It may or may not be a surprise to some people that I have been spinning cones for resonator guitars for many years… actually, starting back in the mid-90’s. After I left my position at Gibson Guitar as the General Manager of the Original Musical Instrument Company (OMI) – the makers of the original Dobro(TM) resonator guitar- I got involved in the production of the “Biscuit” cones and “Spider Resonators” that are the heart of the resonator guitar. I actually did this not because I had a burning desire to be a metal spinner, but rather because I was concerned that the arcane art of hand-spinning these resonators would be lost and I had poured so much of my heart and soul into the instrument while I ran OMI that I couldn’t bear to see the knowledge lost.
So, I learned how to spin cones.
More on all that later, but I’ve been putting together a short video of me spinning the cones, and although in an earlier incarnation of my life I actually DID edit film – meaning F.I.L.M. as in the stuff that they used to use to make movies – I am NOT a film editor and it’s kind of driving me crazy. In the “old days”, I never would have even attempted to edit my footage into a coherent piece (cost prohibitive!), but with digital this and digital that and inexpensive software that promises to make the best video ever… it was just toooooo tempting to jump in and DIY on this “little” project. So I did.
And here I am, with far too many hours invested in this project, but I’m nearly done now with at least an initial version of the video… soon to be released to eager audiences…. on YouTube, at least.
More soon!