Two New Yorkers in one!

[Noah Miller]

National Grand Consoles aren't rare, but the pre-War versions are much harder to find than their later counterparts. This is the second one I've had the pleasure of owning; the first was a heavily-worn example fitted at the factory with 6-string bridges (but retaining the 8-string headstocks). I was delighted to find this example, which isn't pristine but remains a lot cleaner. The bridges have been replaced with quite good replicas; the originals from this period have an unfortunate tendency to bend under string tension, so having good replacements doesn't bother me. Someone raised the hand rest a little and routed it from the inside, apparently because it originally wasn't cut high enough to clear the pickups - welcome to National's quality control!



A few minutes of disassembly has taught me more than I expected to learn. I thought that this would have hidden pickups because all the New Yorkers with these fret markers have them; instead, I found first-generation string-throughs:



I knew that these were implemented on the New Yorker in 1939, along with a change to parallel-line fret markers instead of Roman numerals. After reviewing the serials in Mark Makin's book, it appears that my console was built in 1938 - roughly a year before this model was first catalogued. Some consoles were built with hidden pickups - David Gilmour had one, and the catalog picture shows another - but apparently National first deployed these string-through pickups on this model. I believe that makes these the second pickups with adjustable poles (after Epiphone in 1937).

That makes mine the second version of the Console; the first, with hidden pickups, actually came and went months before it was ever listed in a catalog. By the time National started using this picture, it was already out of date:



This model was updated in 1939 with the parallel-line markers like the New Yorker; at the same time, the bevel leading up to the far neck was changed from a straight surface to a curve. The pickup remained the same, even when the fretboards were given multi-color numeral markers ca. 1942.

While it would be cool to have six pickups in one double-neck instrument, my experience with New Yorkers has lead me to conclude that these string-through units sound much better. This console naturally has more sustain than a New Yorker, and the high output makes it one of the most "usable" pre-War National electrics. The one annoying thing - which remained on this model until WWII - is the twin screw-on Amphenol jacks. Each neck has its own volume and tone controls, but there's no switch or even a physical mute system. Granted, you could easily wire up the two outputs to an A/B box, but it's a bizarrely cumbersome system for a company that loved novel circuitry. However, I do have the original cord - with two jacks!

[Erik Alderink]

That’s incredible. Post some sound clips if you get a chance!

[Allan Revich]

Wow.
Just. Wow.

[David Ball]

Dang that's nice!

[Jeff Highland]

That's really beautiful

[David Matzenik]

Nice find Noah. Here is a pic of David Keli'i playing a new one ( or is that two?). Maybe at the Moana, Waikiki. Momi Kai is singing, and Steppi de Rego on bass. No ID for the others.

[Noah Miller]

Hopefully I'll have some clips soon. I'm working on an album during my extra time at home these days, so I'll try and get it onto one of the tracks.

I had forgotten that New Yorkers with this pickup have an odd tone control which this console shares. On the "Hawaiian" setting, the treble strings become slightly brighter and the bass strings have their treble rolled off. This is achievable because there are separate coils for each string, which also allows for hum cancellation with an even number of strings.

Just to be sure, I checked underneath one of the fretboards - no hidden pickups, but the cavities are there!

It turns out the bridge slots are too narrow for a .056 low F#. Since these were intended for re-entrant tunings, and the nuts are slotted that way, I may just raise that low string by an octave.

If you look closely at the picture of the headstocks, you'll see that the outer strings on each neck are swapped. I thought this was a mistake by the previous owner, but it turns out that the angled headstocks make this the easiest way to string the instrument. I just installed new strings on the closer neck and ended up doing the same thing.

[Steven Cummings]

Wow. Thanks for all you do here on the forum Noah. You come up with some of the most spectacular intstruments. Looking forward to hearing those recordings. Keep it up, please.

[David Knutson]

Well, that's right up there with the coolest guitars I've ever seen. Thanks for this, and all of your contributions to our steel guitar world, Noah.

[Glenn Wilde]

Super cool, nice score and thanks for sharing it.

[John Herb]

Those are great looking steels!

[John Dahms]

Thanks for posting. I don't know anywhere I could have learned about this model if you hadn't. I have never seen another.

[Jesse Valdez]

Wow, do these have leg sockets? I have seen and played only the later console examples with the multicolor Roman numeral fretboards, very cool sound! Very dark! Although I prefer the spacing on my grand console, that certainly is the best looking prewar national steel I have seen

[Noah Miller]

Legs were first catalogued in 1953; they might have been available a few years earlier, but there are plenty of post-War examples out there without sockets and none of the pre-War ones had them from the factory.

This particular one has screw holes in the back from an aftermarket socket installation, but at least they didn't do any further routing.