Post by philipp on Aug 15, 2020 9:56:39 GMT
Hey everyone,
after watching and reading about everything I could find on National single cone guitars I finally decided to sign up here in this forum, to get some direct advice from all the long time National players like you. :-)
I've been playing guitar for about 15 years now and one of my big dreams was always a resonator guitar. As a huge Mark Knopfler fan this obviously had to be a Style O at first but later I realized that I simple love the resonator sound, whether it's Knopfler, Bluegrass, Folk, Blues or modern music (for example Nathaniel Rateliff or Johnny Flynn). And since a Style O was frankly a bit too much for my budget I was really happy when I saw National bringing out the "Raw Series" guitars. At first glance they seemed perfect and if it were possible to realize my dream with a "moderate" budget, all the better!
So a couple of months ago I found a super friendly store in the Netherlands (I'm from Germany) who said they could order the guitar for me and even though it'd be a special order (I need a lefty version) I could return it if I wasn't convinced. So I ordered the 14 fret steel version and it arrived last Thursday. I've been playing it since then ... with mixed feelings to be honest.
First of all the good: I absolutely love the sound. But I guess that was to be expected since I've never played a resonator before (you simply can't find lefty resonators to try out, even at the biggest stores in Germany). So naturally playing a beautiful National as the first instrument, it's no surprise it sounds great to my ears. I also absolutely love the vintage finish on the guitar, it looks new but has exactly that "raw" feel to it, as the name suggests. But ... the neck is giving me headaches. First of all I don't really love the finish, since it kind of looks like a really cheap plastic-fake-wood-look (although it's obviously real wood). It also doesn't look like that in any of the pictures you can find on the internet, too, (I've attached a picture), which is kind of weird. But the biggest problem for me is the V-Neck. All my guitars have a C-Shape (or similar) neck but I still didn't expect it to be THAT different. Playing single notes or slide, it doesn't really bother me that much. But as soon as I start playing barre chords, especially near the headstock, my thumb always lands exactly on the tip of the V which is really uncomfortable.
Now I'm not ready to give up on the guitar yet, since I really love the sound like I said, but I still wanted to hear your opinion, especially on my alternatives.
I really want the classic/typical/pure (whatever you want to call it) resonator sound, that's why I opted for simple single cone guitar. I took the steel version since my research - and also the guys from the store - told me brass would be mellower. But I already have two beautiful acoustic guitars for mellow fingerstyle or chords – for the resonator I want that typical raw sound. And it has to be a 14 fret guitar, since I often find myself playing up there and I know I would feel somewhat limited with only 12 frets. I'll be playing mostly fingerstyle, sometimes slide with fingerstyle and sometimes with a pick (with or without slide). But I'm still learning slide guitar, so I guess 60-70% of the time, I'll be playing normal fingerstyle.
So I figure my only real options are: Keeping the Raw Series or ordering either a NRP or saving a bit more and going for the Style O after all. Now I read somewhere on this forum that the NRP also has a V-Neck. Is that correct? If so, then my only other option would be the Style O, right? But now I'm a bit unsure after having read so much about the brass vs. steel stuff. Is the difference really that big? Obviously Mark Knopfler turned me on to resonators in the first place but that doesn't mean I want to play Romeo & Juliet the whole day long. But I'm afraid the sound is going to be maybe too mellow for me, since I also mostly play with my bare fingers? On the other hand I know old-school blues players used Style O's so maybe I'm just overthinking all of this?!
As you can see I'm really quite unsure on what to do. Like I said, I will continue to noodle around on the Raw Series for a couple more days. But in case I do decide to return it, I want to make absolutely sure that the next choice is the right one.
Maybe you could give me your thoughts to help me in the process – thank you very much!
Cheers
Philipp
after watching and reading about everything I could find on National single cone guitars I finally decided to sign up here in this forum, to get some direct advice from all the long time National players like you. :-)
I've been playing guitar for about 15 years now and one of my big dreams was always a resonator guitar. As a huge Mark Knopfler fan this obviously had to be a Style O at first but later I realized that I simple love the resonator sound, whether it's Knopfler, Bluegrass, Folk, Blues or modern music (for example Nathaniel Rateliff or Johnny Flynn). And since a Style O was frankly a bit too much for my budget I was really happy when I saw National bringing out the "Raw Series" guitars. At first glance they seemed perfect and if it were possible to realize my dream with a "moderate" budget, all the better!
So a couple of months ago I found a super friendly store in the Netherlands (I'm from Germany) who said they could order the guitar for me and even though it'd be a special order (I need a lefty version) I could return it if I wasn't convinced. So I ordered the 14 fret steel version and it arrived last Thursday. I've been playing it since then ... with mixed feelings to be honest.
First of all the good: I absolutely love the sound. But I guess that was to be expected since I've never played a resonator before (you simply can't find lefty resonators to try out, even at the biggest stores in Germany). So naturally playing a beautiful National as the first instrument, it's no surprise it sounds great to my ears. I also absolutely love the vintage finish on the guitar, it looks new but has exactly that "raw" feel to it, as the name suggests. But ... the neck is giving me headaches. First of all I don't really love the finish, since it kind of looks like a really cheap plastic-fake-wood-look (although it's obviously real wood). It also doesn't look like that in any of the pictures you can find on the internet, too, (I've attached a picture), which is kind of weird. But the biggest problem for me is the V-Neck. All my guitars have a C-Shape (or similar) neck but I still didn't expect it to be THAT different. Playing single notes or slide, it doesn't really bother me that much. But as soon as I start playing barre chords, especially near the headstock, my thumb always lands exactly on the tip of the V which is really uncomfortable.
Now I'm not ready to give up on the guitar yet, since I really love the sound like I said, but I still wanted to hear your opinion, especially on my alternatives.
I really want the classic/typical/pure (whatever you want to call it) resonator sound, that's why I opted for simple single cone guitar. I took the steel version since my research - and also the guys from the store - told me brass would be mellower. But I already have two beautiful acoustic guitars for mellow fingerstyle or chords – for the resonator I want that typical raw sound. And it has to be a 14 fret guitar, since I often find myself playing up there and I know I would feel somewhat limited with only 12 frets. I'll be playing mostly fingerstyle, sometimes slide with fingerstyle and sometimes with a pick (with or without slide). But I'm still learning slide guitar, so I guess 60-70% of the time, I'll be playing normal fingerstyle.
So I figure my only real options are: Keeping the Raw Series or ordering either a NRP or saving a bit more and going for the Style O after all. Now I read somewhere on this forum that the NRP also has a V-Neck. Is that correct? If so, then my only other option would be the Style O, right? But now I'm a bit unsure after having read so much about the brass vs. steel stuff. Is the difference really that big? Obviously Mark Knopfler turned me on to resonators in the first place but that doesn't mean I want to play Romeo & Juliet the whole day long. But I'm afraid the sound is going to be maybe too mellow for me, since I also mostly play with my bare fingers? On the other hand I know old-school blues players used Style O's so maybe I'm just overthinking all of this?!
As you can see I'm really quite unsure on what to do. Like I said, I will continue to noodle around on the Raw Series for a couple more days. But in case I do decide to return it, I want to make absolutely sure that the next choice is the right one.
Maybe you could give me your thoughts to help me in the process – thank you very much!
Cheers
Philipp
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