National Reso-Lectric

The National Reso-Lectric is one of the coolest and most interesting guitars that I've had the pleasure of recording. It is a combination of a resonator dobro style guitar paired with the power of an electric guitar. While I wasn't the artist on the session, I was very impressed with the sounds possible with this guitar. I wish that I had more experience with it, but they are rare and don't come around everyday. The Reso-Lectric has two pick ups.

UTILIZATION

The configuration of the National Reso-Lectric isn't too complicated, as the only difference between it and a standard electric guitar is of course the metal resonating body. Each of the two pick ups have their own gain knobs and there is a three way switch to choose between them or blend the two. There is also a master volume knob next to the other two. The neck of the guitar makes it easy to play slide for sure. Getting a nice sound isn't necessarily hard or easy, it just depends on how good you are, but if you do your job, the Reso-lectric will do the rest!

SOUNDS

The National Reso-Lectric sounds unlike any other guitar that I've heard before. While it is definitely reminiscent of both playing regular slide on an electric guitar and an acoustic resonator, the combination of the two makes it very unique. We were using the Reso-Lectric with a '65 Fender Delxue Reverb, so I definitely got a good idea of what the guitar really sounds like. You can get a good amount of differing sounds between the pick ups, but really no matter where you set it it's going to sound great, if you can play it of course.

OVERALL OPINION

Finding a National Reso-Lectric isn't necessarily hard, but there definitely aren't too much of these out there. I don't know exactly when or for how long they were made for either. This is just a really great idea, and I wish I had one of my own! If you're an avid slide guitar player looking for a unique and powerful instrument that is unlike most, definitely at least check out the National Reso-lectric.