In my last posting I discussed the installation of National Guitar’s new machined aluminum biscuit/bridge on my Reso-Rocket WB. You can find that posting here. Just as I was wrapping up that discussion, it came to my attention via a YouTube posting by Steve James that National was now producing a wooden gasket to place between the aluminum biscuit and the resonator cone. Since I had just completed my installation, I was naturally curious as to what purpose the wooden gasket served. To that end, I sent inquiries to Steve James, Mike Dowling and National Guitars. Both James and Dowling are recording artists and they represent/sell National Guitars so they would have the inside scoop. I was interested in their take on the purpose and value of the gasket. I contacted National to see if I could acquire one as the gasket was not yet available for sale on their website.
After receiving a response from all the aforementioned contacts, there were basically two thoughts regarding the gasket. Steve James believed the wooden gasket which was located between the aluminum cone and aluminum biscuit would bring the guitar’s tone back closer to the sound of the older wooden biscuit design, which he thought was important.
On the other hand, Mike Dowling believed the gasket served the purpose of enhancing how the aluminum bridge “seated” onto the resonator cone during installation, particularly when using a “used” cone that had a wooden biscuit removed from it. According to Dowling, the used cone was “dimpled” by the wooden biscuit which prevented a uniform contact with the Revolution biscuit during subsequent installation. The gasket mitigated this problem. In Mike’s opinion the gasket was totally unnecessary when the Revolution biscuit was installed on a new cone. Mike was pretty firm in his recommendation even though he shared that the president of National thought the gasket might “mellow” the guitar’s tonality.
Since I had installed my Revolution biscuit on a new cone, I was inclined to drop the subject, especially after National confirmed, via email to me, Mike Dowling’s same position on the gasket. National Guitars seemed to have more than one opinion regarding the gasket. It is indeed true that two things can be true at the same time!
Almost immediately after hearing from Mike Dowling, I decided not to pursue the wooden gasket any further. Somewhat ironically, I was simultaneously contacted by Steve James and he basically insisted that I give the wooden gasket a try. In fact, he arranged with National Guitars to send me one! Despite the fact that Steve James did not know me at all, he was super nice and exceptionally accommodating during this process. Below you can see Steve’s initial YouTube posting about the wooden gasket:
In just a day or two, the gasket arrived from National… in fact they sent me two! The gaskets were very thin and flexible wooden shim-like contrivances designed to fit snugly into the underside of the Revolution bridge. To the left you can see the resonator cone I disassembled from my guitar with the Revolution biscuit sitting upside down upon it. The gasket is shown fitting snuggly to the underside of the biscuit. You can also see the the gasket is cut away to make space for the center mounting apparatus that is used to screw the biscuit into the cone. In sum, the gasket is sandwiched between the biscuit and the cone. Since it is so thin, it is basically moldable when the biscuit it screwed into the cone, yet it maintains a thin wooden layer between the two.
To the right, you can see the Revolution bridge attached to the cone with the wooden gasket sandwiched between. Also visible is the Maple saddle inserted into the biscuit. Because the gasket raised the height of the saddle, I had to remove it and sand it down to compensate for the gasket’s thickness. Removal of the bridge is quite easy and one of the selling points for the Revolution biscuit. It took a bit of trial and error but I got the saddle sanded down to get the string action that I wanted. If you refer to my earlier posting on the subject you can find the tolerances I was shooting for.
After I reassembled the instrument I made a recording of the guitar with the gasket installed and compared it the an earlier recording that I made after initially installing the biscuit (without the gasket). The clips are shown below. I am playing Muddy Waters’ “I Can’t Be Satisfied.” The first two recordings are “unplugged” and the last one is the guitar plugged into my Mesa Boogie Filmont 50 and through a series of pedals:
The tonality differences between the guitar with and without the wooden gasket are, I think, subtle; however, after repeated listenings, I believe the gasket fattens and lends a woodiness to the tone. I plan to keep the gasket installed. Feel free to comment below what you think.
