Is a weissenborn guitar the same as a resonator?
A weissenborn is very different than a resonator, although both are often listed together by online stores, etc because of their stature as rarities and niche products. The Weissenborn is a wooden lap guitar generally laid on its back and played with a slide. Ben Harper is famous for his use of the Weissenborn. It gives a mellow, organic, slinky slidey sound. A resonator (such as a Dobro) is a guitar invented at some time around 1900. It was designed to be louder then a standard acoustic so that the guitarist could be heard over the other instruments in a band (this was before electric amplification). A resonator guitar can be wood or metal, and generally contains two to three “resonators” attached to the soundboard inside the guitar. These resonators are generally hollow, conical metal biscuits that vibrate to give off sound. A resonator is loud and metallic, often heard in country or old-fashioned blues music.
