National Resophonic Serial Numbers
National Resonator Guitar Tricone 1.5. The Style 1.5 is a slightly upgraded version of our Style 1. A hand-engraved, double-cut wriggle pattern borders the top, sides, and back of the body. The National Guitar Page. Over the years I fell in love with the sound of resonator guitars - a kind of metallic. (the letter O, not the number zero).
I don't know about anything on-line, Steve, but if you want to date a National resonator guitar, look in the back of Bob Brozman's book on Nationals.
But they sure do look great! Personally, I feel the smoother, more complex tone is the best National sound and look! A roundneck tricone (in my opinion) is the ultimate resonator guitar. How the Resonators Work. National resonator instruments use very thin aluminum speaker cones, known as 'cones', to mechanically amplify the sound of the instrument. This style of mechanical amplification was invented in the 1920's, before the advent of electric instruments.
John Dopyera left National in 1929 to start his own company called Dobro with his other brothers. But National and Dobro later merged in the 1930s, and since then have undergone several reorganizations and buyouts over the years. Resonators have one or more thin aluminum cones (similar to a cone in a modern speaker) that amplify the sound. Unlike traditional wooden-body guitars where sound is created by the vibration of the body’s tonewoods, a resonator transfers the vibration from the strings through the bridge and into the aluminum cone. The body then acts as a speaker cabinet.
They produced a sweet tone and higher volume than wood-body guitars, and with the endorsement of Sol Hoopii, the biggest Hawaiian guitarist of the day, they quickly made obsolete the hollow-neck Hawaiian guitars of Weissenborn as well as the modified conventional-style Hawaiians (with raised nut and straight saddle) of Martin and other makers. The resonator guitar was destined for a short period in the spotlight, as Hawaiian players would abandon acoustic guitars of all types by the mid 1930s in favor of electrics (with Hoopii again leading the exodus). National’s tri-cone was so well-designed – functionally and cosmetically – that it might have remained the only style of resonator guitar through the entire period, had there not been a rift among the owners of National. John Dopyera, a founding partner and the creative force behind the tri-cone design, left National and formed the Dobro company, which introduced a single-cone woodbody resonator guitar in 1928.
Vintage Guitars Info - Dobro metal resonator vintage guitar collecting Vintage Guitars Info's Dobro Metal Body Resonator Vintage Guitar Info. Private vintage guitar collector. Pictures, history for Dobro metal body resonator vintage guitars from 1935 to 1940.
1933 Style O specs: • Brass resonator cover plate, nickel plated. • Rolled edge f-holes. • Resonator cover with four embossed radiating lines added. • Square mahogany neck available.
Vintage National Resonator Collectibility. As for collectibility, nickel plated Nationals are the most collectible, due just to the 'look' of the bright nickel plating. Beyond that, all the Tricone models are collectable, with the fancier styles 2,3 and 4 (all engraved) being more collectible than the plain style 1 Tricone. Be aware that almost all Tricone models came with either a 'squareneck' or a 'roundneck' (and the necks are not interchangable). This refers to the shape of the back of the neck.
Sorry, but brass just doesn't sound nearly as good as German Silver, or even steel bodies. This is especially a problem on the Tricone reissues (except for the 'polychrome' tricone model). • Neck Finish and Feel: National now uses a water-based paint because of California environmental issues. This makes the neck feel significantly different than vintage Nationals with extremely thin lacquer finishes. Also the reissues have a flatter neck profile, unlike the 'baseball bat' vintage neck profiles and 'V' neck profiles. • Body Finish: National today can not recreate the original 'Frosted Duco' vintage National Duolian finish.
The National Guitar Page I have been fascinated with National guitars since I first saw one in the late 1980s. The strange blend of wood and shiny metal, the speaker-like round cone, the sand-blasted Hawaiian scenes or floral engraving - above all the strangeness of the era before electric amplification - when a metal bodied guitar with an aluminium diaphragm was the loudest guitar on the planet. Over the years I fell in love with the sound of resonator guitars - a kind of metallic, bell-like, slightly nasal, almost electric guitar tone but undeniably still an acoustic instrument. This particular tone suits certain styles of music better than others - it also encourages musicians to play in a particular style.
