
Back in the early days
when I
started
playing guitar and my interest was being sparked by the wonderful world
of fingerstyle acoustic blues and slide guitar, the dynamic sound of
the
National made a mighty deep impression. Pivotal experiences
included listening and soaking up with every pore the excitement and
depth of sound displayed by so many National-twanging artists:
Robert
Petway
singing
Catfish
Blues.
Son
House and his
Death
Letter.
Bukka White Fixin'
to Die
on
his way to
Aberdeen.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe's powerful,
ebullient gospel music.
Bo Carter with
his
Banana
in Your Fruit Basket.
Tampa Red and his
Duck's
Yas
Yas Yas.
Sol Hoopii
like a jazzbo
Hawaiian God Himself.
I Am
the Black Ace,
I Am
the Boss
Card in
Your Hand.
Oscar
Buddy
Woods pleads
Mama
Don't
You Sell It,
Papa Don't You Give it Away.
Oscar
Aleman, every bit as hot and
sweet as Django Reinhardt himself, and many others...
Then there are the modern touring resophonic heroes, people that
have
become like an extended musical family of fathers, brothers and
sisters:
American
artists
Taj
Mahal, John
Hammond, Bob
Brozman, Steve James, Doug MacLeod, Robert B. Jones, Geoff Bartley,
Paul Rishell and Annie Raines, Roy Book Binder, Robert Armstrong, Del
Rey, Rich Delgrosso, Paul Geremia, Rory Block, Stefan Grossman, Woody
Mann, Rich Jones, John Cephas, Tom Hall, Leroy Pearson, Michael Roach,
Alvin Youngblood Hart, Corey Harris, Spencer Bohren, John Mooney, Mike
Gordon, Diamond Jim Greene, Tom Ball and Kenny Sultan, Harlem Slim,
John-Alex Mason, Dave MacKenzie, Bob McCarthy, Toby Walker, Dave
Moore, Greg Brown, Joe Price, Bo Ramsey, Dustin Busch, Junior Barber,
Pete Grant,
Steve Creter, Fruteland Jackson, Mary Flower, Frank Corso, Hawkeye
Herman, The Original Snakeboy, Jeremy Lyons, Scott
Perry, Steve Arvey,
John Hasbrouck, Dakota Dave
Hull, Kari Larsen,
Cam Waters, David Evans (former
musical
partner with
Jessie Mae
Hemphill), Tom
Feldmann, Dan Phelps, David Jacobs-Strain, Pat Donohue, Mike Dowling,
Shari Kane, Roy Rogers (Chops
not
Chaps),
Johnny
Winter,
Paul
Olsen of
Scrapomatic, Guy Forsyth, Lightnin' Malcolm, Matt Woods
and
many many others.

UK
artists
Dave
Arcari
of the
Radiotones,
The Blues Band's
Dave
Kelly (and his sister the
late
great
Jo
Ann Kelly),
Michael
Messer,
The Notting
Hillbillies'
Steve
Phillips and
Mark
Knopfler
(also of Dire
Straits),
Ian Siegal,
Adam Franklin, Roger
Hubbard,
Dave
Foster,
Martin
Simpson,
Mr.
Downchild,
Dave
Peabody,
Round Eyes Ray of
the
Hot Licks Cookies,
Gypsy
Dave,
Aussie artist
Jeff Lang
and the late Irish legend
Rory
Gallager and many more all
have
had their
lives altered irrevocably by this unique instrument.
In The
Beginning...
Invented in the USA by the Czech immigrant
John Dopyera, Sr.
in
the 1920's, the
first (and ultimate) National resonator instrument, the
tricone guitar,
was
introduced to
the world in 1927. Based in the Los Angeles area, the National
company had a colorful, fascinating history and produced their most
prized and beautiful guitars up until around WWII. In the 1930's
you could purchase a Duolian single-cone guitar for 25 whole dollars!
For the complete, complex story of the early days of the original
National company, rife with cloak-and-dagger intrigue, check out
collector and musician Bob Brozman's fantastic book,
The
History
and Artistry of National
Resonator Instruments
(published by Centerstream/Hal
Leonard).
A New Era:
The modern company,
National
Reso-Phonic Guitars, Inc.
has taken the spirit
and sound of
National's best guitars of those halcyon years of the 20's and 30's and
have created a line of guitars that are unrivaled in beauty of tone,
playability and the very finest workmanship.
