCW

Regal RD-40 resonator guitars come in two flavors, round neck and square neck. I have one of the latter. The listing here is a bit confusing, because the headline says round neck but the description says square neck. The round neck seems to go for about $200 more, so this is probably a square neck version as in the description. What is the difference? The round necks can be played like a regular guitar. Square neck versions have much higher action; there's no way you can press the string to the fretboard! These are commonly played as a laptop, laid flat, as Ben Harper like to play slide, for example. That also lends itself to using a bar type slide, which is held between fingers rather than a regular bottle style that fits on one finger.Stickman

I've been a GC customer for many years without issues or complaints. However, I was sadly disappointed with this guitar. I purchased the Regal RD-40 M on the GC website and it arrived yesterday. It looked really nice out of the box, but when I began to gradually tension the strings and tune it there was a loud bang and the strings went limp. I couldn't believe my eyes when I discovered the entire tail piece had cracked about 90% across the bottom of the guitar. A little more and it would have come completely off. So today I returned it to my local GC about 30 miles away for a full refund. They were very accommodating. Maybe I just got a lemon, but I expected better at the price point. The quality control folks in China missed something critical. I plan to continue researching my options on a resonator style guitar.Windchaser

This Regal is pretty much your best bet for sound and quality from a manufacturer outside the United States. It will serve me well until I can afford a National resonator.j_r_s_one

This CBG ismade in China, it say this nowhere on this site or anywhere else. Many fret ends were unpolished and hurt the palm of my hand. The pickup system is weak and noisy. The neck contour and finger board is playable. The sound is fair for a resonator. The biggest problem is they put a thin veneer cover plate on the back to access the electronics, a disaster waiting to happen and the pictures did not show this. The cover plate is very thin and could crack easily or be pried over time by snagging on a shirt. The best part was the dealer shipped fast and readily accepted the return due to the condition of this CBG.Mark

I have played guitar for fifty plus years. 42 years with my Martin D-35. I have no experience with cigar box guitars but decided to take an affordable risk. It has good construction. It came setup to my liking. Keeps its tune – GDGB. I like the sound. I like the looks of the guitar. Its fun to play. I liked the price. Its not my Martin. I dont want it to be. It stands on its own merits.rrdilworth74

I have this one except it is all the brass color. I was told they made about a dozen that way then switched to the 2 tone color. I like the guitar a lot for finger pickinslide and for lap style using a chrome bar. I find it always sounds great with newer strings. A nice mix on an old tube amp and one has a great sound. A very fair price for a nicely made metal resonator.zazenslide

Do not judge this guitar by how it sounds on certain internet sites.You won't really be hearing it. This guitar is not what it seems.That's a good thing.If your looking for a true resonator,this is not one ,in the classic sense,but what it is adds much more versatility. It joins the body at the 15th fret but note that it is a scaled down guitar so your going to have the same access as a resonator that joins the body at the 12th fret. You will still have to contort your wrist to reach a high A with a slide. The cool thing about this axe is that it is more of a hybrid than anything.You have the sound & tone of a true resonator.You have the playability sans the upper neck access of an electric or good acoustic guitar.With the right gage strings you can flip it over,in your lap,& you have a lap steel without high action or setup. I play slide open G & standard licks & standard tuning licks & chords in my show.I use .11's on this Dean with out any intonation problems or volume & tone issues. If your style is only open tunings,then 12 or 13's will be be just fine.I would never use anything over 13's.Don't really know,for sure,there's a need for 13's on this guitar.The neck isn't geared for it & heavier strings won't add anything significant & could cause damage.It's loud enough acoustically to give the woodys a run fer their money in a circle jam & might even scare the bull fiddle player some. Electronics are what you would expect from a guitar made overseas.People have talked about after market parts but I don't see the need….including the cone. The lipstick pickup is a little weak but my techs tell me any after market ones aren't gonna be much better.The transducer pickup is useless on it's own & really not much more than a minimal tone control when blended at best but then,in my experience,all transducers,for a resonator,are like that.If ya want that sound,mike it.Remember,playing a metal resonator,especially playing the blues & slide,is all about trashy sound anyway. Cosmetically,it's everything you see in the pictures & a little more.It's a right purdy MOschine by crackie.When I do a single act I find the people staring at the Dean as often as they stare at me & I'm right purdy myself. Dean hit the lick on this one for what it is.Some say it's a little pricey but when you consider the versatility & the looks I'd say it's worth it.I have several acoustic woodys & metal resonators,on stage with me, & this one sits there right along side of em proudly. Ole HW Jr. was holding one at a recent country award show while rehashing some of his daddy's songs.Now that I own one,I can see why he did. I'd buy another one if need be,Sgtpepperb4

