Gold Tone PB-GRS Resophonic Guitar

GRS Metal Body Resonator Guitar
Round neck.
Steel body.
Vintage 12 fret neck to body joint.
Paul Beard cone designed for metal bodies.
Mahogany neck and chrome finish.

I played a ton of resonator guitars before buying this one. The Nationals were great but just unaffordable for me. The Fenders, Honers, Johnsons, and Regals seemed to play well but soundwise could not compare with the Gold Tone. I love the sound of the Paul Beard and I think much of it has to do with the cone itself. Cones in anything other than a National just sound . I was lucky enough to find a store that sells Nationals, Regals, and Gold Tones so I could do apples to apples comparision in terms of single cone biscuit steel bodied guitars. The Gold Tone had great punch and break-up equal to the National given my style of play, (minor key alt-blues and major key alt-roots).

I bought my guitar in minty condition off Ebay so I can't say how well it was set up new but I have feeling the previous owner probably never touched the guitar. I have set the action myself for my style of play which is primarily flat picking but as it was it good enough for standard slide and picking.

The guitar did have some noise issues which were easily rememdied. I opened up the sound well I found a small loose metal shard that shook out. When I put everything back together it still had a buzz which was caused by the tailpiece resting on top of the resonator cover plate. Common on many resonators and easily remedied so don't let it freak you out. Some people like the buzz and let it be.

Everything else was groovy. Can't give it a ten though

Okay this is where this guitar shines. It is a beast in terms of structure. The neck and all the hardware also seem to be bombproof. It has chrome finish so it will need care if you want it to stay shiny but I want mine to look funky so I will likely wipe it down with a t-shirt and glass cleaner.

I have never had an issue with it that couldn't resolve myself in a matter of a few minutes and again, it's built tough so I don't expect any either.

Overall this is the best value in the market of steel bodied single biscuit cone resonator guitars. So if that's what you're looking I recommend it. The Nationals are too expensive for most (though they are great guitars) and all the other cheaper models just don't compare soundwise. If it were lost or stolen I would buy another in a heart beat.

Round neck, metal steel body, vintage 12 fret neck to body joint, Paul Beard cone designed for metal bodies, mahogany neck and chrome finish. Bone Nut, Maple Saddle, Rosewood Fingerboard, Mahogany Neck,
USA made Beard Cone. This guitar is made in Asia to Beard's specs and using some genuine Beard parts. It could be compared to buying a Regal or Johnson and then upgrading the cone, but overall quality seems better to me.
Body Depth 3-1/4"
Neck Scale 25" 1/4, 19 frets
Neck Width Under Nut 1-3/4"
Weight 9 lbs

I play the blues. This guitar has great tone. Maybe not quite as good as a National, but the GT costs less than 1/2 the price and has a neck width that I prefer.
Tone is much better than the metal bodied Regals, Johnsons or Fenders that I've tried.

Good action for both slide and finger-picking. (Not too high, not too low). Mine was great right out of the box.

Metal bodied guitars in general are tanks and this appears to be no exception.

Have not had to deal with anyone - but I've only had it a week!

Been playing for about 30 years. Was a pro for a while then settled down, got married, etc. and let music become a hobby. Now I'm 42, single again, and getting back to music. (Mid-life crisis? maybe, but I'd say it's returning to my true calling). My other guitars are Martin D16RGT acoustic and a couple of Parker Fly Mojo electrics. The GOld Tone is a winner and I would buy another one.

ORIGINALLY MIS-POSTED UNDER THE GRB BRASS BODY REVIEW
2005 Korean made, Florida USA set up, 12-fret nickel-plated steel body, f-holes, ribbed sieve coverplate with removable hand strap (super cool feature), mahogany neck with bound, dot-inlaid rosewood fingerboard, bone nut and adjustable truss rod, solid headstock with nickel tuners, and nickel tailpiece. When it arrived, the Beard cone was smashed in, so I replaced with a National cone & maple biscuit.

I play mainly bottleneck & fingerstyle style blues. Some avant garde acoustic stuff etc... Sold all my electrics, wanting to get back to simplicity & purity of working on the tone I produce with just my slides, fingerpicks...all that purist stuff. After I got the new National & biscuit cone set up, and a set of 16 guage reso strings, I am extremely pleased with the sound of this guitar. Perfect for bottleneck or fingerstyle. Amplfies quite well, nice full ringing bell tone, you can go from sweet to mean, classic hard attack, quick decay & resonate after tones. Good bass response, crisp highs, hollow mids.

After some research, I decided to try the Beard Signature series since it has the American set up from Asian parts, I thought the extra QC would help avoid the horror stories of some of the other imports. Other than the initial let down of the cone being smashed (I read some others stories that this can happen in shipping, especially to biscuit style cones) the dealer I got it from did pack exremely well, and the rest of the guitar was just about perfect. It plays in intonated tune as close as any reso I've played. No buzzes or rattles anywhere, stays in tune, frets well even with the action raised for slide with heavy strings. Neck at the perfect angle, Nickel finish flawless minus 1 pinhead sized nick, and some slight tarnishing on the inside, neck and fingerboard flawless, a couple slight imperfections in the neck binding, and a little glue visible from the neck joint. Had to shorten the screws to the biscuit cover so they didn't touch the new cone, which is slightly taller than the original. A very stunning instrument.

This guitar is built like a tank, thats part of the reason other than tone I always wanted a steel bodied resonator. Finish should last, will only get cooler when it doesn't. All parts are quality, tuners may go in time, since they are Far Eastern, they probably have plastic gears that will wear with time, but can't call that one 'till it happens. Holding fine with heavy strings (in open G & D). I treat all my instruments like they are made out off balsa wood, so I expect this one will last. I would gig without a backup.

The dealer did pay the cost of the replacement cone, offered to take it back, re-set up a new cone himself, send me new Beard cone...took real good care of me after the sale, haven't had to deal with actual company, but I feel the dealer represents the company he sells for.

Scary to say I've been playing about 20 years now, serious slide for the last 15 or so. My other guitar is a Martin DM, I have had lots of guitars, mostly electrics, from Carvins to Gibsons to Danelectros to Fenders etc...Built a couple as well. I really wanted to get it simple, just the sound from the guitar without all the electric mumbo jumbo. This guitar really stands up in quality & sound against others priced much higher, if lost I would replace it with same or similar, but would be pretty upset just the same. This guitar got me out of the "Made in the USA or else" snobbish attitude, they know what they'r doing over there. Favorite feature is the tone! Second is playability, third is price. Well done Gold Tone!