Don Young
and
McGregor Gaines,
the owners of National
Reso-Phonic
Guitars, worked for the OMI-Dobro company in the 1980's. Don had
started making replacement parts for Nationals when he and McGregor
decided to make National guitars. They set up shop in Don's
parent's garage and initially made wood body instruments (the Islander,
JazzBlues, M1 Mahogany and ResoLectric). In 1992 they started to
make the brass body Style "O," using Bob Brozman's collection to create
the Hawaiian motif. Their combined talent, drive and creativity have
made
a huge impact on the guitar world and their small factory in San Luis
Obispo, California has produced over 15,000 instruments in the nearly
two decades since the company's inception.
A few years ago, after the death of
Marie
Noerdlinger Gaines (MacGregor's wife and National's Office
Manager), MacGregor Gaines left the
company to pursue other interests.
Now Don Young is the company
President and
Eric
Smith has become CEO and Vice-President of
National. Eric has worked at National since he was 14 years
old, and has brought a new vitality and focus to the company. The
quality of the guitars is the greatest they have ever been, and the
adventure continues.
The
Instruments:

National
Reso-Phonic has
reissued the vintage
classic
models including the single
cone brass bodied
Style
O, in 14-fret as
well as 12 frets to the body,
and the engraved
Style 3,
and
brass
bodied tricones
Styles 1
through
5.
All models
made after 1994 have excellent
adjustable double
trussrods.
Innovations include many new models inspired by the classics: The
Delphi
was the first,
the steel-bodied
equvalent of the early Duolian and Triolian
single cone guitars, with several cool colors with a powdercoated
"industrial" finish. The
NRP
and Triolian Tricones are the fantastic
steel
bodied tricones, which have replaced the heavy
Polychrome Tricone
of previous years.
Within this last couple of years both the
National
NRP and the
W-Series
Triolian
have been issued, in
12 and 14 fret models, which have replaced the Delphi in the product
line. These come in several finishes.
Standard are handpainted 'burst
finishes, and the NRP also has black, ivory and "black rust" finishes,
and are made of a lighter gauge steel, much closer in tone to
the 30's Duolians and Triolians. New in
2011 is the "Steel" rubbed nickel finish on steel bodied instruments,
and the stunning
Dueco
steel body guitars in Silver and Gold (the 14 Fret Gold Dueco is
pictured left)
The
Polychrome Triolian
is another stunning 30's single cone reissue guitar, with goldish
painted thinner gauge steel body, maple neck, and on the
back, the classic black palm tree and orange setting sun
stencilled
design of
the original models.
Although the name is confusingly similar, these are very different from
the Polychrome Tricone of earlier years; Triolians are single cone
instruments, Tricones have the three smaller cones.
The
Estralita
Deluxe
and
M2
Mahogany
are wood bodied single
cone
guitars that incorporate some of the best of the
warmth and beauty
of
several of the
vintage wood bodied models. The unique body-shaped
El
Trovador has been
reissued, becoming National's best selling model for the last three or
four
years. The
El
Trovador 12-String and the
El
Trovador Baritone have also been issued. The
Triolian
WB and the
NRP WB are both made with a maple body. New 14
fret wood guitars are the
M14
and
Estralita Deluxe 14
Fret.

The
M1
Tricone is a knockout revelation: the first-ever wood
bodied tricone, with an all mahogany body (including a mahogany well).
Beautiful!
Cutaway bodied new
Nationals include the ultra-cool
groundbreaking
Reso
Rocket and
the new
Tricone
Cutaways.
The
Reso
Rocket is a fantastic, versatile new design that
incorporates a cutaway and tricone-style grille soundports in a single
cone guitar. The result is possibly the loudest single cone National
with a powerful, cutting, yet sweet tone.
One of my favorite new Nationals are the
Baritone
Tricones (in steel, brass, German Silver and mahogany
bodies) which offer a longer
neck (27" scale)
and can be tuned as much as four or five half-tones lower for that
extra-deep,
gonad-rattling tone unrivalled by most any other guitar. This is a
life-changing instrument for a guy like me. I absolutely love these,
and would not do a show without one. Most
any tricone
National can now be made as a Baritone
guitar!
Great
12-strings
are offered
in most all models. The ultimate National 12 string is the
El Trovador 12 String.
The National
ukulele
is the cutest (big-sounding)
little thing and comes in both metal and wood bodies, soprano and
concert necks. They have a fabulous
mandolin.
Electric players are
delighted by the
ResoLectric
(Pictured right.) and the new
Reso-Tone.
One-of-a-kind custom art guitars are sublime.
The
Model D, Model
D Deluxe and cowboy-roped
Western
D have delighted fans of the
spider
cone Dobro-type guitar, and come in both round and square
neck versions. The new
Smith
& Young guitars will take the spider cone guitar
to a new level in 2012. The squareneck Smith & Youngs will have
a hollowcore neck, similar to the new
National Hollowneck Tricones.
