GBREVIEW ACOUSTIC GUITAR

OZARK 3616 DELUXE RESONATOR

BRASS IN POCKET
LOUIS THORNE GETS TO GRIPS WITH A DIFFERENT SORT OF HEAVY METAL GUITAR, A BRASS-BODIED RESONATOR FROM OZARKS DELUXE RANGE
A hollow, metal-bodied guitar containing an aluminium speaker cone may, to the uninitiated, sound like a zany take on guitar design for the new millennium. In fact, such resonator guitars are a product of pre-war America, the result of the quest to get more volume from an acoustic instrument. This 3616 Deluxe model occupies the upper echelons of Ozarks extensive range of such guitars. Its made in Korea, features a brass body, engraved in traditional style with a Hawaiian scene, and contains a biscuit resonator. Lets see how this cookie crumbles.

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BODY & NECK

Where this guitar really differs from the norm is in its body construction, and even in the dark you could tell that this was no ordinary acoustic. For a start, the brass body makes this guitar much heavier than usual. There is a strap button on the bottom, but playing this guitar standing up for any length of time will leave you with an aching shoulder. Its brushed bronze nish feels great to the touch and, in true resonator style, is engraved on both front and

back with a Hawaiian shoreline scene. Whether this really works for you or not will be a matter of personal taste; the palm trees arent optional either, so its like it or lump it. The body also features a pair of classic f holes up at the neck end. Theres an immediately apparent metallic resonance as the 3616 is removed from its padded hard case, and its worth noting that you will notice if this guitar has been left in a cold room. Remember the 80s car sticker: Resonator guitarists do it with their clothes on? Well, it pays to especially if youre partial to a bit of late night strumming, sans vetements. Health and safety warning aside, once you do start playing, the resophonic nature of the beast becomes fully apparent. As already mentioned, the resonator design was conceived as a way of increasing the volume available from an acoustic instrument and to this end the guitar contains an aluminium cone, aring out towards the back of the guitar, with the wooden bridge resting on its apex, on a circular plastic biscuit. You can think of it like an inverted speaker cone, pointing into the guitar. The string vibrations are transferred down through the bridge and biscuit, and amplied by this internal aluminium speaker.

GBINFO

OZARK 3616 DELUXE RESONATOR

PRICE: 695 BUILT IN: Korea SCALE LENGTH: 635mm (25 inches) NUT WIDTH: 43mm (1.69 inches) STRING SPACING AT NUT: 35mm (1.38 inches) BODY: Bronze-coated brass with biscuit resonator NECK: Mahogany FINGERBOARD: Rosewood, 356mm radius (14 inches) FRETS: 19 medium BRIDGE: Maple STRING SPACING AT BRIDGE: 57.5mm (2.26 inches) MACHINEHEADS: Classical-style, open-geared FINSHES: Engraved bronze (shown) CASE: Fitted hard case included LEFT-HANDERS: No CONTACT: Stentor Music Co Ltd PHONE: 01737 24022 WEB: www.ozark-acoustic.com

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APRIL 2007

GUITARBUYER

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GBREVIEW ACOUSTIC GUITAR

OZARK 3616 DELUXE RESONATOR

KNOW YOUR CONES

SPIDERS OR BISCUITS? WELCOME TO RESO-WORLD

The resonator guitar was developed in the late 1920s and manufactured under the National brand name, initially in a tricone form. The man who started it all is John Dopyera, a Czech emigrant, who developed the original tricone design but later left National to form the rival Dobro company with his four brothers. The name Dobro was both a contraction of Dopyera brothers and a word in the familys native Slovakian meaning good. Apparently, an early company motto was Dobro means good in any language! This Ozark guitar has whats called a biscuit resonator, where the bridge rests on the apex of the cone on a circular

biscuit. This type of cone was introduced in the 1930s by National as a response to Dobros single-cone resonator guitars. These had the cone facing the other way outwards from the guitar with the bridge resting on a spider that touches the cone at points around its opening. Generally, the biscuit design is said to give a more middly or nasal tone that is especially suited to blues, using guitars with either metal or wood bodies. In contrast, tricone and spider resonators tend to have a more sustaining and, to many, a more balanced tone, but without the biscuits strong attack.

The Hawaiian motif continues on the back

THE LOW ACTION WILL PRESENT NO OBSTACLES TO ELECTRIC GUITARISTS

On such a resonant instrument, loose or rattly ttings would be especially irksome, but the brass tailpiece, bridge cover, resonator cover and cone all look and feel to be of good quality and everything is tted together tightly. The Ozarks bridge is a simple twopiece wooden block, so if you were expecting tune-o-matic tweakability you will be disappointed. However, action adjustment could be achieved by ling or replacing the bridge, as on an acoustic guitar. One interesting upshot of this simplistic design is that it would be very easy to restring this guitar for a left-handed player. The simple matter of turning the bridge around (although the slots are cut almost identically for the different strings anyway) and tting a new nut will be trivial for any music shop worth its salt.

