National

National Style 97 Squareneck Tricone Surfer Girl Resophonic, 1938

On February 8, 2020 /

Here is a rarity – a National Style 97 Square neck Tricone with the Surfer Girl motif on a sandblasted and enameled nickel plated brass body. These were built in small numbers from 1936 to 1940. By 1941, the materiel demands for the burgeoning war brought production of resophonic guitars to a halt. The ‘B’ prefix in the serial of this guitar is said to first appear in 1938. This National Style 97 likely dates to 1938. This rare model uses a 12-fret square neck on nickel plated brass body, treated with sandblasting to create various scenes, mostly based on Hawaiian imagery. On this guitar, the scene is of woman surfing with a palm tree in the mid field and volcano in the distance.

Vintage

This instrument has sold

Scheerhorn L-Body Flame Maple Squareneck Resophonic Guitar

On January 4, 2020 /

Tags: L-body, national, resophonic, Scheerhorn

Here is something new, rare and wonderful – a brand-new Scheerhorn L-Body Flame Maple Squareneck Resophonic Guitar, built under license by National Resophonic Guitars in San Luis Obispo, California. In 1989, Tim Scheerhorn showed Mike Aldridge his first experimental squareneck and by the end of 1990 Scheerhorn guitars were in the hands of many top pro players and Tim already had a long waiting list. The Dobro guitar construction style had stayed static since the 1930s with virtually no design changes.

New

This instrument has sold

National Val Pro 82 Vermillion Red, 1962

On October 15, 2019 /

The National Val Pro 82 was the single-pickup version of the ‘Map Body’ Val Pro line, built during 1962 and 1963 by Valco in Chicago, Illinois. National itself began in 1927 with the invention of the Resophonic guitar, but in 1928 the original builders – the Dopyera brothers – left to form Dobro, and in 1932 the Dopyera’s bought a controlling interest in National and merged the two companies.

Vintage

This instrument has sold

Scheerhorn L Body Squareneck Resophonic Guitar Koa, 2008

On August 28, 2019 /

Here we’re looking at a Tim Scheerhorn L Body Koa square neck resophonic guitar, signed and dated – in two places! – by Tim Scheerhorn himself. The label, visible through the bass sound hole, lists a build date of 11/22/08, or November 22 2008, and bears Tim Scheerhorn’s signature. Those same pieces of information – the date and the signature – are also hand written on the inside of the back.

Used

This instrument has sold

National Dynamic Lap Steel Red and White, 1962

On August 16, 2019 /

The National Dynamic Lap Steel was built from 1961 to 1968 for National String Instrument Corporation by Valco in Chicago, Illinois. National at this point had fallen far from its heyday after inventing the Resophonic guitar (plus mandolin and ukulele) to provide more volume to working guitarists. It was founded by guitarist George Beauchamp and luthier John Dopyera in 1927. Dopyera left National to form, with his brothers, the DoBro company in 1928 and produced single cone resonator models. Dopyera purchased a controlling share of National in 1932 and merged National and DoBro production. Many instruments like the National Dynamic lap steel were produced, along with matching amplifiers.

Vintage

This instrument has sold

National El Trovador Resophonic Guitar with Hot Plate, Mahogany, 2015

On July 11, 2019 /

The National El Trovador goes back to the 1930’s wood bodied, single cone resophonic guitars by National, and this one comes with a HotPlate installed! The El Trovador uses a Mahogany laminate for the body and solid Mahogany for the neck, with a bound Ebony fingerboard. The peg head is slotted, which increases the pressure of the strings on the nut while reducing the required tip-back angle of the head.

Used

This instrument has sold

National

National Style 97 Squareneck Tricone Surfer Girl Resophonic, 1938

Scheerhorn L-Body Flame Maple Squareneck Resophonic Guitar

National Val Pro 82 Vermillion Red, 1962

Scheerhorn L Body Squareneck Resophonic Guitar Koa, 2008

National Dynamic Lap Steel Red and White, 1962

National El Trovador Resophonic Guitar with Hot Plate, Mahogany, 2015

THE TWELFTH FRET

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