Are National Resos ‘out of fashion’?

[BluesKing777]

Yesterday, I played my National M14 wood body single cone reso and today I played my National Tricone all steel black body.......what incredible sounds, bottleneck.

Just don’t read much lately about them.....have they gone out of style? (Even when I first started, it was a bit ‘out there’, now?)


BluesKing777.

[Wade Hampton]

Resonator guitars have always been a niche market item. That hasn’t changed. Maybe there’s less chatter about them on guitar forums - I hadn’t really noticed.


whm

[drtedtan]

I have a round neck Dobro model 60 spider reso and have been on the look out for a National tri-cone, but these things seem few and far between. Outside a couple of trips to Nashville, its tough to find more than one or two in any given city.

[drive-south]

Played my National Style O this past week after a long break. A little rust, on me not the guitar.

[Jobe]

Funny you should mention the National Resos as I was listening to a Mark Knopfler live show on You Tube last night. He played "Romeo and Juliet" with a circa 1939 S/N 81844 style O according to his guitar guy. It was wonderful. It may not be for everyone or every song but as the song says..."There's a place for us..." . Great instrument. Pick your spots!

[BluesKing777]

I was looking on the National Reso site for the guitar weights and while my Nat M14 wood body single cone comes in at about 5 1/2 lbs, my steel Nat Tricone weighs in at about 9 1/2 lbs! That is a commitment! Or a roadie....for the second floor gig.

I don’t know what my old 1976 metal body Dobro weighs but it is no lightweight and I use to lug it everywhere. (I did a slide set solo to break up the nights a bit in blues bands - use to work well as a dramatic highlight but half dozen tunes with vocals was probably enough, so.....didn’t always take it along! If the crowd was too rowdy, I would give it a miss as well...probably had to have the right audience - my fave being a blues club/bourbon bar with I think it was 88 types of bourbon and the serious could drink all they wanted for X.....)

So it was a ‘thing’ at the time.....slide, resos....(bourbon?)


BluesKing77.

[Coler]

I had a National O 12 fretter and while it was a stunning instrument I wasn't playing it. I part traded it for my 12 string which I do a lot with. I might go back to a reso in the future but I think I liked the idea of it more than I liked playing it.

[Silly Moustache]

Hi, I have two resos - a Dobro Mod.27 Deluxe Square neck (made by Gibson but their build errors have been repaired with Beard parts and some specialist skills) and a National Estralita 2011 - which has already had a neck reset).

I once owned a superb National Style "O" which was punishingly loud but sooo heavy - hence the Estralita.

Yes, I do believe that there are fashions in guitars, more so in electrics, but also in acoustics.

Apart from the "salesman's technique of buying low and selling high, I remember trying to trade a Martin 12 string when a dealer (and friend) said, no call for 12s until some star uses one on TV and then they'll be clamouring for them! Thanks to Eric C, that fashion came around at some point.

Same thing with archtops - no-one outside the '20s-/30s jazz world wanted to know until David Rawlings appeared with Gillian Welch.

Dobros were largely designed for Hawaiian styles but found a home in bluegrass, and for a while when many got tired of steel guitar, they got used in country.

Nationals were also about Hawaiian but the round neckalso to provide a louder instrument for dance band players, but were to heavy for many and found their way into pawn shops where they were picked up by bottleneck blues players.

I've done sound for Steve James and Doug Macleod, and spent some time with Catfish Keith, and the late Bob Brozman. I've seen and met Guy Davis, Mike Dowling, and Roy Bookbinder but I don't remember the last three using Nationals at the time.

All of them are, with respect "spring chickens" and I know of few younger acoustic blues players that play on Nationals.

In the UK one of the foremost promoters of acoustic blues and National guitars is my old mate Adam Franklin -





Here are my two resos :

[The Bard Rocks]

Roy often records with a resonator, but I have yet to see him tour with one, and have seen him many times. Same thing for Guy, only I haven't seen him nearly as often.

[mawmow]

I wished I would like to play a resonator guitar, and I tried some but,
for different reasons, they were finally not for me.

[Bluenose]

It's not a National but the Gretsch Alligator that the I bought last summer was probably one of my better guitar buys. It played great right out of the box and it has cured my reso gas (for now). I had a National cone that I bought from Elderly years ago that fit perfectly in it. The first record I ever bought was an early Johnny Winters LP and I've been a slide fan and frustrated player ever since.

[Gas]

Good thread. I have a 2000 Dobro squareneck. It's a Tom Swatzell signature model built by Gibson. It really sings with steel slide bar.

[Mandobart]

Not a National or Dobro, but I bought a Gold Tone Paul Beard round neck resonator guitar in October 2020. Wood body, spider bridge, single cone.

I'd always wanted a resonator guitar and like others said they're not as easy to find. I don't play much slide (yet) But I really enjoy flatpicking and fingerstyle on it. Just played out with it last month.

The fact that they're not widely played actually adds to the appeal for me - I prefer to NOT do what everyone else is doing.

[MrDB]

I don't think Nationals have gone out of fashion. What I do think has happened is that Gretsch, Recording King, Gold Tone, etc. have given players who want to get into resonator playing an opportunity to do it without breaking the bank. None of them have quite the tone of a National but allow a budding player a chance to see if slide playing is something they'd be interested enough in to justify spending more $$ on a better instrument.

I have been through several entry level resos, currently have a Recording King Swamp Dog parlor size that I like a lot. I play it enough to justify having it, but not enough to justify spending a lot more. Use it for 1 song in the band and sometimes don't even bring it for that.

[slimey]

I have an El Trovador which is one of my most used instruments. I play slide and enjoy the instrument for that but I use it mostly for acoustic jams. You can sit quietly in the pocket when you want to then project when you need to .
I have a hot plate pick up on the guitar too which ultimately means I can use it for gigs as well. I find it to be a very versatile and useful instrument.
Throw in that being a laminate it's very stable, not as worried about temperatures as a wood guitar, and it becomes a very versatile tool.