This was my third Dean Guitar. Usually with a new set of strings, you cannot beat the price or the sound. The artwork is amazing on The Dean Chrome G, but the sound is a different story. If you buy this guitar go ahead and spend the extra for a quarterman or beard cone (9 1/2), plus a new biscuit bridge. I just put on a beard cone and was shocked.I cannot believe how much sound I was missing playing on the stock cone and that was playing on old strings. If you spend the extra on the upgrades you will not be sorry for purchasing this guitar.Saltwaterbluefish

OK, I know I'm not being entirely realistic, but it's not going to get 5 stars unless the one I get shows up playing like the ones in the maker's demo videos. I've been playing and fixing instruments for 60 years, and so know well to expect any new-made one to need a little setup, and at this price maybe a lot. This one arrived with the neck a bit back-bowed, requiring a little truss-rod adjustment, and the frets needed leveling, re-crowning and their ragged ends smoothed, but that's all. The nut and bridge were fine right out of the box– including quite good intonation, which really surprised me. I've had several resonator guitars over the years, and even some otherwise very well-made ones have needed some serious tinkering to get the bridge in the right place! Yes, this is the same amazingly good-sounding instrument they show in those videos– POTENTIALLY! It's going to take some basic set-up work to get it there, and if you can't do it yourself, that will cost something. Add a hundred to it, though, and you'll still have a whole lot of instrument for the money– about 1/8 what a new National goes for. Of course the National is far superior, but IMO this RK (with a little tweaking) manages to get a lot closer than it has any right to. Recording King really knows where to cut corners, and where not to. This guitar has a 2-way truss rod, bone nut, spun cone, ebony-capped maple bridge saddle, and nice smooth-working Kluson-knockoff tuners. I was very happy to see that it has a removable bridge guard (which none of the online pictures of this model showed), and even happier that I haven't wanted to remove it yet. Oh, and it's good-looking, too. RK does a very nice job of design in the style of the mail-order instruments that came out of Kalamazoo back when, without making them literal copies. Mine's a lot darker than the pictures– In strong light, you can see the "Tobacco Sunburst" a bit, but it's pretty close to just black, which is fine with me. The fingerboard was sort of greyish and ashy-looking, which I didn't like so well, but Old English oil and 0000 steel wool darkened it up a bit and brought out the grain of the wood very nicely.Dan

Sono rimasto molto soddisfatto dell’acquisto, anche se fa parte della fascia di prezzo economica è rifinita molto bene, l’action delle corde ( ovviamente è soggettivo) non ha bisogno di altre regolazioni e il suono sorprendentemente bello. Non sono un esperto l’ho presa più per divertirmi ma nulla da criticare.Angelo Di Nunzio

I added a Grover extension nut to raise the action (which is high to begin with) and am using it as a lap resonator. It is easier for me than the full size metal body square necks–I use a chair with a pillow next to me under the headstock to fully support the neck. It holds tuning quite well and the intonation is good. This is loud and gnarly–if you want smooth, this is not the instrument for you.Holly

Everything with the resonator was excellent. The picture did not due it justice, very good workmanship. It was shipped fast and in great condition due to the excellent packaging.beverly

