Resitar
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The Resitar (or Reztar) is a customized (or "prepared") mid-60s Gibson Melody Maker electric guitar, which was used by The Residents from around the early 1980s to the late 2000s. At one point considered "really indispensable",[1] the Resitar appeared on various recordings including Title in Limbo and The Bunny Boy,[2][3][4] and The Mole Show,[3] where it was usually played by the group's founding composer and arranger Hardy Fox.[3]
The Resitar stands apart from other electric guitars due to its unique string arrangement and tuning; Fox described it as "an electric guitar strung like a mandolin",[5] "altered to use three sets of [two] strings", with the tuning "determined by the song [the Resitar] is being used for".[5][3][2] Generally, however,[5] the Resitar was tuned with "low strings an octave apart, middle strings a fifth apart, high strings the same pitch but slightly out of tune",[3] producing what one collaborator described as a "wonderful chimey sound [without] pedals".[6]
For The Residents' Mole Show live tour and the album Title in Limbo, all of the Resitar's strings were tuned to E.[1] Its last noted use by Fox was on The Bunny Boy album in 2008.[4] As of September 2024, the Resitar is in the possession of The Residents' former collaborator, guitarist Nolan Cook,[7] who says he has "never played it or seen it played! [Fox] played that thing in private."[8]
Technical specifications
The Resitar is a modified double cut Gibson Melody Maker - either from 1964 or 1965. It features an all-mahogany body with a 22-fret rosewood fretboard, and is finished in the standard Gibson cherry red finish.[10] This model is equipped with two single coil pickups, both controlled by a set of master volume and tone knobs.
Originally introduced as a model targeted at students and amateur players in 1959, the Melody Maker was Gibson's cheapest electric guitar model, with the base price of the redesigned 1964 iteration sitting at $127.50 (or $146.50 when factory equipped with the optional Gibson GV19 vibrola system).[10] The Resitar happens to be a model with this vibrola system, although it has been moved farther down on the body, presumably to provide higher string tension for the unique tuning. The handle has also been removed.
This model was phased out by early 1967, replaced with an updated model sporting an Gibson SG-style body. It is unclear whether The Resitar was purchased new or second hand.
See also
- The Mole Show (tour)
- Title in Limbo
- Cube-E
- The Bunny Boy (album)
- List of equipment used by The Residents
- Hacienda Bridge no. 15
- Nolan Cook
External links and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ian Shirley, Never Known Questions: Five Decades of The Residents, Cherry Red Books, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jim Knipfel and Brian Poole, Faceless Forever - A Residents Encyclopaedia, Cherry Red Books, 2022, pg. 212
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Hardy Fox, "Others", Hacienda Bridge #15, May 1st 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Last I remember was Bunny Boy album. Even that was like 8 years ago." Hardy Fox, comment on Facebook, September 6th 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Imagine an electric guitar strung like a mandolin. 6 strings in pairs - 3 double strings. Tuned to meet need. But generally, hi string same tuning. Middle strings a fifth apart. Lo an octave apart." Hardy Fox, comment on Facebook, September 6th 2016
- ↑ "Wonderful chimey sound w/o pedals...definitely filled a need." Phillip Perkins, comment on Facebook, September 6th 2016
- ↑ Nolan Cook, post in The Residents unofficial Facebook group, September 18th 2024
- ↑ Nolan Cook, comment in The Residents unofficial Facebook group, September 18th 2024
- ↑ https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ymj8by1ktrbeoo2co5xtr/1964-Gibson-Catalog.pdf?rlkey=92r21m2uy1v6mctuzvnl85q8y&e=2&dl=0
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 https://www.vintageguitarandbass.com/gibson/1964_melody_maker.php