The hollowneck is a groundbreaking design that takes the sound to
new, super-reverberant heights. The National Hollowneck
Tricones are all handbuilt by National President
Don Young himself.
So Much is New in 2012:
Smith & Young Spider Cone
Guitars - New brand built by National of cutting
edge Dobro-style guitars.
RM1-V Vintage Maple Mandolin - Maple contruction with
"Steel" rubbed nickel metal parts, sieve coverplate.Trancendant
Mandolin!
The Revolver ResoLectric - ResoLectric with translucent
black finish with pearloid pickguard and headstock overlay.
Dueco 12 & 14 Fret
- Gold and Silver tough new duco crackle finish on the NRP steel body
guitar is stunning.
Hollowneck Tricones - In
steel, brass and German Silver. Most resonant tricone squareneck lap
guitar on the
planet!
The Collegian
- Cool round ring of "bullethole" soundholes on the coverplate make
this 14 fret
reproduction unique.
M14 - All
mahogany
14 fret single cone guitar, with black
binding and unbound ebony fingerboard, National banner logo on
headstock, bright nickel coverplate and tailpiece.
Estralita 14 Fret
- Figured maple sunburst top, walnut back and sides, ivroid binding on
neck and body, bright nickel coverplate and tailpiece, National banner
logo on headstock.
NRP Steel 12 Fret and 14
Fret
- Beautiful new Rubbed Nickel Finish on the fantastic Duolian
reproduction, the steel-bodied NRP.
Reso-Tone -
Great new version of the Reso Jr. with Hotplate in Red, Seafoam Green,
Black
and Ivory finishes.
RM1 Maple Mandolin
- All beautiful figured maple with rubbed Antique Bronze finish on
coverplate and tuners, with Hotplate option.
M1 Tricone -
A National first: a wood bodied tricone!
This one is all mahogany with super deep and rich and clear
tricone qualities, and weighs 3.3 pounds less than a metal tricone.
Also available as a Baritone.
Triolian Polychrome
- Goldish painted single cone with black palm tree stencil on back,
another suped-up reproduction, and it sounds GREAT, just like the NRPs
and W-Series Triolians.
Triolian Uke -
Cute, wonderful sounding uke with the W-Series gold-to-brown burst.
National NRP Tricone
- With similar specs as the NRP
single cone, the NRP Tricone is a knockout guitar. Lighter
gauge steel bodies now bear the standard at National; not only
does
this make the guitar lighter in weight, but brings an added vintage
ring and sparkle to the tone. Just when I thought "What could
they do next?", National raises the bar yet again!
National NRP - A
reproduction of the 30's Duolian, with lighter gauge steel body, arched
back, stamped f-holes, handpainted silvery-green 'burst
finish, ebony fingerboard and nut, mahogany neck, slotted
headstock with "NATIONAL" stamped on it, just like the old
Duolians...with the great ring of the vintage models! In both
12 and 14 fret models.
National NRP WB
- Maple bodied version of the NRP.
W-Series Triolian -
Also
made with a lighter gauge steel
body, arched back, stamped f-holes, handpainted "walnut" burst finish.
In 12 and 14 fret models.
W-Series
Triolian WB - Maple laminate
version of the 12 fret Triolian!
Triolian Tricone
- Gold-to-brown 'burst finish on the steel tricone, formed back,
ivroid-bound rosewood fingerboard, maple neck, slotted headstock.
German Silver Tricone -
Nickel plated German (or Nickel)
Silver
bodied tricone. Stunning. Really, the ultimate tricone...the same body
materials as the greatest early tricones that started in 1927; it
offers richer low-mids and smoother highs than the regular brass
tricones.
The
Don - Limited Edition 14 Fret single cone, German Silver,
Deluxe neck.
Style N German Silver
Single Cone - 12 frets to the neck,
super-shiny guitar
with more present low-mids and smoother highs than a brass guitar.
Reso
Jr. II
- The Reso Jr. is back, this time with a sublime natural
wood finish.,
also now in sunburst finish.
Hotplate
-
Hot new coverplate with pickup and volume controls, can be
installed on any single cone National.
Hot
Rod Cones
- A new alloy makes the heart of the instrument sound
even better; it's
now stock on all new Nationals.
14-fret Style O - Very popular, a
reproduction
of the 1937 model, replete with
"chicken feet" coverplate and etched palm tree design.
Tricone Cutaway
- A modern innovation of the classic tricone design.
The
El Trovador
- A real beauty; all mahogany bodied, f-holed single cone
guitar
with a unique, larger and deeper body shape, now in 12 string and
Baritone versions.
