Here are some major differences between it and production versions:
- 1) The body has two “horns†that transform it from the usual teardrop into the National “shield†logo.
2) The headstock, which is an open A-frame on production steels, does not have a cutout. There is an indentation in the middle, probably to save on aluminum, but the point at the bottom suggests that it’s decorative and was never intended to be cut out.
3) The volume pot is located in an unusual position. While the pots did move several times between 1935 and 1937, they were never located north of the pickup. Interestingly, there are two bumps near the tail where the pots would eventually be located; it’s possible that these are unavoidable casting marks and that National eventually moved the pots there as an easy way of covering them up.
4) There is no serial number.
- 5) “Pat pend†is embossed into the body below the bridge. The design patent was applied for in September of 1935 and granted in January of 1936, so it’s highly unlikely that National would bother to add this text after they had built many steels without it.
6) The pickup is quite different from any production model, and I would call it a more primitive design. Production steels had a conventional coil located at the ends of a horseshoe magnet, while this steel’s coil is wound like an early radio antenna – without a bobbin and wrapped in paper. This suggests that it was built before the merger of National and Dobro in 1935, since the later National pickup was apparently developed from the Tutmark/Stimson design used by Dobro as early as 1933.
