I have several vintage Nationals, a pair of Triolians (1929 and 1931) and a 14-fret Style O (1936).
The Triolians are normally kept in open tunings, strung with 13s. The Style O, which I never use for slide, stays in standard tuning, strung with 12s.
String height is about the same on all of 'em, 1/8" for the low E and a hair over 3/32" for the high E at the 12th fret. I dislike both heavy strings AND high action for playing slide, especially since even when playing open-tuned slide guitar I am still fretting at least 50% of the notes with my fingers.
I have always felt that excessively heavy strings stifle the tone and sustain of single-cone Nationals. This is not the case with Tricones, which seem to welcome the extra down-pressure on the cones, but the reputation single-cones have for being "banjo-like" is something I attribute to people using really heavy strings on them. In the 30s National outfitted their non-"lap style" guitars with strings which would be very light by today's standards (an 11 on top!).
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