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Post new topic The Twins are here! CooderNator and ResoBorn!
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Author Topic:  The Twins are here! CooderNator and ResoBorn!
Steve Lipsey


From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 11 Oct 2021 1:18 pm    
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The Twins:
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Between them, they do everything I ever wanted…both have ancient redwood top, figured maple back/sides, and ebony fretboard. Both are built in the small parlor guitar size (only 12.5 inches across lower bout, same as Road-o-phonic) that I like, but with full 25” scale and 24 frets. Both have Road-o-phonic hardware (Beard mando cone, No.14 spider, Fishman Nashville, and PowerChip in electric one)
I didn’t need the booming bass of the large dobros, but wanted a unique clear voice, and that’s what they are…and plugged in, they are the low-end match for anything….

The CooderNator dobro and lap steel:
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Thinline archtop hollow-body electric with Oahu-type Lollar string-through lap steel pickup and Fishman piezo…replaces the Beard Road-o-Phonic that I’ve been playing…
The Roadie sounds fine with the Lollar Silver Foil, but I wanted a real lap steel sound to go with the dobro, so there is solid maple running from nut to massive tailpiece, and as Ry Cooder says about the Coodercaster, ”I had the bright idea to install an Oahu lap steel string-through bridge pickup. It was the thing to do to help the bottleneck sound relax and it stopped the headaches”.
And the hollow archtop body gives it another dimension that I didn’t have in the Roadie…it was inspired by the PRS Hollow Body with both magnetic and piezo that I loved.

The ResoBorn dobro and Weissenborn:
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Deep body acoustic dobro with Weissenborn-style hollow neck and Fishman piezo…the deep body and hollow neck give it an airy shimmer of a Weissenborn, along with the resonator thing happening...

The Story:
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After many months in the cooperative design process and then building by Ben Bonham (who built my Weissenborn and Tricone dobro)…these cover ALL the bases between them…I conceived of the CooderNator after using my Beard Road-o-phonic exclusively at gigs for the last year…not just to avoid feedback, as it was originally designed for, but as Jerry Douglas and Anders Beck (Greensky Bluegrass) use the pickups on their dobros…a whole other instrument in the same package…and I wasn’t really playing my Weissenborn, even though I loved that sound, I was playing dobro instead…

Bonham (bensound@gorge.net) is a genius with wood…. For more pictures of these (and other unique instruments), go to https://www.instagram.com/bonhamdesign/ and click through the cover shot on each…



_________________
www.facebook.com/swingaliband & a few more....
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor


Last edited by Steve Lipsey on 13 Oct 2021 7:49 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Jeff Highland

 

From:
New South Wales, Australia
Post  Posted 11 Oct 2021 2:03 pm    
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Beautiful, a great combination.
_________________
Duesenberg Fairytale
1949 Supro Supreme
1950 National New Yorker
2008 Highland Baritone Weissenborn
2020 Highland New Yorker.
2020 Highland Mohan Veena
2021 Highland Weissencone
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Glenn Wilde

 

From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 11 Oct 2021 2:23 pm    
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Wow,awesome. Congrats
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Peter Jacobs


From:
Northern Virginia
Post  Posted 11 Oct 2021 3:47 pm    
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Wow - those are stunning! Congrats —bet they sound amazing, too!
_________________
Peter
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www.splinterville.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@splinterville6278/videos
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Steve Lipsey


From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 11 Oct 2021 3:59 pm    
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Thanks, all...and yes, they do sound great...nice tone and great sustain...I guess the rest of it is up to me...

Peter-
From your website, it looks like you play a bunch of interesting things in your band...and what is that blue thing in your profile picture?
_________________
www.facebook.com/swingaliband & a few more....
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor
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Steve Lipsey


From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 17 Oct 2021 8:38 am    
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Just noticed that Jerry Douglas uses two primary instruments now...a lap steel with a string-through pickup and a dobro....my Coodernator is both of those in one!

_________________
www.facebook.com/swingaliband & a few more....
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

John Viterito


From:
New Jersey, USA
Post  Posted 18 Oct 2021 6:48 am    
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Man, are they beautiful. Now I "need" something else that I'll not get around to playing.
_________________
Emerald Solace acoustic laps and Rukavina steels. Can't play, but I try!
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Steve Lipsey


From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 18 Oct 2021 8:04 am    
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John-
well, you don't have to worry about not playing these...they call out to you VERY strongly...all my others are in cases and put away...the only question is which one of them to play...so I alternate, like any good parent...
_________________
www.facebook.com/swingaliband & a few more....
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website


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