Six String Synopsis:
The story of National guitars is complicated story incorporating other brand names, What follows is an attempt to rationalise the introduction, development and evolution of National and its associated brands in a succinct fashion.
National – The National String Instrument Corporation was an American guitar company founded in 1927 by George Beauchamp (a Texan Vaudeville performer) and Slovakian immigrant John Dopyera (a violinist and luthier) in Los Angeles, California. The company started out by manufacturing banjos. The partners started working on a guitar that would be loud enough to be heard in a big band setting. The idea of the resonator guitar was born.
Beauchamp and Dopyera’s solution was to build acoustic resonator guitars in an attempt to amplify the instrument’s volume. The first resonator guitars comprised metal guitar bodies with three spun aluminium cones (called a tricone) embedded in the sound board. The three cones were joined by a T‑shaped aluminium ‘spider’ through which the strings’ vibrations would be transmitted to the cones. In addition to guitars, National built metal ‘resophonic’ mandolins, tenor guitars and ukuleles. National progressed onto making wood‑bodied single‑resonator models using lower cost materials.
Dobro – In 1928, John Dopyera left National and set up the Dobro Manufacturing Company with four of his brothers (Dobro is a conflation of DOpyera BROthers). To avoid trademark infringements Dobro’s guitars comprised a single resonator with an inverted resonator cone. Dobro also made mandolins, ukuleles, tenor guitars and banjo‑guitars. Some Dobro guitars were made by another company, Regal, which also produced resonator guitars under their own name. Dobro guitars, being both cheaper and louder than Nationals, placed them in direct competition. In 1932, National merged with its main competitor Dobro to form the National Dobro Company, which focused on resonator guitars and other stringed instruments. In 1937, all National Dobro guitar manufacturing was contracted out to Regal, which finally went bankrupt in 1954.
Valco – In 1940, the company was reorganised by three of the stakeholders from the National Dobro Company to become Valco, Valco manufactured guitars and amplifiers under its own in‑house brand names – National and Supro – as well as for a diverse range of customers including Airline, Gretsch, Harmony, Kay and Silvertone, although no products were sold to the public under the Valco name. In 1962, Valco started producing innovative guitars with bodies constructed from resin moulded fibreglass (a.k.a. Res‑O‑Glas). In 1967, a struggling Valco merged with Kay Musical Instrument Company and went into liquidation a year later in 1968, bringing an end to an era.
Contemporary models – The spirit of the original National resonator guitars was rejuvenated in 1989 by National Reso‑Phonic Guitars, a company founded by Don Young and McGregor Gaines in San Luis Obispo, California. The new instruments built on the ideas created by both National and Dobro. American company, Eastwood Guitars also introduced modern wood‑bodied, retro‑styled Airline models.
National’s official website is… National Guitars
Check out the National String Instrument Corporation’s page on Wikipedia… Wikipedia.org
Check out the Valco page on Wikipedia… Wikipedia.org
Check out the National Reso-Phonic Guitars’ page on Wikipedia… Wikipedia.org
Famous National instruments include… Tricone series, Style O, Style N, The Don, Duolian, Triolian, Supro Collegian, Trojan, Rosita, El Trovador, Estralita, Aragon, Havana, Val‑Pro series, Newport, Glenwood, Westwood
Famous Dobro instruments include… Dobro resonator guitars tended to be ‘Model #’ (where # is a number often based on price at the time, not quality or chronology – a confusing system), e.g. 19, 27, 32, 36, 37, 45, 50, 55, 62, 75, 85, 100, 156, 206. Some metal bodied instruments carried an ‘M’ prefix, e.g. M14.
Some famous National/Dobro guitar players include… Duane Allman (The Allman Brothers Band), Mike Auldridge, Joe Bonamassa, James Burton, Eric Clapton, B.J. Cole, Jerry Douglas, Melissa Etheridge, Rory Gallagher, Josh Graves, Peter Green, Son House, Rob Ickes, Mark Knopfler, Phil Leadbetter, Phil Lesh, Mike McCready (Pearl Jam), Tut Taylor, Derek Trucks, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bukka White, Chris Whitley, Nancy Wilson, Ronnie Wood (The Rolling Stones), Neil Young
Links to CRAVE Guitars National Features…
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