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did not take off the cover plate, and while the cone and biscuit appear to be original, we’re not making any claims.
Sell or consider your interesting partial trades of :
Acoustic Guitar is first choice, Few Select factory models
Martin D- 40.42, 45, 42,35,28
Bourgeois, Propson, Collings, Froggy Bottom, Santa Cruise, Mcalister,
etc. This level quality instrument or higher !
Guitar serial number fits into the first half of 1934. Variation # 5
Comes with original hard shell case.
No discernable marks below end pin on the body - serial number is marked on top of the head stock . [ info from my research [ how this series stopped stamping the bodies at around S5100. And they only made around 900 of these pattern 5 12th fret
Bob Brozmans book. He wrote the definitive book on nationals. He had access to family archives and the second edition is even better and has more in rounded f hole variations.
SN: S 5165
Has fret numbers painted on frets [ See Pictures] Missing one white butter bean tuning button
It's a beautiful instrument in great shape for its age. Very lightweight compared to the overbuilt tanks National makes today. I've owned and played new Nationals and old ones, and hands down the originals win in the tone department every time. And this particular guitar has the best of both worlds: old-school vibe and rock solid playability.
The ebonite fretboard is in great shape, for its age.[ See Pictures] the neck is straight , ready to go to a new home!
This thing has that Son House, Booker White sound down! Here's your chance to own a piece of music history!
late 1933/ to early 34 National Style O Guitar
National (aka the National Stringed Instrument Corporation) existed between about 1926 to about 1942
One of the most classic and collectible of all resonators. A wonderful sounding guitar with plenty of bluesy bark and warmth, this Style 0 still has its original cone and biscuit – unique for vintage National tone. The playability is great, with fingerstyle/slide hybrid action that measures 9/64” at the 12th fret.
Maple neck with surprisingly modern C carve, bound maple ebonized fingerboard and bone nut that measures 1-27/32”, string width 1-11/32”. Original tuners and headstock decal.
Style O’s can be seen in photos of bluesmen Son House and Bukka White but the model’s greatest exposure came in 1985, when the British rock band Dire Straits released Brothers in Arms. The album cover pictured nothing but a National Style O floating in the sky. The record went to Number 1 on the strength of the single “Money For Nothing,” and with that exposure, a premium arose on the 14-fret version of the Style O with diamond-and-arrows coverplate – previously not as desirable as a 12-fret version, but now famous as the “Dire Straits model.”
Today, the National Style O still has a unique appeal. It’s not as elegant as a tri-cone, not as workmanlike as a Duolian. But for the ultimate combination of tone, volume, versatility, aesthetics, and affordability, the Style O may well be National’s greatest achievement.
On the visual side, National’s six-string single cone classic has been spotted on a number of album covers from many notable musicians.
The “Complete Library of Congress Sessions, 1941 – 42,” from fire and brimstone breathing Bluesman Son House; 2003’s all-star tribute collection, “Shout, Sister, Shout!,” in honor of the early ground breaker Memphis Minnie; and the monster of 1985, which helped usher in the MTV era, “Brothers in Arms,” from Dire Straits, all feature a National Style O guitar in the album artwork. There it is, the Style O, in all of its historical glory.
With a shiny reflective finish, artistically smooth f-holes and a perforated cover plate, the enduring metallic design of the Style O is a stunning display of image and chronology, metal and wood in the form an iconic dreadnaught outline.
The Blues infused Style O has a singular regional sound. Music celeb Paul Simon named one of his solo anthologies, “Greatest Hits: Shining like a National Guitar,” after the famed instrument. The title originates from Simon’s tune Graceland: “The Mississippi Delta was shining like a National guitar.”
The National Style O offers complex but mellow tones, which in the hands of the right person, lends to a sweet sounding sustain. Initially intended to compete with the loud volume of a Big Band, the Style O resonator has a single aluminum cone mounted under the soundboard that mechanically vibrates as it amplifies the emergent resonance, hence the moniker “Resonator guitar.”
National is still manufacturing the Style O, as indicated on the company’s website:
“Our flagship model, the Style O, recreates the look and feel of the original 1930s single resonator guitars. This brass bodied instrument is polished to a mirror-like shine, nickel plated, and finally etched with the distinctive Hawaiian palm tree design. The maple neck is finished in a traditional sunburst. An ivoried bound ebony fretboard and vintage-style engraved tuners complete the look of this timeless classic.”
late 1933/to early 34 National Style O guitar Introduction specs:
brass body, nickel plated, rolled f-holes, 12 frets clear of the body, Slotted peghead, Maple round neck, Flat fingerboard radius, Resonator cover with small holes drilled in diamond patterns, "National" decal on peghead. Front scene: 1 palm tree, many cloud & stars, border.
The 12 fret brass bodied National Style 0 is one of the more iconic guitars of the 1930’s. With its etched palm trees and deco stylings, this is the guitar that non-guitarists think of when someone generically calls a resonator a ‘National’. Introduced in mid 1930, this is an early example of the model that features an etched border around the top and back and a steel (rather than brass) coverplate.
The first issue from 1930 has the following specs:
· Steel body, nickel plated
· rolled f-holes
· 12 frets clear of the body
· Slotted peghead
· Maple round neck
· Flat fingerboard radius
· Resonator cover with small holes drilled in diamond patterns
· "National" decal on peghead
· Front scene: 1 palm tree with clear areas in the trunk's center around resonator's treble side, border. Back scene has palm trees
Since its debut in 1930, the acoustic nickel plated Style O resonator, from the National Guitar Company (National for short) of San Luis Obispo, California, has shaped popular music with a dazzling image and one special sound.
The Style O, which has 12 frets above the bouts and sports a 25″ scale length, weighs in at 8lbs. 14oz. and is offered with different engraving patterns or none at all. 12 string and flat neck options are also available.
The National Style O is one of the few instruments that can deliver the indisputable and gritty “down home sound” of regional Country Blues. Now that’s a legend to be reckoned with.
National Style O Resonator Guitars
Description: National Style 0
Available: 1930 to 1941.
General Comments: Single cone resonator, nickel plated body with sand blasted Hawaiian scene on back and palm trees on front and solid area on sides, round shoulder, upper F-holes, round neck, dot inlay fingerboard, bound ebony fingerboard. There were 6 different variations in the sand blasted Hawaiian scene, and 8 total Style O variations if you include body changes. Four of the six sand blasting variations were used on the 12 fret models.
