National Resophonic online discussion?

[9fingers]

I have a National Radiotone Bendaway that is just a magical thing. I would like to "talk" to other National owners (I'm more intersted in the current models than the vintage) and see what people do for tweaks & setups & also get detailed user opinions on other models. Where online are people "talking" National?

[myanocsk]

http://www.guitarseminars.com/gs/

[Dotneck]

I got a vintage steel tricone a few months ago...been having fun with it but I sure don't know about any tweaks yet....Bought a John Pease resophonic set to put on...but thats it so far.

My favorite slide so far is an old craftsman steel deep (spark plug) socket. Got a dunlop brass but its too light...want something with more heft to it...

I agree about the guitar seminars message board...its pretty national friendly...

[James Sallis]

Bigroad Blues, Michael Messer's National Forum, Slide Guitar Forum. Others such as Reso-Nation, Hollowneck.com and The Steel Guitar Forum (Steel Without Pedals)are more oriented towards lap guitar but have good discussion and information.

[9fingers]

Thanks! I'll check them out. I have looked at some like ResoNation that are more lap/bluegrass oriented, which i like, but I am more National/blues oriented.
Any more links appreciated too.

[jcotten]

There are a lot of resonator players over on the Acoustic Guitar Forum, though there is not a separate subforum for them. Still, I think a thread asking about them would receive a great response.

jcotten

[62Tele]

There have been quite a few discussions here - I think these guitars have a great following and they well deserve it. I have a Resorocket (steel body version of your guitar) and I can't imagine it much better than it is. And if you ever want to part with that Bendaway...

[9fingers]

jgm, Looks like we have a bit of a National discussion going here. Sorry, but the Radiotone Bendaway is the one thing I own (musical or otherwise) that I can say I will never part with. I have too many guitars to count and that one is the most special of all. It is woody but cutting, sustains great, is LOUD as hell, plays perfectly and has an unbelieveable complex set of overtones. I can play it from whisper quiet to so loud people hold their ears. I use a National plastic thumbpick & brass finger picks & a fairly heavy brass slide I made from a brass pipe nipple. I pick with fingers some but the picks really bring out the dynamic range & clarity. No pickup yet- I am researching that (had a reso pickup thread going on here & got some good info).

I would love to hear more about your Resorocket. That is the next National on my "list". Love the look of them. I play a LOT of slide and wear the slide on the middle finger, so a cutaway is a must for me. Did you try a brass body as well? (interested in a comparison). I'm sure the Rocket is very loud & "boingy". How is sustain on it? Dynamics? How heavy is that beast? Do you have a pickup on it? Anything you care to share about it would be great.

[drive-south]

As for tweaks, does yours' have the new "Hotrod cones" or the older version. If the cone is stamped with the NRP logo it's the newer hotrod cone.

Other than changing cones, there are several pickups made for Nationals, including the new Hot Plates NRP is making, the Highlander, and National-Lace.

Paul Norman makes a carbon fiber biscuit cone for single cone Nationals that you may want to check out for your Radiotone.

http://www.forbiddenguitars.com/

drive-south

[62Tele]

jgm, Looks like we have a bit of a National discussion going here. Sorry, but the Radiotone Bendaway is the one thing I own (musical or otherwise) that I can say I will never part with. I have too many guitars to count and that one is the most special of all. It is woody but cutting, sustains great, is LOUD as hell, plays perfectly and has an unbelieveable complex set of overtones. I can play it from whisper quiet to so loud people hold their ears. I use a National plastic thumbpick & brass finger picks & a fairly heavy brass slide I made from a brass pipe nipple. I pick with fingers some but the picks really bring out the dynamic range & clarity. No pickup yet- I am researching that (had a reso pickup thread going on here & got some good info).

I would love to hear more about your Resorocket. That is the next National on my "list". Love the look of them. I play a LOT of slide and wear the slide on the middle finger, so a cutaway is a must for me. Did you try a brass body as well? (interested in a comparison). I'm sure the Rocket is very loud & "boingy". How is sustain on it? Dynamics? How heavy is that beast? Do you have a pickup on it? Anything you care to share about it would be great.

I've always preferred the tone of the steel bodies over brass - not a better or worse, just a preference. I'm on my third National over many years; first was a Duolian (now Delphi), second was a steel bodied Polychrome Tricone and now this one. Of the three the Resorocket is hands down my favorite. The bigger vents give it more bass to my ears and I cant agree more about the cutaway. The steel bodies are heavier for sure (no surprise) but it's not really a problem since I play this standing up only for a few tunes. I have the National/Lace pickup and love the thing. It allows me to use the guitar in acoustic music settings and sounds as natural as any pickup I tried (the caveat being that none of them sound entirely natural) and it lets me use the guitar at band volumes plus run effects if I really want swampy slide tones. I have one of Paul Norman's biscuit bridges sitting in a drawer that I plan on trying. As for setup - stock action height, medium D'Addario Flatop strings (which work great on these guitars) and standard or DADGAD tuning for most things.

