The Maxwell Resonator: History in Your Hands
There’s nothing quite like a squareneck resonator, and the Maxwell Squareneck from Recording King takes this instrument to its design limits. The Maxwell Squareneck is a wood-bodied resonator made from articulate cuts of mahogany paired with a hand-spun European spider cone for walloping volume and tight, focused tone that’s ripe for the studio and stage. The Maxwell perfectly captures the look and sound of pre-war resonators with functional hardware that’s retro through and through. The resonator features a suave parallelogram pattern for great projection matched with a vintage sand-cast spider bridge and old-school butterbean tuners and a premium bone nut. If you’re looking to hop into the world of slide or bluegrass resonator, or you want to upgrade from an entry-level instrument, the Recording King Squareneck from Sweetwater is a clear winner!
Related Videos: Maxwell Squareneck Resonator - Sunburst
Built for comfort
This guitar is built for comfort with a number of upscale features that won't break the bank. A shapely square-shouldered body ensures vintage articulation and playability that’s made for travel, gigs, or simply keeping it within reach and on display in your living space. Meanwhile, a comfortable mahogany neck and padauk fingerboard ensure great playability whether you’re plucking intricate dusty melodies or wailing on your Great Depression-era tune with a slide. This neck is “squarestyle” with a flat radius, meaning its built for lap-style players. If you prefer a resonator that’s played upright, Recording King also offers this same instrument in a roundneck style.
Mahogany delivers tight tonal focus!
The Maxwell Squareneck Resonator features a stylish hand-spun spider resonator cone for pure, rich tone. But of course, a resonator need excellent sound to amplify which is why the Maxwell features a wealth of premium mahogany tonewood onboard. Mahogany sides, back, and top yield tight tonal focus with knife-like midrange that’s perfect for cutting through a dense band or mix. Mahogany also produces excellent sustain that slide-style players are sure to appreciate. Sweetwater players are especially impressed with the Maxwell’s pairing of mahogany with a square-shouldered body shape. Together with dual grille holes and interior bracing carved from Sitka spruce, the square-shoulder shape tightens and defines the Maxwell’s tone . . . to the max!
Recording King: retro refreshed
The landmark Recording King brand traces its origins back to 1930s building contracts with the retail titan Montgomery Ward. During the early days of radio and recorded music, affordable but well-crafted Recording King guitars, banjos, and resonators swept across the nation far and wide. Now revived, Recording King hearkens back to those early days of production-line American instruments built for pros and budding musicians alike. Nearly a century later, these retro models take their cues from vintage designs for results that look and sound like their 1930s counterparts.
Recording King Maxwell Squareneck Resonator Guitar Features:
- Comfortable square-shouldered body shape yields good volume with stronger definition than a round-shouldered body
- Large European hand-spun spider cone with parallelogram soundwell ensures powerful tone with excellent projection
- 12th-fret neck joint means a more relaxed string feel
- Gloss-finished back, top, and sides built from mahogany deliver a tight, focused voice with minimal overtones — great for ensembles, bands, and recording!
- Gloss-finished mahogany neck with a square profile and 19 frets, ideal for lap playing
- Hardwood padauk fingerboard for fast and smooth fretting
- Internal Sitka spruce bracing manages frequency response for even lows, mids, and highs
- Premium hardware increases resonance (a bone nut, ebony saddle, and sand-cast spider bridge)
- Sturdy butterbean nickel tuners with black button covers and 18:1 tuning ratio for fast and precise tuning