And the market must also feel they are small details since the demand and price for vintage Nationals has dropped so much. Check out National's home page for more details on new Nationals: Other Post-WW2 National Models. After WW2, National made many non-resonator guitar models. To understand the how and why of this, a short history lesson in required.
• 12 frets clear of the body. • Slotted peghead.
A National Style 1 tricone from the late 1920s or 1930s is currently worth between $5,000 and $6,000 in excellent condition. Round necks are the most popular configuration as well. So get this guitar insured, and if you take care of it like your dad did, it’ll be a treasure for generations to come. Fjestad is author of Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars, Blue Book of Electric Guitars, and Blue Book of Guitar Amplifiers. For more information, visit or email Zach.
Any online (or other) resources for dating these lap steels? Thanks Brett Habben Member From: Spicewood TX USA posted 10 October 1999 06:44 PM Steve, One place to look is the 'Gruhn's Guide to Vintage Guitars'.
There National-Dobro concentrated on electric instruments and amplification, rather than the resonator guitars for which they were known. In 1941, the Chicago Musical Instrument Company (CMI) gained exclusive distribution rights to National's electric instruments. Remember this was the early age of electric guitars, and electrics basically made National's resonator instruments obsolete.
Hence National resonator models have limitied appeal and are not nearly as valuable as a metal body Nationals. And square neck Nationals also have little collectibility compared to round neck models. So the most collectible Nationals will always be metal body, round neck models. Resonator Frets Clear of the Body. Another consideration with Nationals is the number of frets clear of the body. What this means is, how many frets are accessible for playing before you run out of neck and hit the body. Prior to late 1934, all Nationals had 12 frets clear of the body.
Collectibility Rating: Squareneck: C, Roundneck: A. Style 35: Known as the 'Lute Player' model. Brass body with nickel plating, back sand blasted etching of Renaissance musician under willow tree, palm trees sand blasted on front and sides, airbrushed enamel coloring over sand blasting, maple neck, bound ebonoid fingerboard on squareneck model, bound rosewood fingerboard on roundneck model, dot fingerboard inlays, solid peghead. Enamel coloring discontinued 1939. Available 1936-1942.
The second position has the treble full on. And in the third position, the bass is turned off. Download drama korea sub indonesia.
With a german silver body and a single cone resonator, these are great guitars. Also the 1932 to 1932 vintage Style N is right up there too (essentially the same guitar but with a 12 fret neck). Of course this is the real world, and money and rarity DO matter. With that in mind, nothing can beat the a vintage 1929 to 1940 Duolian. At $500 to $1500 (depending on condition, originality and playability), not much can beat these.
Available 1928-1940. Collectibility Rating: Squareneck: C, Roundneck: A. Style 35: Known as the 'Lute Player' model. Brass body with nickel plating, back sand blasted etching of Renaissance musician under willow tree, palm trees sand blasted on front and sides, airbrushed enamel coloring over sand blasting, maple neck, bound ebonoid fingerboard on squareneck model, bound rosewood fingerboard on roundneck model, dot fingerboard inlays, solid peghead.
Personally, I like the early 14 fret varieties with slotted pegheads (pre-1936) as a good balance between playability, looks, and sound. I also like the 1933 to late 1934 twelve fret, rolled F-hole models too, but then do seem less playable because of the 12 fret neck. The pre-1933 single cone models seem very crude to me. Also, when National switched to 14 fret necks they changed to a 10 inch fingerboard radius.
Clear pickguard added 1936. Available 1928-1940. Collectibility Rating: Squareneck: C, Roundneck: A. Style 35: Known as the 'Lute Player' model. Brass body with nickel plating, back sand blasted etching of Renaissance musician under willow tree, palm trees sand blasted on front and sides, airbrushed enamel coloring over sand blasting, maple neck, bound ebonoid fingerboard on squareneck model, bound rosewood fingerboard on roundneck model, dot fingerboard inlays, solid peghead. Enamel coloring discontinued 1939.
Software Serial Numbers
Number range Year ------------ ---- C100 C1475 1937 C1476 C4650 1938 C4651 C5750 1939 L-series 1938-1939. Number range Year ------------ ---- L9800 L L10070 L 1934 14 fret open peghead Duolian with gold frosted Duco finish.
