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Topic: One really rare guitar 1936 National Style 35 Tricone |
Michael Hogan
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Posted 27 Mar 2014 1:47 am |
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Last year I managed to acquire this national Style 35 guitar from a great friend and collector whom had owned it for 20 years. The guitar was built in 1936 and sold new in Melbourne Australia in 1941. I don't know why it took 5 years, probably WW2. The guitar came with the original Australian case and invoice from a Melbourne music store that is still in business. The condition is incredible. And YES it sounds as good as it looks! I hope you enjoy this beautiful piece of history.
Last edited by Michael Hogan on 28 Mar 2014 5:35 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 27 Mar 2014 2:52 am
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Man, that is spectacular! No doubt it sounds as good as it looks. That is some amazing artwork.
Who knows why it didn't sell for five years at first, but WWII wouldn't seem to be the factor since Australia entered the war in 1939, sort of in the middle of the period between when it was built, and first sold in Melbourne.
I have an early 1930s Dobro which I have owned for a long time (since 1976) and sometimes when I look at it with the dings and scratches I wonder where it had been in the first 45 years of its life before it came to me.
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Mark |
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Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 27 Mar 2014 3:40 am
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| It probably didn't sit in a shop for five years; more likely, the guitar was assembled in '41 with an old stock neck that already had a serial stamped in it. |
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Michael Kienhofer
From:
Goulais River,Ontario,Canada
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Posted 27 Mar 2014 4:20 am
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Nice to see a few treasures left to be found out there!
Now if we could just find Sol,s Tricone.
Nice guitar Michael !!! |
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 27 Mar 2014 6:28 am
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What a beauty! Please contact Mark Makin - he's maintaining a database of National instruments and would be very interested in hearing about your guitar.
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Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 27 Mar 2014 6:37 am
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Very cool guitar with a mix of design influences .... deco streamlining, arts & crafts movement stenciling, and turn-of-the-century renaissance imagery on the back. 'Bet it sounds pretty good!
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Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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L. Bogue Sandberg
From:
Chassell, Michigan, USA
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Posted 27 Mar 2014 8:50 am
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| What a beauty. The extended (24 fret?) fret board is something I haven't noticed on any other tricone. The way it meets the coverplate is so elegant. I have a 24 fret board on my McKenna 8 string. It sounds kind of like the highest keys on an old piano past fret 21 or 22, but it's fun to have. |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 27 Mar 2014 11:15 am
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| That's now my favorite visual ala the acoustic steels, too sweet, congrats! |
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C. E. Jackson
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 27 Mar 2014 12:06 pm
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| Noah Miller wrote: |
| It probably didn't sit in a shop for five years; more likely, the guitar was assembled in '41 with an old stock neck that already had a serial stamped in it. |
In a case like this I guess one theory is as good as the next.
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Mark |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 27 Mar 2014 8:47 pm
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| Oh my, that's truly breathtaking. Thanks for sharing. |
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Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
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Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 28 Mar 2014 5:42 am
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| Dom Franco wrote: |
| The fret markings are interesting... after the octave they just repeat the pattern of the lower frets but the Roman numerals are then not correctly numbered? |
National used that design a lot in the late '30s, but mainly on their electric instruments:
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