I play a lot of slide as well, both acoustic and electric, and I find the heavy Pyrex slides to work as well as anything for me. I like them because I can use the same slide on any of my guitars and easily replace them. I also like the tone of these slides - very even, warm, and no seams rattling against the strings. I like the guitar for more than slide though - fingerstyle jazz is just amazing on these instruments and when I play hard with bare fingers, it gets a fat warm tone.

I would hold on to that Radiotone too. I was speaking with National a couple of years ago and they told me that they are planning a wood version of the Resorocket so we'll see. I think the wood bodies are way underappreciated - great guitars.

[mykljpao]

Just adding to the praise for these two instruments. I own both a Bendaway and a Vintage Steel Resorocket. The descriptions of both above are very accurate imho. Together they cover an incredible range of tonal versatility. I have my Bendaway set up with very low action for a rez as I use that primarily in standard tuning for conventional playing. BTW: It came to me with a Highlander pickup that reproduces its natural sound incredibly well (passive, no pre or batts to deal with). The Resorocket is set up with med action and heavier strings to accommodate slide playing but I may have the action lowered some as I don't feel as if I can comfortably play the full neck conventionally. I primarily use a ceramic slide; good heft with a sound somewhere between glass and steel. I tried a heavy homemade brass slide the other day that sounded incredible; gotta get/make one soon! The rocket has a lace surface mount pup that I feel is only decent at best. The sound is much more "electrified" and does not give me as much rez character as I would like. Obvioulsy jgm feels differently about his. Something that was not mentioned is that the rocket has almost a hybrid sound; a cross between a single and tri cone. From what I've read, that is attributed to the venting design. I a/b 'd my rocket against a steel tricone that was a great deal but in the end, decided there was not enough tonal difference to warrant the purchase. For me, that makes the rocket that much more versatile. The single cone Delphi has a fabulous "trash can" sound for blues but is fairly limited in its tonal spectrum. The rocket adds more than a hint of the sophistication of a tri cone that makes it sound more appropriate in a wider range of styles; ragtime, jazz, bluegrass, whatever. Very reverberant with delicate trail-off, similar to a tri. Maintains a strong fundamental note when played aggressively. After having these cutaway resonators, I can't imagine one without the ease of access; just my preference. I've put elixers on both instruments. Nanoweb, I think, lol, that cuts down on string noise and feel very good under my fingers when playing conventionally. Kudos to National for building some extraordinary instruments that sound incredible and are a total joy to play. Not to mention that they have the coolest look going, lol. When I am playing with various acoustic musicians, singer-songwriters, the Radiotone Bendaway is what they almost always ask me to bring. Warm yet cutting sound that becomes a cannon when you dig in.
Makes it very easy to solo amidst other acoustic guitars and also comfortable to ease off into the background behind a vocal or other solosit. Can you tell I love the damn things, lol? Congrats and enjoy.

[62Tele]

Just adding to the praise for these two instruments. I own both a Bendaway and a Vintage Steel Resorocket. The descriptions of both above are very accurate imho. Together they cover an incredible range of tonal versatility. I have my Bendaway set up with very low action for a rez as I use that primarily in standard tuning for conventional playing. BTW: It came to me with a Highlander pickup that reproduces its natural sound incredibly well (passive, no pre or batts to deal with). The Resorocket is set up with med action and heavier strings to accommodate slide playing but I may have the action lowered some as I don't feel as if I can comfortably play the full neck conventionally. I primarily use a ceramic slide; good heft with a sound somewhere between glass and steel. I tried a heavy homemade brass slide the other day that sounded incredible; gotta get/make one soon! The rocket has a lace surface mount pup that I feel is only decent at best. The sound is much more "electrified" and does not give me as much rez character as I would like. Obvioulsy jgm feels differently about his. Something that was not mentioned is that the rocket has almost a hybrid sound; a cross between a single and tri cone. From what I've read, that is attributed to the venting design. I a/b 'd my rocket against a steel tricone that was a great deal but in the end, decided there was not enough tonal difference to warrant the purchase. For me, that makes the rocket that much more versatile. The single cone Delphi has a fabulous "trash can" sound for blues but is fairly limited in its tonal spectrum. The rocket adds more than a hint of the sophistication of a tri cone that makes it sound more appropriate in a wider range of styles; ragtime, jazz, bluegrass, whatever. Very reverberant with delicate trail-off, similar to a tri. Maintains a strong fundamental note when played aggressively. After having these cutaway resonators, I can't imagine one without the ease of access; just my preference. I've put elixers on both instruments. Nanoweb, I think, lol, that cuts down on string noise and feel very good under my fingers when playing conventionally. Kudos to National for building some extraordinary instruments that sound incredible and are a total joy to play. Not to mention that they have the coolest look going, lol. When I am playing with various acoustic musicians, singer-songwriters, the Radiotone Bendaway is what they almost always ask me to bring. Warm yet cutting sound that becomes a cannon when you dig in.
Makes it very easy to solo amidst other acoustic guitars and also comfortable to ease off into the background behind a vocal or other solosit. Can you tell I love the damn things, lol? Congrats and enjoy.

