national style O tone

[robbie]

hello ,

I have a july 1997 style O national guitar, which since it was purchased has been set up b the guitar shop newcastle ( bryan younger ...real good guy, highly recommended ) it now plays infinitly better than previously....BUT there.s always a but.and its the tone...... The tone is quite harsh , and being a massive knopfler fan I was looking for a more gentler / subdued knoflerish sound....if that makes any sense.

Given the accumilation of all things Reso knowledge on MM's forum, I was just wondering if there is any way to achieve the tone I am looking for without having to buy a 1930's national.

again...again thanks for your help

regards.............slide on

robbie

[Michael Messer]

Hi Robbie,

I think you may have answered your own question. The tone and feel of a 1936 fourteen fret National Style 0 is a completely different thing to a 1997 National Reso-Phonic Style 0.

In addition to the guitar, there is also the tone and touch of the player.

None of that is very helpful to you. You can sweeten the tone of your guitar, but please understand that it is a process of trial and error.

The first thing I would try would be to fit a felt gasket under the cone. Get some regular felt from a craft shop and make a gasket to sit on the pan where the cone sits. you will need a little
Spray Mount or something similar to hold it in position. Put the guitar back together, string it up and play it every day for at least a week. The cone needs to bed into the felt and until that happens
the sound is muffled. Another thing you could try would be to replace the cone with either a vintage 1930s one, or a new National Hot Rod cone. Again, none of this may work, but the only way is to try.

Final thing to do > Sell it and buy a 1936 National Style 0.

Shine On
Michael

[Brad Bechtel]

Another thing you could do is move your hand away from the bridge farther up the neck. That will give you a more subdued sound than playing closer to the bridge. Try that before modifying your guitar.

[triconehead]

Jun 23, 2013 9:41:02 GMT Michael Messer said:

Hi Robbie,


The first thing I would try would be to fit a felt gasket under the cone. Get some regular felt from a craft shop and make a gasket to sit on the pan where the cone sits. you will need a little .....

Shine On
Michael

This with the felt gasket under the cone, I suppose it won´t work on a triplate?

[robbie]

hiya gents...whoops AND ladies,

regarding the gasket Michael mentioned, are they available to purchase or are they a " home made " item ?

thanks for any help

regards

[davey]

Some 30's Guitar had them. My Duolian did, so when it was apart for repairs I replaced it as it was incomplete. I made one from felt. They aren't available to buy and nobody really knows why some Guitars had them and others not. Maybe to compensate for irregularities where the cone sits.

I like the slightly mellowed sound with the gasket.

The other thing I'd say is to get a cobalt blue glass bottleneck from Diamond. They sound very sweet.

[robbie]

thanks Davey..............incidentally did I see one of your old resonators for sale in York some time age I think it was M. O.R music...but cannot be certain


cheers

[washboardchris]

Hi, not looked at Mark Knopfler's playing close up but I had a look on You tube & he seems to play with bare fingers (so you wont get his sound with picks on as the attack is different) & I suspact thet his guitar is set up quit low so yet again less break angle (must have a light touch for slide)I have a 12 fret steel Triolian that is cse low for normal playing & it sounds mellow when played with bare fingers but is fine for trashy sounding slide if I dig in with picks. Hope this helps

[davey]

Hi Robbie

There was an old National for sale in York a while ago, but not one of mine. I've only really passed them on to friends, including two Forum Members. I buy them when they turn up but look out for unrestored ones, as I've got my own views on restoration, which is that I only do what is the absolute minimum.

I've kept three nice ones and had around a dozen altogether. I wished they turned up more often. Many have turned up around wartime American airbases as has a couple of old Gibsons and a Martin.

One Gibson came with a complete life history and photographs. I wish all old guitars did.

Cheers. Dave

[Quarterquay]

Just as a curious aside, the felt covered hammers of a piano can become overly compacted over time and a lot of playing and the tone becomes harsher. I know we're talking about two entirely different instruments here but would the felt gasket compact down too much over time due to the pressure from the string tension and need to be replaced? - ie, would the reso slowly revert back to a harsher tone? The felt of piano hammers can be loosened with special needles to bring back the mellow tone. I can't see that being an option with a felt gasket in a reso.

That makes me sound quite knowledgeable about the workings of pianos doesn't it!? No sadly not, I asked a friend, Mr.Google.

[Michael Messer]

Hi Quarterquay,

No, the longer the felt stays in place with the cone embedded in it, the better it gets. Removing it, or changing it, is where the problems start.

When fitting a new felt gasket it takes quite a while for it to bed in, so don't expect an immediate result. It will take a few days to even start to bed in.

Shine On
Michael

[Matt]

I experimented with one in my MM Blues, not really played it in as I bust a string soon after (fatigue from tuning up and down). I didn't think to glue it and it was a huge pain getting it to sit still, do you reckon it's worth taking it apart and glueing it down before I get back to playing it in?