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Interesting finish on this National

Posted: 15 Jun 2022 3:38 pm
by Noah Miller
I know a few aluminum Dobro steels were finished with the faux-grain brown, but I've never seen this on a National steel before:

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I'm also intrigued by the tuner repairs. If you've never dealt with these Waverly Tune-Rite machines, the buttons are made of pot metal and they tend to crumble. Two of these have been re-buttoned with Schaller (or similar) knobs - not period-correct, but a surprisingly good visual imitation.

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Posted: 17 Jun 2022 8:14 pm
by Glenn Wilde
That's a very cool guitar, I've never seen that finish on a electric National either, some resonators from that time had it though. As you probably know National and Dobro we're the same company in Chicago then.

Re: Interesting finish on this National

Posted: 18 Jun 2022 7:38 am
by Eric Dahlhoff
Noah Miller wrote:
I'm also intrigued by the tuner repairs. If you've never dealt with these Waverly Tune-Rite machines, the buttons are made of pot metal and they tend to crumble. Two of these have been re-buttoned with Schaller (or similar) knobs - not period-correct, but a surprisingly good visual imitation.
Noah,
How are those replacement buttons attached? They look like metal, so I'm guessing epoxy? They do look like a good repair option.
Cool looking guitar! I love my old Electric Hawaiian.

Posted: 18 Jun 2022 9:27 am
by Noah Miller
I think they're either soldered or brazed on. I see nothing but metal around the shafts.

Posted: 19 Jun 2022 3:00 am
by Michael Greer
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Noah, I have only seen one other faux wood brown national.
This one is darker brown but that could be because picture taken indoors.

This set has been together for a long time..purchased from a local farmer who indicated it belonged to his grandfather.

I have not tried the amp as I understand they should be checked out first before plugging in.

Strangely, I like the numbers added to the fret board....

Mike

Posted: 19 Jun 2022 7:04 am
by Glenn Wilde
Seems like it was big for a few years before the war, haw bout this little Regal project I just picked up, faux wood, wood.
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Posted: 19 Jun 2022 7:09 am
by Glenn Wilde
Michael Greer wrote:Image

Noah, I have only seen one other faux wood brown national.
This one is darker brown but that could be because picture taken indoors.

This set has been together for a long time..purchased from a local farmer who indicated it belonged to his grandfather.

I have not tried the amp as I understand they should be checked out first before plugging in.

Strangely, I like the numbers added to the fret board....

Mike
That's a great set, it might just take a good cleaning and a few capacitors to get that amp running. I love how they used resonator cover plates for speaker grills.