+1 on the tone description, I agree 100%. And let's not forget those vents just LOOK cool too.

Surprised you're not getting the reso character coming through your Lace - is yours the Lace/National version? Mine really sounds like a reso, and after my local luthier had installed a freakish run of reso pickups and heard mine he bought one for himself as well. I do fin I like it better through a parametric EQ pedal though, just gets a little more tone shaping.

You guys are giving me Radiotone envy. Hmmm, wonder what's on ebay today...

[Crazyquilt]

I have a National M2, and I've put a Hot Plate into it. I love it to death -- I'm such an OCD dork I didn't think the stock Lollar was booteek enough ;) so I put in a Stephens blade pickup, and a different cap & value (which I can't recall right now, of course.)

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l123/crazyquilt/WhiskeyJaneFriend1.jpg

Right now, i have it strung with Pearse nickel 12s. It's almost perfect -- slide, fingerpicking, flatpicked blues, flatpicked DADGAD in a weird John Fahey & VM Bhatt drop acid together kinda vein, and it all sounds good. But, I'd prefer the feel of 13s, and I think they get the cone moving a little better. I just haven't found a set of 13 nickels I really like, yet.

I can run the pickup direct, and it's decent with a preamp (usually a PADI) but it's amazing through either a Silvertone 1330 or Swart AST. Does it sound like an acoustic? No. Does it sound like a hollowbody electric? Well, yes and no.

I have some clips...I'll get them onto my Soundclick page.

I only keep guitars I love, so for me to gush about a guitar I have (new or old) isn't remarkable. But I would have to say that if I were put in the miserable position of choosing only one instrument -- this would be it.

(Oh, and I also have a Delphi. Cool, but not as versatile or as much fun for me as the mahogany M2.)

[9fingers]

Great stuff, thanks. jgm & mykljpao- you have me lusting for a steel Resorocket. Sounds like exactly what I need to keep the Radiotone Bendaway company.
That M2 is sweet looking too. I'm very happy that the "new" National folks have the great integrity to make such magical instruments. I bet National comes up with some more wood body models, as fine & versatile as they are. I would love to see a National spider bridge roundneck with a cutaway!

[Neer]

This is where a lot of National Reso lovers hang out: http://www.guitarseminars.com/gs/viewforum.php?f=1

Some very knowledgeable people, some clowns, but also, the very makers of National Reso-Phonic instruments hang out there. There's a thread on some of the new additions to their line.

I'm a National hound. I've owned quite a few oldies, to say the least.

[rollingdam]

This is a great thread. I have an Estralita Deluxe and wonder how you lower the action on a National.

[OOG]

I have a National M2, and I've put a Hot Plate into it. I love it to death -- I'm such an OCD dork I didn't think the stock Lollar was booteek enough ;) so I put in a Stephens blade pickup, and a different cap & value (which I can't recall right now, of course.)

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l123/crazyquilt/WhiskeyJaneFriend1.jpg

Right now, i have it strung with Pearse nickel 12s. It's almost perfect -- slide, fingerpicking, flatpicked blues, flatpicked DADGAD in a weird John Fahey & VM Bhatt drop acid together kinda vein, and it all sounds good. But, I'd prefer the feel of 13s, and I think they get the cone moving a little better. I just haven't found a set of 13 nickels I really like, yet.

try Thomastik Be Bops
they work a treat on Reso's
you might even want to go up to 14's

[drolling]

try Thomastik Be Bops
they work a treat on Reso's
you might even want to go up to 14'sor 16's??? That's what my new Natl steel was strung with when I got it. Not as hard to play as you'd think, but I'm still not soundin' like Stevie Ray:rolleyes: They called 'Newtones" & made in jolly old England.

OOG, I've gotta try those BeBops! Is the name just a reference to the heavy gauge, or are they something other than your basic roundwound bronze acoustic strings??

[Grun]

As for tweaks, does yours' have the new "Hotrod cones" or the older version. If the cone is stamped with the NRP logo it's the newer hotrod cone.

drive-south

Are the 'HotRod' cones stock in the newer Nationals? If so, do you know when they made the switch?