I have a National 12 fret NRP that I bought used online. You can probably find some "like new" used El Trovadors around that will save you a lot of money. So that might help.
Based on playing one Gretsch for about 30 seconds out of curiousity post-NRP purchase (and the roughly ten or so other Nationals I had previously played), I would not recommend a Gretsch reso unless you get your hands on one and tell yourself you could be satisfied with it.
Nationals sound hauntingly beautiful. They sing and reverberate. They also look nice. The Gretsch I played sounded like a garbage can lid soiled with three inches of gunk by comparison. The Gretsch also felt like it easily weighed twice as much as my NRP.
However, if we ever experience a zombie apocalypse and ten to twelve of the brain eaters are dragging their legs after you, the Gretsch would undoubtedly knock them all down if tossed, whereas an El Trovador would only take out two or three. So the Gretsch has that going for it.
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