Lefty
Tricones
- finally
available.
Antique
Brass Finish - Available for all metal
bodied instruments. It's
beautiful! (Pictured above left.)
Baritone
Guitars
- Most all single cones and tricones can now be ordered
with a
Baritone neck. My favorite.
12-Strings
-
Available by special order for most all National guitars.
Can
you tell I
love these
guitars?

I
play and record with several different new models myself; my
Baritone Polychrome Tricone
has been my
primary touring and recording National since I got it in 1999. In 2011
I got the new
M1
Baritone Tricone, which I've recorded and toured with. It
is fantastic, and very, very beautiful. I've been having a blast
with the brave new world of the 12-string on both my brass bodied,
brass
plated
Style
One
12-string Tricone and my new, mind-blowing
El Trovador 12 String.
I have special uses for a
Custom
Baritone Estralita which is
so beautiful looking and
sounding, I
can hardly stand it. My
Radio
Tone Bendaway and
Blue
Delphi
get
their workouts too.
I
started my resophonic journey in 1979 on a
1930 Duolian.
This is a great
guitar, which
has been refurbished by Don and Mac and the
gang. I had
dropped
this
guitar in
the ocean
(not recommended!) back in the early
1980's while
living on a
sailboat in the Caribbean in my wayward youth, and
when I sent it in to National it was a very sad looking, rust-bucket of
a
guitar. It came back reborn with a vintage, trippy
crackle or "frosted duco" finish and new fingerboard. The guitar
and I had a very
emotional private reunion, songs coming back, seemingly playing
themselves from over 20 years ago. Ultimately, a happy ending to
what began as an unfortunate story.
The
advantages
of new Nationals
over vintage Nationals:
1.
New Nationals have
very
good intonation,
the vintage Nationals intonation are all a
bit off.
2.
New
Nationals have fully
adjustable
truss
rods in the neck. The vintage
Nationals have no truss rods
at all. My
1930
Duolian's neck had to be constantly re-shimmed, and had a bowed
neck. New guitar's
necks are solid
as a rock and stay wherever you adjust them.
3.
New
Nationals have a
lifetime
of music ahead
of them. Vintage ones,
though quite a few are great instruments and have the
legendary mojo
of the olden days, need much more care,
maintainence and are already seventy or eighty years old.
Guitar players, by and large, tend to prefer new Nationals.
4.
New
Nationals have
superior
cones; vintage cones are
often crushed,
muted and banjo-like in tone from years of dust, petrofied bird's
nests, playing and other general
(ab)use.
Don
and
McGregor
and
Eric
and the craftsmen at National have really perfected the spun
aluminum
resonator, the heart of the instrument, and if
something untoward happens to your cone, such as a hefty drop of the
guitar or the cone's accidental
use as a pot pie pan
or frisbee (just kidding, I hope!), you can easily get fantstic new
replacement cones at a nominal cost. You can always keep your original
vintage cone, but I think the best sound comes from the new ones.
5.
The
staff
at National are friendly
and very
responsive to the
player's needs. If
you ever
have a technical question, you
can give National a call and
talk to a real human being who will help you.
If
you are interested
in purchasing
any new National, I would be happy to help you.
I
am an
official
dealer
for National, and I
can help you get them direct from the factory to your exact
specifications. All instruments come with
FREE SHIPPING in USA &
Canada, hard case and
no
sales tax (unless you live in Iowa).
I can
usually meet most any other dealer's prices as well.
I
offer total support before, during and after every
purchase, to get you set up right to follow your string-twanging dream.
I've sold hundreds of new Nationals directly to satisfied
pickers all over the world. I have over 30 years of experience as a
touring performer and
recording
artist, and I'm very, very proud to be associated with this great
company.
Please
do email
or call me
at 319-338-3614
anytime,
and I
can get you prices and answer any questions.
Ask about
custom features,
too, including inlays,
engraving, special finishes, custom headstock options, etc.
All
models can have
Highlander
Pickups
installed at the factory. These pickups really are the very best,
specifically designed especially for Nationals, and since they are not
easy to retrofit (and very few repair people have experience with
Nationals, new or old), it's highly recommended
that you get them installed at the factory.
Also the new
Hotplate
is available as an upgrade for single cone guitars as well as
on the RM1 Mandolin; it's got
volume knobs and "lipstick" pickup.
Thanks for tuning in!
yours truly, Catfish Keith
My
National Guitars Complete Price List
www.nationalguitars.com
www.highlanderpickups.com
Catfish Keith is one of the original
National Artist/Endorsers, a Top 10
National Dealer since 2007, and a Top 5 National Dealer
in 2011 and 2012.