Are National Resos ‘out of fashion’?

[BluesKing777]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

Motor vehicle seat upholstery shops will have what you need. You can also buy those same type of buttons at fabric and hobby shops.

Thanks!

Had a look around online but not much locally, so.......I bought the last one for sale! Fedexed!

I will look for another button still, maybe.


BluesKing777.

[rscott4079]

From what I've heard, the new Nationals are pretty darn good guitars. And there's at least a few young people picking them up. Here's one I like, Cristina Vane playing her Resorocket:

https://youtu.be/kVEzjDKftrY

[Rumblefish]

There is nothing that comes close to a National, in my opinion, outside of a few boutique builders and some of the higher end Beards. I passed up many lower priced resonators while keeping my eye out for a National that I could afford. Although it took a few years, my patience paid off when I found a 2011 Polychrome Steel Tricone for $1100. Just recently I found a National Model D Squareneck that had some damage caused by the slide bar getting loose in the case. It has a few serious dings but is in otherwise great shape. I paid $750 for that one. I’ve had alerts set up for Nationals on Reverb and eBay for years. New ones a certainty pricey but deals are out there if you’re diligent.

[catndahats]

Likewise, looked at other brands of entry level resonators, but the Nationals are just better.

Bought a used Radiotone model a few years ago for about the same price as a new entry level...it's worn, but plays/feels/sounds great.

In fashion or not---Nationals are hard to beat.

Originally Posted by Rumblefish

There is nothing that comes close to a National, in my opinion, outside of a few boutique builders and some of the higher end Beards. I passed up many lower priced resonators while keeping my eye out for a National that I could afford. Although it took a few years, my patience paid off when I found a 2011 Polychrome Steel Tricone for $1100. Just recently I found a National Model D Squareneck that had some damage caused by the slide bar getting loose in the case. It has a few serious dings but is in otherwise great shape. I paid $750 for that one. I’ve had alerts set up for Nationals on Reverb and eBay for years. New ones a certainty pricey but deals are out there if you’re diligent.

[Rumblefish]

Originally Posted by catndahats

Likewise, looked at other brands of entry level resonators, but the Nationals are just better.

Bought a used Radiotone model a few years ago for about the same price as a new entry level...it's worn, but plays/feels/sounds great.

In fashion or not---Nationals are hard to beat.

I remember seeing a kind of beat-up Radiotone on Reverb a few years ago for a very good price.

[catndahats]

Might be mine...lol
It was on Reverb, but
It was also listed local, so I just bought it and picked it up.
Wish it could talk...looks to have had a lifetime of blues, rock bars, and pawnshops..
Great resonators!

Originally Posted by Rumblefish

I remember seeing a kind of beat-up Radiotone on Reverb a few years ago for a very good price.

[wblock77]

BluesKing...you're gonna have to weigh yours. Too close to call. Mine is 9 lbs, 14 oz. I would have guessed mine was 20 pounds As you guys are interested in Resos I'll give you this one's history. There is the Gold Tone factory that makes instruments a few miles from my house I have a friend that is a Luthier there and I also know the owner. Somehow I've managed to be around when they were prototyping on several instruments. This is one that they prototyped (with the help of Paul Beard). It's mot in production anymore but I got the first one. They mostly concentrate on banjos (think Bela Fleck) but other odd things too I also have one of their current line with pickups. (https://goldtonemusicgroup.com/goldtone/instruments/gre) IMG_6663.jpg

[rockabilly69]

not out of fashion in my house, these all get used regularly...

[wblock77]

Love the pics Rock. Luckily I don't have to pick one. All beauties.

[rsmillbern]

There is a band called Nathan and Jessie that play Nationals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1vXkOX8RPU

I have a MT14 and keep looking for the right tricone to come along...

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by wblock77

Love the pics Rock. Luckily I don't have to pick one. All beauties.

Thank you! They all sound very different!

[Rick Jones]

I played a National once that belonged to a visiting, touring musician and it just felt and sounded completely 'right' to me.

Convincing myself I needed one, and that I'd learn to use a reso on a budget model then level up to a National when I could afford it (an entirely romantic notion, as that day never comes!) I bought in a Michael Messer Blues model.

It's been under my bed since 2012. I must have played it 4-5 times. It's a good guitar for what it is, certainly a level up from the Ozarks and such that I tried at the time too. I just can't find a way to fit it in with the music I play. I'm hoping my sons might want it one day.

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by Snorse

I played a National once that belonged to a visiting, touring musician and it just felt and sounded completely 'right' to me.

Convincing myself I needed one, and that I'd learn to use a reso on a budget model then level up to a National when I could afford it (an entirely romantic notion, as that day never comes!) I bought in a Michael Messer Blues model.