This guitar is absolutely beautiful! It also sounds great, especially when using an amp! I bought this guitar, because I wanted to learn slide guitar. So far, so good! Its a great addition to my collection!Giovanni

The guitar arrived in quality packing. The guitar may need a setup to sound the best that it can. First loosen all of the strings so that the spider bridge can be easily moved. Then ensure that the leg of the spider bridge that is closest to the lower end of the fingerboard is in alignment with the center of the fingerboard. Next tune the strings to GBDGBD from 1st sting to 6th. Then take a small screwdriver and gradually turn the screw between the two bridge inserts counter clockwise until it is just becomes loose. Then turn the same screw clockwise about half a turn. Strum the strings with a thumb pick and listen for any string rattles. If the strings don't rattle, then you're done. Start playing! But if you hear the strings rattle and vibrate, then turn the screw about 1/8th turn more. Strum again. Repeat this process until you don't hear any strings rattle or buzzing. The finish of the guitar is superb! The guitar reminds me of the Tut Taylor style of dobro. The GUARDIAN guitar case was of good value, too. Enjoy!tincherjw

I ordered the RD-40M open box mint shape. The guitar came re-boxed in mint shape not so much as a scratch on it. The fit and finish was excellent! Most of my guitars I have to set up my work table and set up right away. So far I have not had to touch anything on this guitar, string height and action are great right out of the box. Great sound, loud with good sustain. I have not played slide on it yet though! But I think it will sound great!Old Faithful

I bought the Regal RD-40 natural mahogany squareneck as my first resonator guitar. The sound is very nice. It seems durable and well built; I was disappointed that the soundhole covers were not glued on well at all. One of them was loose in the box, the other came off a couple days later (I reglued them and was ready to go). I'm looking forward to learning on my new reso!!Little Cub

Amazing workmanship for this price. I really like the 14 frets to the body. I also have a Gretsch Root series Boxcar, which has a short scale. The full scale of this one makes a comfortable transition from standard guitars. It has very impressive tone, with harmonics and overtones to spare. It is very responsive, and the harmonic overtones make it very intuitive….. it makes you feel you are channeling Leadbelly with Cooder weaving in and out of the sound. The only improvement they could make to this instrument would be a Fishman pickup like the Gretsch offers. It has great tone and is quite easy to record without being too quiet on very subtle notes. Very well suited to both fingerpicking and slide. If you want a long scale resonator, this is well worth serious consideration. My friend bought a national for over 4 times the price. They are exactly alike…. makes me think Regal supplies National with this one. So for the money… the Regal wins hands down. You will not be disappointed with this one.RifferLicker

I got a Rogue about four years ago and didn't expect much because the price was so low. I was pleasantly surprised to see the finish and workmanship. This is a beautiful instrument, and the sound is incredible: clean, penetrating, and fairly loud with great sustain. I've added a pick-up so I can run it through my Fishman amp, so it's even better. The guitar is far from perfect. The fingerboard is very narrow, so it's hard to finger-pick on it. And the intonation, as someone else mentioned, leaves a lot to be desired. The notes become increasingly sharp as you go up the neck, and if you put a capo on it, you'll have to tune all over again. Given those two issues, I play mostly slide, and almost exclusively in open tunings. The instrument serves me well that way, and was a good purchase at the price. But it does have those definite limitations.Steve

