Shop Keyboard Deals, Financing, and More

Sorry, all demos of this item have been sold.

Since demo items are such a great deal, they often sell within hours of showing up on our web site. Order a new one below, or browse every currently available demo item here.

Gretsch G9201 Honey Dipper Round-Neck Metal Resonator - Brass Body, Padauk Fingerboard

Resonator Guitar with Brass Body, Mahoagny Neck, Padauk Fingerboard, and Biscuit Cone - Shed Roof
Building your custom Guitar Gallery
$699.00

Or pay $116.50 for 6 months with Easy Pay

See all payment options
In Stock!

Add to Cart
Notify me about deals

Ask An Expert

Our expertly trained Sales Engineers are ready to help!

What is a Sales Engineer?
Sweetwater Gear Exchange

Have one to sell?
Check out Sweetwater's Gear Exchange!
Learn More

Most Popular Accessories & Related Items

Gretsch G9201 Honey Dipper Round-Neck Metal Resonator - Brass Body, Padauk Fingerboard
In Stock!
$699.00
Add to Cart
Add to list
Back to navigation

This article was Written By

Our Product Research Team

Get to know them!

Classic Roundneck Resonator from Gretsch

First developed in the pre-amplified 1920s to accompany the much-louder horn, banjo, and fiddle instruments in popular ensembles of the time, resonator guitars are truly a uniquely American innovation. The Gretsch G9201 Honey Dipper Roundneck Metal Resonator is a stunning throwback to the earliest days of American music, with its all-brass body and old-timey tone and vintage looks. One strum of this Honey Dipper, and you are conjuring the past when traveling musicians roamed the country, playing for whoever would listen — hobo camps along the rails, or if they got a lucky break, live radio broadcasts from the earliest days of mega-watt stations. With a Gretsch Ampli-Sonic diaphragm biscuit resonator cone hand-spun in Eastern Europe, the Honey Dipper kicks out an impressive level of volume and mesmerizing midrange resonant tone. A gorgeous padauk fingerboard with abalone dot inlays responds beautifully whether you are playing chords or using a slide. The G9201 invites you to explore the styles of old country, blues, and early folk as well as whatever sonic innovations you can dream up. Resonator players at Sweetwater love the Honey Dipper Roundneck Metal Resonator for its playability and tone.

Beautifully appointed

Gretsch's Roundneck Honey Dipper Resonator features tasteful vintage appointments that would look right at home in the company's catalogs of yesteryear. With the G9201, you get a stunning all-brass body with a finish that not only looks great but enhances the instrument's tone. A gorgeous mahogany neck with padauk fingerboard responds beautifully to chords or a slide, letting you explore the sounds of early country, blues, and folk as well as your own contemporary sonic visions. The simple biscuit cone design of this resonator just oozes old-timey vibe and makes you happy they do still make a classic instrument like the G9201.

Gretsch's legacy in American music

The Gretsch G9201 standard resonator guitar transports you back to Gretsch's roots in American music. Everyone knows Gretsch electric guitars and drums, but many don't know they got their start in 1883 as a banjo company. It wasn't long before Gretsch was making mandolins, ukuleles, and eventually flat-top guitars, contributing to the very roots of American music. So when you pick up a Gretsch resonator, you're holding more than a great resonator, you're holding a piece of American music history.

Gretsch G9201 Honey Dipper Roundneck Resonator Guitar Features:

  • All-brass top, back, and sides emit mesmerizing resonator tone
  • Padauk fingerboard with 19 frets responds beautifully to chording or a slide
  • Gretsch Ampli-Sonic Eastern European hand-spun biscuit cone
  • Grover Sta-Tite tuning machines keep you in tune

Why Buy Your Guitar from Sweetwater?

See how Sweetwater goes to great lengths to give you the very best online guitar buying experience. From our online Guitar Gallery that allows you to see and select the exact instrument you want to our 55-point Inspection process and our in-house guitar techs, we take the guesswork out of buying your next guitar online.

Additional Media

Warranty Info

Sweetwater's FREE 2-Year Total Confidence Coverage Warranty

Extra peace of mind at no extra cost.

  • Save money with FREE parts and labor
  • Get back to making music with the industry's fastest turnaround time
  • Fix it the first time with our award-winning, factory-certified Service Department
Learn More about Total Confidence Coverage

Free 2-year Warranty

Sweetwater's 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ Warranty gives you extra peace of mind at no extra cost.

Learn More about Total Confidence Coverage
Tools Icon

Save money with free parts & labor!

Fast Icon

Get back to making music with the industry's fastest turnaround time.

Award Icon

Fix it the first time with our award-winning, factory-certified Service Department.