It's been under my bed since 2012. I must have played it 4-5 times. It's a good guitar for what it is, certainly a level up from the Ozarks and such that I tried at the time too. I just can't find a way to fit it in with the music I play. I'm hoping my sons might want it one day.

When I first picked up a resonator is was an old 1930's Dobro that was badly setup, and I could not get on with it. It just hurt to play. But when I was recording my first CD, I was hearing a reso sound in my head, so I bought a cheaper Johnson reso that sounded surprisingly good. It was a brass bodied, biscuit coned Style O knockoff. I used it on a few songs. and it worked fine. And it played a lot better than that old Dobro.

The sound wasn't perfect though, so that set me on a quest for that sound that I had heard in my head. After trying many different resos, I almost gave up 'till something funny happened. One day while trying out a bunch of cool Martin acoustic guitars, I was walking out of the small room where they were hanging. Accidently I bumped into a National Reso, and I knocked it off the stand, and it was inches from the floor before I caught it. Whew, that was close! Well while I was carefully placing back on the stand, I brushed against the strings which were tuned to an open chord and I heard the sound that I was looking for, a beautiful country whine that would work with my acoustic guitar sound, which at the time, was a small bodied Martin SP00016TR. I guess all along I was looking for a spider cone reso, which I now know are famous for the fat midrange single note tone.

But then I looked at the price tag.... a whopping $4000!!!

Well as luck had it, I was just gifted a not particularly good sounding Gibson F5 mandolin. It was gift from my girlfriend, and although I took care of it like it was the hope diamond, because of it's sound, I never really would play it, so I asked he if I could trade it for this National. She was all for it because she just wanted me to have an instrument that I would create with.

So I traded straight across for the National Western Model D. And right away I started writing songs with it. And that's the way it went for a few years, 'till something bad happened. Someone broke into my studio, and along with some other very nice instruments, the thief walked away with my National. It broke my heart.

Well luck raised it's funny little head again, as a friend of mine, in some strange circumstances, recovered the National for me (a whole nutha novel of a story). But when I got it back, I noticed a huge scratch on it. And that scratched reminded me of the theft, so I made up my mind that I would have National fix it.

And then I was offered a gig, which was only a few hours away from the National factory in San Luis Obispo California (the gig was in Manhattan Beach CA). As part of the deal, the person I was playing for loaned me a car to drive to National. Which is exactly what I did.

What a great visit. I met many of the National employees, but most importantly, I met Don Young, one of the two co-founders of the reformed National company. He was one of the coolest people that I had ever met. He told me some really cool stories about getting National back up and running. And he even spun a reso cone right in front of me on the lathe that he had in his little workshop. I eventually got around to asking him if they could fix my reso. He told me it was totally fixable, but it would cost over $1000 as they would have to refinish my whole guitar because they had changed finish formulations since mine was built. He then introduced me to the people that would be working on my reso, and he told me that it would take them about 6 months to do because of their current workload. I didn't mind that, as I was a broke musician, and that would give me at least 6 months to save up the money to pay for the repair.

Oh yeah, right before I left, I remembered that I had recorded a demo CD of me playing songs that featured that reso. It was just some original songs that I had been working on. So I gave a CD to Don, and I had a few extra copies, so I gave them to the guys that would be working on my guitar. Then I was off.

Funny thing, out of the clear blue, just a few weeks after I got back from the gig, I got a call from Don. He told me that he had the guys finish up the guitar as a priority, and that he already shipped it out to me. Well I told him that I didn't have close to the $1000 that it would cost to pay for it yet, but then he laughed and said that he liked what he heard on my CD, so it would only cost $200 as I only needed to pay for the repair materials needed and the shipping. And he told me that from then I out that I would be National endorsed artist, and I would only pay cost for any custom National that I would want built. I couldn't believe my ears.

Of course that led to a wonderful friendship I had with Don 'till the day of his untimely passing. Many times, I would be out on the road between gigs, and I would call him to say hello. He would ask me where I was playing and how the gigs were going, and I would ask him what he was up to in his little workshop. He was always looking for better way to do things as he was a natural born tinkerer. They were the best conversations ever! He was the best! I sure do miss him.

Two of the Nationals that I own now are custom models that Don had a strong part in building, especially in the final setup phase. They are KILLER resos, and I will take them to my grave. Here is the last picture that he sent me from him finishing up my custom "sunburst on mahogany" M2. He was so excited when he finished it up that he called me (and yes I was out on the road), and played it over the phone for me. Just look at his shop, how many CEOs have such a cool office

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by rscott4079

And there's at least a few young people picking them up. Here's one I like, Cristina Vane playing her Resorocket:

https://youtu.be/kVEzjDKftrY

What's it with painted resonators, blues and attractive young women?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kqGTwDm22g

[MrDB]

What a fabulous story Rock, thanks for taking the time to post that.

I'm not a slow reso player, I'm not a fast reso player,

I'm just kind of a half-fast reso player