The neck itself is mahogany, nished in a smooth, unfussy and very pleasing fashion with what almost feels like an oil nish. Its tted neatly and securely and extends a long way into the brass body, a fact that should please reso-philes. Although there is some very minor cosmetic blemishing where the body nish has spread onto the side of the neck, overall the guitar has a real feeling of quality. The 19 frets are all well seated and nished on a bound rosewood board and the headstocks suitably square, slotted form features three-a-side opengeared tuners that work very well. On an aesthetic note however, their rather garish gold nish looks a little incongruous next to the bodys muted hues. The rest of the neck and headstock score high marks in the looks department though, from the cream truss rod cover to the inlaid Ozark Deluxe logo that sits on the end on the headstock. The neck joins the body at the 12th fret and, inevitably on a guitar such as this, access to the higher reaches of the fretboard is going to be a little limited. The low action on this example means that, even with relatively hefty strings, this Ozark is very easy to play and should present no obstacles, even to those used to electric

guitar setups. If anything, it will be the slide players who will object. A high action is required for slide, which will necessitate replacing the nut and bridge, although the brass plate over the top of the bridge places a limit to how far this could go. On this particular guitar, there is room for a couple of millimetres on the bass side and a little more on the treble but it is a bit of a shame that theres not more

DOBROS IN ARMS
PERHPAS THE MOST FAMOUS RESONATOR IN THE WORLD
For those of you of a certain age, or with Dads of a certain age, the National Style 0 resonator guitar may not be such an unfamiliar sight. A particularly ne example featured on the cover of the massive selling 1985 Dire Straits album, Brothers in Arms. This album was among the rst to be recorded entirely digitally and aimed directly at the then brand-new CD market. As such, this guitar could be said to have become an unwitting icon of the CD age, now possibly on its way out. Who knows perhaps Apple will use a Tricone to front their new iPhone campaign....

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GBREVIEW ACOUSTIC GUITAR

OZARK 3616 DELUXE RESONATOR

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SAY ALOHA TO A GUITAR THATS FULL OF CHARACTER

DETAILS

The mahogany neck joins the body at the 12th fret, so access further up is tricky

A traditional slotted headstock and open-geared tuners just as youd expect

The engraving is not optional so be sure that you like the look of it

GBOPINION
OZARK 3616 DELUXE RESONATOR GOLD STARS

air under the strings, especially on a guitar which will have a particular appeal to fans of blues bottleneck slide guitar.

Loud, punchy reso sounds Well put together Very playable low action

SOUNDS
Resonator guitars have a sound thats all their own, somewhere between an acoustic guitar, a banjo and something else all together. The resonator sound is all tied up in its unique construction and its impossible to imitate with anything but the real thing. Happily, the 3616 Deluxe displays this unique character by the bucket-full. Gentle picking near the neck yields a rich and pleasing tone, not unlike a steel-strung acoustic but with a bit more top-end zing. There is a strong mid-range and good amounts of bass, and once the strings are picked a bit harder the resonator characteristics become more obvious. To use a canine metaphor, the bass strings have a certain bark, while the treble strings dont quite sustain like normal but have a very strong, almost banjo-like, bite. Hit it hard and there is an impressive amount of volume available that, if anything, seems to

BLACK MARKS
but slide players will want it higher

IDEAL FOR...

Acoustic blues fans and anyone looking for something delightfully different

project from a more focused area than with a standard acoustic guitar. The metal body denitely contributes to the guitars zingy-ness and adds a hollow, ringing sound that continues even after a note or chord is muted. There is plenty of punchy attack, especially when picking near to the bridge, and this guitar offers the typical biscuit resonator mid-range punch that is especially popular with bottleneck players. A more satisfactory tone could be had if the action was high enough to allow a heavier slide to be used, but playing in open tuning is still great fun. Once again, the low action means that dropped tunings are prone to a bit of fret buzz, but this is a minor point.

GBCONCLUSION

BOLD AND BRASSY WITH REAL RESO CHARACTER

If you havent tried a resonator then do so immediately, especially if youre into acoustic blues, since a well-made resonator guitar such as this is the gateway to a compelling variation on the acoustic guitar sound. It opens up a whole new palette of sounds for both slide and non-slide players alike. Brass is not the cheapest of materials and, at a touch under 700, this is not the cheapest of guitars, especially considering that there are plenty of more affordable resonators available nowadays, not least from Ozark themselves. However, we challenge any guitarist with acoustic leanings not to seriously consider taking the reso-plunge after playing this guitar, although slide players may end up walking off with another model. GB

GBRATINGS
OZARK 3616 DELUXE RESONATOR
BODY & NECK HARDWARE & PARTS PLAYABILITY SOUNDS VALUE FOR MONEY GBVERDICT

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