Hooked On Classics - Moving To The Country

Spending so much of my life dealing with vintage gear is a real joy, and I feel like a lucky man. However, when something new comes along that knocks my socks off it’s a rare joy, so I appreciate it to the fullest – and it’s happened to me recently when I tried some resonator guitars made by Peter Turner. I was introduced to Pete through my guitar tech Andy last year, so this column includes two fine examples that have really blown me away. 
 

What’s so good about them? Well, I’ve always loved the look and idea behind resonators ever since I had a go on one in Top Gear in Denmark Street in the early ’70s. However, as much as I’m a fan of the many great players who can make a resonator sing, they always sound a bit too much like a banjo in my hands for me to really get into them. But these Turner guitars are the perfect mix of resonator and acoustic – you can do your early blues impersonation on them, but you can also get a great acoustic sound, which to me as a player is worth its weight in gold.
 

Having talked to Pete about these guitars, I know that they came about through a lot of experimentation – and sometimes a bit of  heartache. For example, he tried every pickup out there, but while there was nothing wrong with them as such, none of them fitted in with what he was going for. So he designed and built his own pickups specially. 
 

Owning a hire company, it’s always been necessary to have some top-notch resonators for musicians who wanted to avail themselves of one for a period of time. Included in this column are a couple that I know hit the spot, particularly given the feedback I’ve had from countless top-level players.

But though I don’t disagree with them, they aren’t the instruments that I return to again and again – but I can see myself losing a lot of time with these Pete Turner guitars in the foreseeable future when I really should be working… and it’s nice to be able to say that about something made in the 21st century. 


1958  Dobro