A lot of the reviews are old, so I thought I'd add to the more recent reviews. Looked at these when they were on sale, and got enen further savings when I bought a return. Described as in "mint" condition and it was. Only issues right out of the box were minor. The ball end of the 5th string was not seated correctly and the 5th and 6th strings were not in their slots in the bridge. These issues led to unwanted vibrations, but were easy fixes. Quality control appeared to be an issue in the early days of MF selling this instrument, but this seems to have been solved, as more recent reviews have been generally positive. Couple things I would suggest. One, put some graphite (pencil lead) in the slots of the nut before you tighten the strings or when you change strings the first time so that it will be easier to tune up. Second, I got this from reading somewhere, tighten and replace strings from the "inside out" like 342516, to keep the bridge/spider in place (probably remove them in the opposite order, outside in, too). The finish on this instrument was flawless, grain on the top was tight (yes, I know it's plywood, but it looks nice) and I like the figure of the wood on the back. Tuners are cheap and not the smoothest, but they get the job done and stay in tune. I peeked down onto the spider under the cover and it looks neatly done (I know from reading that the spider from these inexpensive guitars can have excess flashing and that may need to be addressed) and it sits evenly on the cone from what I can see. Eventually I will change strings and probably take it apart to look at the insides, but for now things look good and it sounds good. Not a high end instrument, but for what I paid for it (and this was a return, remember) this will be a good introductory instrument for me and I anticipate that it will serve me well until I get good enough to start thinking about upgrading. I'll play this for a month or so then I might get back with an update.Thisoldman

Had this guitar given to me as a Christmas gift. Although I immediately took I liking to its volume and tone quality, I thought its intonation and parts were a bit of a disappointment. Its intonation certainly isn't the best since the notes do get more and more sharp the higher you are on the fret board. The nut was sort of cheaply made, some of the grooves not even big enough to hold the strings it came with. Tuners were okay but out of all the guitars I own, I think this own goes out of tune the most. Even my Squier Affinity Telecaster, which is a guitar that comes in a complete guitarist starter package, stays in tune more and has better intonation. I would definitely recommend this guitar, especially to those that are more on the novice level or want an affordable resonator. If you do buy this guitar I just want you to know that it does have great tone, but I suggest finding a local music store that fixes guitars because it can use some improvements. You may want to ask them to have the instrument intonated. As for the tuners, you may want to replace them with Grover tuning machines. They're often used on Epiphone Les Paul's. My Les Paul has these tuners and they can go a few weeks without going out of tune. The tuners on this guitar can hardly go a few hours without going out of tune. Just something to consider if you do buy this.J.R.

Have played guitar, mandolin, banjo all my life and now a new challenge at 70. I have a Recording King banjo and love the solid feel and sound. Took a punt on this as we cannot check one out in store in New Zealand.I am blown away at the quality, finish and it has been well set up. Straight out of the box, tuned and playing.No loose bits,everything rock solid. Considering this is a low price model, I am well pleased.As a novice this is all I need. .Chris

Nice tone. Will get a little fuzzy if you really get on it with heavy pick. Seems to hold tuning well. Only complaint might be high string sits a tad high and the steel sometimes hits it with tip when sliding from lower strings to high. Not a big deal really. Probably poor technique on my part.R

I added a Grover extension nut to raise the action (which is high to begin with) and am using it as a lap resonator. It is easier for me than the full size metal body square necks–I use a chair with a pillow next to me under the headstock to fully support the neck. It holds tuning quite well and the intonation is good. This is loud and gnarly–if you want smooth, this is not the instrument for you.Holly

I have wanted to get a mid-priced resonator for a while, and read some good reviews of this guitar, so pulled the trigger on buying one. It looks good, and has a nice tone (although it doesn't sound as loud as other resonators to me). I would prefer the action to be a little higher, but I think it might be improved by putting slightly heavier gauge strings on, so I'll probably try that rather than raise the action. The pickup is on the quiet side, but the sound from it is OK, and I can improve it quite a bit by running it through a SansAmp driver. When looking closer, I'm not so impressed with the finishing, particularly around the f holes, where it's just sloppy. It looks like the holes were cut then sandpapered rather than trimmed carefully. The edges of the f holes are obviously stained like the rest of the body, but no finish has been applied, so they look rough and dull. The headstock is also not finished well, and it also looks like a rough cut was then sanded. Overall it's a good guitar, but it does have a few build issues that I wouldn't expect to see on a guitar in this price range.Michael M