This wood bodied tricone idea was abandoned in favour of a wood bodied single cone. A 59.5mm diameter maple 'biscuit' with a maple, blade-like bridge slotted into it sits on top of a 9.5' (241.3mm) aluminium cone. After around 600 Triolians were made, the wood body was abandoned in favour of a steel (not German Silver) body.
Twelve fret instruments are a little louder since the body is bigger. The 'best' generation of 12 fret single cone metal-body Nationals is the 1933 to late 1934 varieties with 'rolled' F-holes.
The tone is a bit mellower and more controlled, with a bit less reverberation and overtones and a more extended low end. The National Style N-14 Fret reproduction meets the demands of players needing easier access to the higher frets. Based on the original models, the hard rock maple neck clears 14 frets to the body. The German Silver body is made of thin gauge material polished to a mirror-like shine and nickel plated. The custom Style 0 chicken foot coverplate, formed back, and inlaid rosewood peghead complete the authentic look of this guitar. This instrument includes the Highlander IP-1X Pickup.
When the War ended, Valco re-vested itself into the musical instrument industry and built instruments and amplifiers throughout the 40s, 50s and most of the 1960s. At the same time WW2 brought a similar fate to Gibson's factory, where as much as 90% of that company's production went toward the war-effort. In 1944 CMI bought Gibson, and after WW2, this set up a link between Valco and Gibson. Until the late 1950s some National-branded instruments used Gibson body parts. So 'National' acoustic and electric models could have a National neck and a Gibson body! This can be seen, for example, on National/Valco models that use a J-45 acoustic guitar body, but have a National neck.
Duolian catalong discontinued 1938, replaced by the Collegian. But later 1939-1941 National Duolians were made. 1930 National Triolian Polychrome Collectibility Rating: Metal body Squareneck: D-, Sunburst Metal body Roundneck: C, Polychrome Metal body Roundneck: C+ (At $45 new, it was fancier than the $32.50 Duolian, but still very common. And the maple neck doesn't sound as good as the mahogany neck Duolian. Single cone resonator, round shoulder, upper F-holes, bound single layer fingerboard, dot fingerboard inlays. Late 1928 Wood Body Triolian Introduction specs: • Wood body. • Maple fingerboard, no binding.
National Reso-phonic Serial Numbers
• Slotted peghead. • Maple round neck. • Flat fingerboard radius.
1934-1936 Don Style 1. Note the engraving on the handrest and the celluloid peghead overlay. National's highest quality single cone resonator replacing 12 fret Style N model, German silver body with nickel plating, round shoulder, upper F-holes, pearloid peghead veneer with engraved National logo, round mahogany neck, slotted peghead, bound ebony fingerboard, 14 frets clear of the body, 'DON' engraved on handrest. Style 1 Don: plain body except for engraved borders. Collectibility Rating: Squareneck: D, Roundneck: B.
National Resophonic Serial Numbers
'Dobro' means 'good' in Slavic languages and is also an abbreviation of DOpyera BROthers. Meanwhile George Beauchamp was awarded a patent for the single cone resonator guitar - somewhat sneakily as National had already made single cone mandolins and ukuleles (and what is a guitar if not a big ukulele?). However there is no doubt that the single cone guitar helped National survive the Great Depression and became much more common and well known than the original tricone model. Early in National's history it was realised that a cheaper model was required and, while John Dopyera had initially experimented with and discarded the single cone concept - George Beauchamp championed it. The first single cone National guitar was introduced in 1928 and was somewhat confusingly called the 'Triolian'. The name was due to the fact that the initial prototypes were actually wood-bodied tricone guitars - an early attempt to produce a cheaper tricone.
Hey Jeff, Cool guitar. This makes me want to get the old bluegrass band back together! Resonators are great, niche instruments that were ahead of their time for a brief period in history. Before the electric guitar and amplifier were invented, the only other way to make the sound of a guitar louder was to make the instrument physically bigger. So the resonator—though it didn’t involve any electronics—really was the first version of guitar amplification. Let’s touch briefly on the history of National.