There are no products listed under this category.
Mule Resophonic Guitars — Saginaw Steel, Built to Inspire
Matt Eich graduated high school, attended Roberto-Venn, and went to work at Huss and Dalton in Virginia before a series of factory jobs, a recession, a lost job, and a Kelly Joe Phelps concert in Traverse City, Michigan changed everything. Watching Phelps play slide on a metal resonator and send the crowd into a frenzy, Eich left the venue with a single question: could he build a resonator that looked more like the raw material it was made from, and sounded warmer and more acoustic than anything the format had historically produced? He had never cut or welded a piece of metal in his life. It took him a year to make four guitars he wasn't happy with. He ran out of money. He kept going.
Today, Mule Resophonic is a four-person steel resonator guitar shop in Saginaw, Michigan, building instruments that Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Ben Harper, Ariel Posen, Joey Landreth, Jeffrey Foucault, Jason Momoa, and Kristian Matsson of The Tallest Man on Earth have all made central to their sound. The waiting list grows every year, and the instruments deserve every minute of the wait.
Thinking Like an Acoustic Guitar
What makes Mule resonators sound the way they do begins with a philosophy the rest of the resonator world has largely ignored. Historically, resonator builders have focused on getting the cones moving. Matt focuses on getting the back moving as much as possible, an approach that contributes directly to the warm, sweet, fundamentally acoustic character that players describe as unlike any other resonator they have played. The stainless steel bodies, chosen over the more common mild steel because it simply sounds better, are left looking like steel rather than painted or plated, keeping the natural material honest and contributing a sustain and resonance that conventional resonator finishes suppress.
The tricone instruments, built in a single-cone body with f-holes in the manner of the very first National ever made, deliver an especially sweet and vibrant sound that rewards bare-finger playing with a complexity and warmth that no conventional single-cone resonator can match.
The Models
Single Cone Resonator — The instrument that started the brand, available in steel and brass body configurations with 12 and 14-fret neck options, optional cutaway, and an optional Wolftone P-90 pickup wound by hand for players who need to plug in without losing the acoustic character of the instrument. Available in standard and slotted headstock configurations.
Tricone Resonator — The most tonally sophisticated instrument in the Mule catalog, building on the concept of the very first National prototype with tricone mechanics in a single-cone body and f-holes that contribute sweetness, vibration, and an acoustic complexity that players and reviewers consistently describe as playing like a completely different instrument from any other resonator available.
Mulecaster — Single and double-cutaway variations on a Strat and Tele-inspired outline with hollow steel bodies and a 25-inch scale length, available in standard and baritone tuning in a range of powder coat colors. The bridge between the resonator and electric guitar worlds, and a favorite of players who want the Mule tonal character with a more conventional playing feel.
Mavis — The most ambitious and unusual instrument in the lineup, described by Matt Eich himself as part archtop guitar, part electric guitar, part resonator, and something completely different to your ear. A carved roasted pine arched back with a roasted maple top, resonator cone, and a Mule Tomthumbucker mini-humbucker combine in a solidbody instrument that Guitar.com called a songwriting companion and the launchpad for hundreds of new ideas. Available with and without cutaway, with a 17-month waiting list at the time of the review and no signs of shortening.
Browse our available Mule Resophonic inventory. Please reach out for more information.