1930s Slingerland MayBell Cathedranola Resonator Tenor Guitar

It's been a long time since I've held another one of these upscale Cathedranola instruments. This is not quite as rare as the "balsa resonator" version, but it's far-rarer and a far-nicer instrument than the usual MayBell "faux resonator" (but actually resonator) instruments of similar looks.

First of all, this is a tenor guitar, meaning it's short-scale and 4-strings and intended to be played in CGDA tenor banjo tuning. That's how I've got this strung-up but the owner had it set for the lower, Celtic-style, octave-mandolin GDAE tuning and I tried that as well after I finished it and wound-up enjoying the CGDA pitch better in the end.

Let's talk about the design of this instrument. The body's top is a thicker ply with mahogany veneer. I'm not sure if the back is ply but I'm pretty sure the sides are solid. There's a large hole cut in the top on the lower bout (all beneath the coverplate -- I have a photo of this) and a thin-sanded spruce soundboard disc (ladder-braced) is glued-up under this hole. This is the "resonator." Many would argue that this is a "faux-resonator" but that's not the case -- the disc is the soundboard/resonator and the top is a thick, rigid thing that serves as a frame to mount it in and does not generate much sound itself.

Why is this advantageous compared to the whole top being a soundboard? It means that if you're trying to make a louder instrument, all of the energy is transferred into this thinner, lightly-braced, non-damped (by your arm or body) disc. A secondary sound chamber is actually created by the wide, metal coverplate as well. Without the coverplate on it's quite loud and woodier-souinding but if you add the coverplate you get a compression factor that helps to really ramp-up the instrument's bite in a narrower frequency range. It also adds a mild reverb-like effect to the voice.

A true "faux-resonator" instrument is usually a normal, tailpieced, cheap guitar that has had a coverplate added to it so it looks like a resonator instrument. It's neither louder than your average acoustic nor is it better sounding than the same instrument without the coverplate installed. It's a cheap gag. This is a true resonator instrument and sounds and acts like one.

However, I have modified the design a little. This originally had a glued, pin-bridge setup rather than the tailpiece-plus-banjo-bridge setup I've installed. When this came in the original bridge had pulled-up and I was planning to reglue it. I thought, however, back to the balsa-disc resonator version of the instrument that I liked best. It had a tailpiece setup with floating bridge and it was screaming-loud and fun. The pin-bridge variations of this instrument type that I'm used to sound good but are not in that realm. They've got a more-nuanced, woodier, Dobro-style honky sound and not terribly much more volume than your average guitar.

I noticed also that the spruce disc/resonator on this instrument is about half as thick as the average 6-string version of this instrument. It flexes really easy with the push of a finger. I figured that for both the instrument's health and for tonal/volume reasons, that I'd convert this over to a hidden tailpiece setup. I filled the pinholes in the top of the resonator, blacked-out the old bridge footprint, cut-down an old '60s tailpiece, and hid it under the coverplate. My internal pic shows how this is mounted. The "claws" to grab the string-ends are easy to get to and I have a small pad of foam to damp vibrations from the tail to the coverplate.

Other (really good) work had already been done to it -- the neck got a refret and new binding at the board at least and then a shot of clear topcoat on the rear and I'm guessing it had a neck reset at the same time -- and so this was basically the only work needed aside from mild setup adjustments. I used a 5/8" Grover 2-foot bridge to keep it '20s-looking.

The end result is an instrument that keeps pace with a resonator banjo but with a sweetened voice. The whole thing is ridiculously loud and has tremendous cut -- especially on the D and A plain strings where it just sings-out with a stupid amount of reserve power. It's sort-of like handling your first '20s Bacon tenor banjo of good quality -- you feel like you're plugged-in!

For anyone wanting a "different voice" for '20s and '30s-style tenor banjo slinging, look no further. This will cut in a band with horns. It also sounds great tuned to open, too, where that extra volume lets you pull-off all sorts of electric-guitar feats of more-finicky playing.

Repairs included: someone else did a neck reset, refret, and overspray to the neck's rear in the past. My work was the tailpiece-setup conversion and setup mucking-about.

Top wood: ply mahogany with spruce-disc resonator

Back & sides wood: mahogany

Bracing type: ladder

Bridge: 2-foot Grover banjo-style ebony/,maple

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: mahogany

Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast)
String gauges: 32w, 22w, 13, 9 for CGDA tuning

Neck shape: medium C/soft V

Board radius: flat

Neck relief: straight, tiny hair of relief on treble (1/64" at most) at pitch

Fret style: medium modern

Scale length: 23"

Nut width: 1 3/16"

Body width: 13"

Body depth: 4 1/4"

Weight: 4 lbs 1 oz

Condition notes: it's in really good shape throughout with only mild scratching here and there in the original finish of the body. It's lived its life in a case, methinks. The back of the neck got a shot of overspray at some point, though. Everything otherwise appears original save frets, nut, and perhaps the neck binding. The fretboard is possibly a replacement as well, but I'm not sure. I've replaced the original bridge setup with a floating bridge and tailpiece setup. The original bridge is stowed in the case, though, and if the next owner prefers, I could install the pin bridge if desired. I think this works far better with the current setup, though. It's satisfying to be able to dig-in with a lot of volume and snap on hand. It's quite amazing how well the green and yellow colors in the purfling and inlay have held-up over time. Usually these are faded.

It comes with: an old chip case.