New Uke Day (NUD) John Morton Tenor Reso Arrived Today

[hollisdwyer]

Some of you might remember a post of mine from a few months ago asking about acquiring a custom resonator tenor Uke. Well today my dream came true when the custodianship of a beautiful John Morton tenor Reso was passed down to me. I’m glad that I have developed a strong sense of delayed gratification as I can’t indulge myself playing it all day as I have it booked in with my favourite guitar tech to install a Reso pickup, change the strings to my usual Frankenstein string set and install a strap button (it’s not as heavy as I expected but my old wrists will appreciate the support). Here are some photos from the previous custodian and one I took today after unboxing.

 

[frets alot]

Congrats, it's a really nice looking reso!

 

[hollisdwyer]

Congrats, it's a really nice looking reso!

Thanks very much. It joins a wonderful collection. I know that I will have great fun with it, especially when my performance partner gets his Beltonia Baritone Reso. We are currently looking for repertoire that is particularly appropriate for those instruments.

 

[rhiggie]

What a cool looking Reso! Not familiar with the name like National or Beltona but I can't believe anyone puts that kind of work into a Reso without knowing how to make it sing! So what is a Reso pickup? Piezo, twin spot? Where is it located, there's no saddle to put a Piezo under.

 

[KevinFL]

Wow! That's a beauty. I'd love to hear what it sounds like.

 

[keenonuke]

Some of you might remember a post of mine from a few months ago asking about acquiring a custom resonator tenor Uke. Well today my dream came true when the custodianship of a beautiful John Morton tenor Reso was passed down to me. I’m glad that I have developed a strong sense of delayed gratification as I can’t indulge myself playing it all day as I have it booked in with my favourite guitar tech to install a Reso pickup, change the strings to my usual Frankenstein string set and install a strap button (it’s not as heavy as I expected but my old wrists will appreciate the support). Here are some photos from the previous custodian and one I took today after unboxing.

So glad you found one and this search/dream ukulele found it's home

 

[DownUpDave]

Wow wow wow Hollis. That is an amazingly beautiful resonator, probably the finest I have seen. The headstock veneer is so tastefully done, as is the multi piece neck and resonator cover.

Congratulations my friend, I know you will enjoy it and put it to good use for many years to come

 

[Joe T]

Congratulations Hollis, what a beautiful instrument. Wishing you many hours of enjoyment.

 

[hollisdwyer]

What a cool looking Reso! Not familiar with the name like National or Beltona but I can't believe anyone puts that kind of work into a Reso without knowing how to make it sing! So what is a Reso pickup? Piezo, twin spot? Where is it located, there's no saddle to put a Piezo under.

Thanks for your comment. Re pickups for a reso Uke, there are a number of ways to capture the sound from a reso. First it depends on what type of reso you have. Mine is a single cone with a biscuit bridge (the other types are spider bridges and ones that have 3 cones(tricones). After a bit of research and enquiry I chose the one from Schatten. It’s passive like the K&K’s and attaches to the biscuit bridge. I’ve attached a photo so you can see what that would look like on a single cone reso guitar.

 

[hollisdwyer]

Wow wow wow Hollis. That is an amazingly beautiful resonator, probably the finest I have seen. The headstock veneer is so tastefully done, as is the multi piece neck and resonator cover.

Congratulations my friend, I know you will enjoy it and put it to good use for many years to come

Thanks Dave, your comment is much appreciated. This was quite an indulgence for me at this point in my life but truly does round off my collection and allows me to explore repertoire that is particularly suited to that instrument’s voice. In the past year I have been performing at open mics with a friend. Our stage handle is Delta Steve & Brown Dog Dupree(me). We focus on delta, Piedmont and country blues so you see why acquiring a reso was on the cards. Delta Steve has ordered one of the Beltonia Super Baritone Reso’s and we are starting to make lists of material for later this year. I posted a segment of one of our performances earlier this month on the Facebook UU page. Have a look. It’s under my Facebook nom du plume, Enoch Esterhazy.

 

[niwenomian]

That is so beautiful! Congrats hollis! I've kept an eye out for these recently, and I think yours is one of the nicest I've seen. Will you use metal strings on there?

 

[hollisdwyer]

That is so beautiful! Congrats hollis! I've kept an eye out for these recently, and I think yours is one of the nicest I've seen. Will you use metal strings on there?

I’ll be replacing the current all nylon high G set with my usual Frankenstein low g set of Thomastik Infeld chrome flat wound silk & steel and Savarez 541 & 542 trebles. I will definitely be investigating if I can replace those trebles with some very light steels though. I’d want to make sure that I had a replacement cone though if anything went wrong. Thanks for your comment.

 

[mjh42]

Oh you'll be crying and singing the blues before too long........

Enjoy to the fullest!

 

[JHBlues]

Such a lovely reso! Congratulations brother

 

[Kenn2018]

Whoa! I'm not familiar with John Morton's work, but it would seem that I should. What an outstanding looking reso. He couldn't have opened up that face any more. And it looks amazing.

Thanks for the info about the pickup. You've definitely put in a lot of research about cones and pickups. It really paid off.

From what you're saying, it can handle light steel strings as well? I'll check out your FB page for sure.

 

[hollisdwyer]

Whoa! I'm not familiar with John Morton's work, but it would seem that I should. What an outstanding looking reso. He couldn't have opened up that face any more. And it looks amazing.

Thanks for the info about the pickup. You've definitely put in a lot of research about cones and pickups. It really paid off.

From what you're saying, it can handle light steel strings as well? I'll check out your FB page for sure.

I’ve been having a discussion with the son of the builder today about using steel strings for this Uke. He has a similar model and has always used a set of extra light d’Addario steel strings without any problems. This would not be true for all Reso Ukes. Unless you actually pick up one of John Morton’s instruments you can’t feel the sturdiness of the build. I will now move forward with great confidence.

 

[Nickie]

Beautiful reso. Congratulations, you lucky dog!

 

[hollisdwyer]

Thanks Nickie. Funny you should use that analogy as I now perform under the stage name Brown Dog Dupree. LOL.