I am impressed with this little resonator. I also own a Regal RD-40 so this is more a comparison. The short scale gives this a nice tone that is a bit more for slide only than the Regal which is a 14 fret to the body. It comes with very light strings, which are more suited to picking vs. slide. I put on a set of Curt Mangan customs (check out his website), which are 16 18p 26W 36 46 56. This resonator is so sweet with heavier gauge strings it defies description. I have it tuned D A D F# A D which seems to suit this resonator. It has excellent harmonics and some very subtle overtones in this tuning. Seems to lose a bit (but is still excellent) tuned to a G or C. This is a keeper. I have actually played a lick that just raised hair on my neck and brought out some maniacal laughter…… this is what life is all about… and if someone tells you different they're just flipping lying. Get one.RifferLicker

I love this guitar. It sounds great. I have played it in several different tunings and I really love it. I looks great and sounds amazing.Mark

The Hound Dog sounds good acoustically and looks great, but I bought it specifically to amplify and use in live music situations. The Fishman pickup is an old style, under the resonator cone type. I plugged it into a Crate Gunnison acoustic amp and it was difficult to get any volume. The tone was shrill, even with bass on the amp maxed out. I then tried it with a Fishman preamp. That improved the volume level, but I could never dial in a tone that I liked. I could never get an amplified tone that was close to the acoustic, unplugged tone. If the company updated this resonator with a newer under saddle Fishman Nashville pickup, it would probably sound great. The Hound Dog was sent back to the pound.Rockabillybob

Overall: Dobro Hound Dog : This is one poor hound. Garbage. The pick-up is worthless. The fret wires are sharp. The action is so low; why is it even called a Dobro? It is an insult to the Dopyera Brothers. I don’t believe I can say anything good about it; it is That bad. Dobro? What does it mean? The one I have has a set-up too low to play bottleneck style. This will have to be a list of cons. Rough fret wires. The pick-up and electronics mystified all, until the return period had expired. I had no cord, patch cords or any jack at all that fit the input. After finding one, a “stereo” cord that fit, it was all hum and buzz. More waste. I needed to do something. I would like an acoustic guitar but the neck is so rough. Another complaint is the finish of the wood, which is rough. The cover plate was easily scratched and I don’t use picks. Basically, I have not gotten much use out of it. I will make this bad dog behave, I have a nut extender. . . So it is now in Open G and I play it w/ a tone bar for my lap steel. I’ ll need an ironing board to housebreak this dog. I think I’ll need a thumb pick.Wren

I got this guitar barely used, and it's big fun. While not a National, it's well made and sounds good. The intonation is right on the money which is critical to my enjoyment of any stringed instrument. It's also lighter than any of my metal bodied reso guitars. I like to gig with at least two guitars to accommodate several tunings, and this one works well. My only negative comment is that the action is bit low for bottleneck playing. But that might be a function of laziness on my part. It sounds good right out of the box, but a new set of strings is always a good plan on imported guitars. A new National cone would probably be 80!bucks well spent, but a guy can't get to everything. The bottom line to me is that while this is not a National I get most of the sound for a fraction of the price.unfeorth

This guitar has the tone and volume of resonator instruments costing 3 or 4 times as much more. It feels well built and even if the sides and back feel like there're made of particle board, (I'm not sure what the material is),I see no reason why it shouldn't provide years of playing enjoyment. The makers of the Recording King have nailed the material and method of producing a resonator cone that rivals some of the best. Value for money it's a winner for a player of any level who can get over the stigma of buying an off-shore guitar.advent*rob

Got this as a level 3 scratch & dent item. When it arrived it had very few small blemishes. It was way better than I thought. Playability was perfect out of the box.SWAMPFOOT

Fun cigar box resonator – remember the price related to the quality – no-frills – I found another resonator same setup but great quality with pickup.. It is a good value –davedrexdc