Back to navigation

Tech Specs

  • Resonator Type: Biscuit
  • Number of Strings: 6
  • Left-/Right-handed: Right-handed
  • Body Style: No Cutaway
  • Color: Weathered "Pump House Roof"
  • Top Material: Bell Brass
  • Back & Sides Material: Bell Brass
  • Body Bracing: Neck Stick
  • Neck Wood: Mahogany
  • Neck Shape: Medium V
  • Fingerboard Material: Padauk
  • Fingerboard Inlay: White Dots
  • Number of Frets: 19 (12 to body)
  • Scale Length: 25"
  • Tuning Machines: Grover Sta-Tite Die-cast
  • Bridge Material: Hard Maple
  • Nut/Saddle Material: Bone nut, Ebony/Maple saddle
  • Nut Width: 1.75"
  • Strings: D'Addario EJ16 Phosphor Bronze, .012-.053
  • Manufacturer Part Number: 2717013000

What Makes Our Sales Engineers Great?

Sweetwater Sales Engineers are a world-class team of experts dedicated to you. Hand selected from across the globe, each brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the world of music gear to provide you with unparalleled service completely free of charge. Friendly relationships, real trust, and the right gear are only a call or a click away!

Back to navigation

Customer Reviews

Write your review
Rated 5/5

Nice tone, well-made guitar

I decided to buy a resonator guitar after 50 years of playing guitar. This one doesn't have palm trees sandblasted on it like my friend's National guitar from college, but it's a nicely made guitar and I like that it's a Gretsch. (I used to have a pale green Gretsch Anniversary model, but I sold it when the kids needed new shoes - still kicking myself).

This guitar is heavy and loud. The quality and finish are good, which is sometimes a concern with an instrument made in China (I had a mandolin that I had to throw away because the neck separated from the body and the inside structure was a mess).

The color of this guitar body is a bit greenish, which you can't really tell from the pictures on the website. The tone is good, classic resonator tone. I have been using it in standard tuning but want to try using it as a dobro. The action is a bit high, which means I need to get my calluses built back up.

It came with good strings on it and was all set up properly. It was even pretty much in tune when it arrived. The people at Sweetwater did a nice job prepping it.
Music background: Nonprofessional
Rated 5/5

Great guitar

I love my Honey dipper. It has the twang of a banjo and is great for bluegrass, country, blues, slide work. I was really impressed with how well it projects the sound. Good job Gretsch!
Rated 3.5/5

Sounds good, otherwise not terribly impressed

This guitar has a great sound. But beyond that I was pretty unimpressed. The intonation is terrible, it arrived with the action extremely high (~4mm, when I would expect ~3mm for a resonator), the fit and finish is pretty sloppy (see attached images). There are cracks in the fretboard edge at the 12th fret, and sloppy gaps in the glue along the neck joint, and even a string of dried glue on the side of the neck heel.

When I brought these issues up to my sweetwater sales representative, I was told "it's common," with the implication being that I shouldn't be surprised to see it.

Fairly disappointing.
Rated 5/5

excellent guitar

This guitar is my first experience with a resonator, so I have nothing against which to compare it. I greatly enjoy playing it. It's a fairly heavy instrument as you'd expect from something with this much serious metal in the body. You can pump up the volume pretty easily though it's also very expressive when played piano instead of forte. I've shopped around enough to know that resonators can be fairly pricey. At its current price point, this one is a real bargain. I'd strongly recommend it.
Music background: many years of piano & blues harp; two or three years so far on guitar.
Rated 5/5

great guitar at an extraordinarily low price

If you can find one of these (and I had to look far and wide before finding the last one recently in Sweetwater's inventory), get it! It's a terrific instrument, and not just for the price. The action is easy and smooth and the sound is absolutely booming, certainly at the level of instruments costing four or five times as much.

One thing I want to point out has to do with the buzz on this instrument at various places around the web. Players are enthusiastic about it, but a number have noted in their reviews that the Honey Dipper's sound is very robust but decays quickly. I was very surprised to discover that this isn't at all true, at least with the instrument I received. In fact, it's *extraordinarily* resonant--the sound is very robust, very 'round,' and enduring. It doesn't fade quickly at all.

I have a couple of really fine acoustic guitars from a couple of the leading brands. The Honey Dipper is clearly at their level of excellence. You'll have a blast with this, as I do.
Music background: many years on piano, a year or two now on guitar.
Close Close $2,000 Pick Your PRS Giveaway -- input your email address below to enter or click here to learn more.

See giveaway details & rules or check out our past winners!

Success!

Your email, has been entered to win this giveaway. Good Luck!