Resonators: Spider vs. biscuit

[notCardio]

What's the difference in sound? I know something like this is hard to describe, but I'd appreciate someone taking a stab at it.

 

[Milnoque]

I get a more warm mids and better sustain out of my spider coned guiter. Think of the classic Dobro sound or maybe think neck pickup and 12" speaker. The biscuit style has more bite and a sharper punchier attack. Think middle position or bridge pickup through a not too bright 10" speaker. There are also tricones (three smaller biscuits) to consider. These are all about the upper mids. They have slightly more sustain than single biscuits. I don't have a geat speaker analogy for this one, The construction materials used on the body make a big difference in the tone. I suck at playing slide but I keep trying. I like the sound of all three types but I give an edge to wood bodied guitars with biscuit cones.

That's my experience. YMMV

 

[mixsit]

I get a more warm mids and better sustain out of my spider coned guiter. Think of the classic Dobro sound or maybe think neck pickup and 12" speaker. The biscuit style has more bite and a sharper punchier attack. Think middle position or bridge pickup through a not too bright 10" speaker. There are also tricones (three smaller biscuits) to consider. These are all about the upper mids. They have slightly more sustain than single biscuits. I don't have a geat speaker analogy for this one, The construction materials used on the body make a big difference in the tone. I suck at playing slide but I keep trying. I like the sound of all three types but I give an edge to wood bodied guitars with biscuit cones.

That's my experience. YMMV

All right! Go NC!

 

[matttheaxe]

The bisquit style is much more pleasing to the ears. Imagine putting an acoustic guitar through an EQ pedal and slamming one of the mid sliders. You would get this nasally tone. Thats what a spider reso sounds like. Its cool for adding a few little slide licks to a song, but thats about it.

 

[Milnoque]

The bisquit style is much more pleasing to the ears. Imagine putting an acoustic guitar through an EQ pedal and slamming one of the mid sliders. You would get this nasally tone. Thats what a spider reso sounds like. Its cool for adding a few little slide licks to a song, but thats about it.

I have to disagree with this opinion. A good dobro (spider cone) doesn't sound at all "nasally" to me. A good one can sound quite warm and dark. Some of the cheaper ones with poorly spun cones can sound a bit like you describe though.

 

[notCardio]

Do certain body types typically come with certain cones? I mean, is a metal body generally one type or the other, while wood bodies tend to be the other one, or is there no generalization?

And if anyone could point me to any songs and say, 'this is a spider sound' or 'this is a biscuit' (or better yet one of each), that would be cool.

For instance, 'Gold Dust Woman' sounds like a metal body, but which kind of cone?

 

[Milnoque]

More often than not, metal bodied resonators have biscuit cones, but, there are spider coned ones as well. The metal may be steel, various formulations of brass, or even german silver. The material makes a big difference in the tone. Wood bodied instruments can have either type of cone.

The material used for the slide is also very important.

I went back and listened to "Gold Dust Woman". I'm betting that's a Dobro (spider cone). Jerry Douglass plays spider cones.