Fender FR-50

[krrf]

I'm buying one of these Fender import resonator guitars used here pretty quick. Anyone have one? Thoughts? Is it a piece of shit or not?

[Bongolation]

Originally posted by krrf
Is it a piece of shit or not?

Totally and absolutely.

Here's why: For some inscrutable reason, it has a partially arched top. A resonator can't be properly adjusted nor work right unless it's perfectly flat. The FR-50's pseudo-resonator is instead bent and crushed - to the point of bending and damaging the cone and spider - to conform to about a 1/2" arch that's jacked into the top of the hole.

Whether this incredible misdesign has been corrected in recent production, I don't know, but all the FR-50s I've seen had this extremely bizarre problem.

What were they thinking?

[krrf]

Yeah I did read that about the arched top. I got quite a few pictures of the one I'm buying, and it didn't look to have an arched top, so who knows. I figure if it's a lame duck I'll just sell it and move on, or cut a hole in the top and install a P90 hehe.

[Bongolation]

Originally posted by krrf
it didn't look to have an arched top, so who knows.

You don't see it unless you look at it across the top from the side. It looks like a flattop because the arch is so slight - as I said, maybe a half inch - but it's enough to damage the resophonic device and usually even buckle the outside chromed cover.

It's totally crazy. In over forty years of playing, fixing, buying and selling guitars, I've never seen such a dumb design.