Spider, Ozark - more questions than answers at this stage:)

I suppose many will rate my instrument as cheap, it being the solid (not the ply) bodied Ozark Spider Resonator. I'm too old and curmudgeonly to care - it sounds good. It's not my first, nor was I looking for any kind of resonator - which is something that keeps happening to me. I'd tried slide within a few years of getting my first solid electric in 1970. A local shop whom I later dubbed 'Music Clowns' (it was Musical Sounds) sold me a thin metal chrome tube with a huge diameter for pennies. It convinced me I couldn't do slide. I digress.

Hello anyone who actually looked. Why I am here - like the title says, questions. But I'll finish a brief resumé if you don't mind. I've played acoustic and electric since the late 60s, hippy, heavy, bluesy rock with some folk (see Irish/Greek Indian) mixed in. Finally got into bands in 80s. But it was in the late 90s when my first resonator fell into my lap - an Epiphone Hound Dog apparently. A friend whom I set guitars up for had got it cheap off ebay - it was broken at the headstock/neck joint. He stuck it with Araldite (epoxy).

It worked. he asked me what I thought of it and passed it to me. Such a nice bloke - he liked my stuff so much he roadied for free - and he knew his stuff which was handy - Tony Tomlinson who ran British Custom Guitars. Sadly not doing it now. He put a slide in my hand too, so I was committed. It was an easy tuning and blues just oozed off it. He just looked at me and said "You have it". And he wouldn't back down. I really got into that biscuit, found myself re-evaluating blues and associated styles.

In fact another mate - King Rollo - asked me to do the interval spot for him. The reception I got swayed me towards playing slide.

Long story short, it broke again and wouldn't fix without a new neck. Meanwhile, I'd played at Tony's wedding - and he gave me a Jaguar - one of his custom builds with a Bare Knuckle pickup. I used it for electric slide but I need a finger rest - the design was very holey (solid body) and where I'd rest - nothing. He understood why I had to let it go, and weirdly, some bloke with a chromed brass Swift offered a swap. The sort with the star 3rd fret suggesting it was a Republic. I accepted and played it at open mics and stuff. But in all honesty, I found the string gauges required too heavy for my style (I'd gone for 9s on my electrics, so vibrato and bends were everywhere. So I sold it an excellent slidist - Steve Gaines. He picks and makes it sound all back to front, over under sideways down:).

Then - last biog bit - get this. In another deal, I got an G&L S500. Not keen, I decided to flog it. A mate (Shaun Hutch) offereed me an Ozark spider. We tried it out but he didn't like the G&L either. Finally another bloke offered my an Ibanez whammy type thing for it and I took it - even though I'm no longer fond of Fender scaled anythings. I offered it to Shaun who is a bit of an Ibanez fan - for the Ozark. Because even though it's not cutaway, and the pickup is what I regard as an overpriced piezo piece of crap - it kept calling to me. Shaun said yep.

Here we go then - rather than spend a fortune on a preamp (Fishman) as I might like to - I got a Behringer, used, cheaper than chips. It sounds OK - but I dislike piezo. Even £170 bridge ones. I understand they don't colour the tone - that's why I'd rather skip the pre-amp idea altogether cos that's what they seem all about. And short of micing up, I'd prefer something more transparent. The ones I see demo'd on you tube aren't in the maker's catalogues or I think are priced on reputation rather than R&D+quality.

There's no where to fit a (magnetic) pick up except a single coil at the end of the neck - and while I like it dulcet, I use a lot of picked/fretted harmonics which appear better with a brighter tone/pickup position. So I searched for a spider cover with a humbucking slot but haven't found one yet. I have a Seymour Magmic on my dreadnought and thought - dare I dig a hole down near the neck to try it? It sounds great on the acoustic - but even there, there's nuance it doesn't hear. Micing seems the only way when your finger tips and palms and nails etc mess with tone in subtle ways.

Maybe someone has ideas I can try. Maybe you'll vote me off site. I have got used to a set of 12s with a 13 in top E - I know that need balancing out - there's probably a ready made set I can get. More research - but I love doing that - it's just that sometimes you don't have time to re-invent the wheel. Something else bonkers. That G&L had come for a Martin, one of those little dreadnoughts. I'd got that cos it was short scale and should take lighter strings. Nah, it sapped the tone, so I was still stuck with a no bends guitar. I'd got the Martin cos my dreadnought (sentimental value Adam Black) is long scale and I have to drop a tone - even then it's stiff.

Next up was a Yamaha hybrid classical. Light strings - but to get bends they need to go twice round the neck... But it's in concert and is loud enough to heard at acoustic sessions. Hah, now you know where this is all going, yep? I've taught myself some nice chord shapes to go with the slide - but it's not my first style - it's 3rd, after finger picking. But 1st is plectrum/picking mix. This Ozark is a bit long for a short scale but it's 24.something not 25.something. I tried it dropped a tone while it was in Open D. Vibrato and bends aren't dead easy, but do-able. The tone - hah, that weird metallic reso, well played this way is more mellow. And it can be heard. I mostly use it acoustic, but some open mics are plug in, hence all this waffle. But I figure every group needs a nutter and I might learn something - hopefully even give something back.

I'm not looking at this stuff every day - I do a lot of writing and with two short books simmering my head's all over. Anyway, got my regular open sess later this month So I can take the Ozark - might even retune and slide a couple. Thanks for reading. Why we need an online name I dunno but there you go...