Were some later Collegians brass bodied?

[gaucho]

I found an interesting National from the late 30 and I'm trying to figure it out. It has a lighter wood neck (may have been refinished), the body is stripped and its Brass. The coverplate is a proper Collegian plate. But I thought they were steel bodied. The guy a has a reasonable price on it for its non-original condition and it plays and sounds great. No serial number anywhere and it has a metal headstock badge. He says it's a 1939. Thoughts?

I found that it's also on ebay, but it's right by my home.... m.ebay.com/itm/1939-National-Collegian-Resonator-guitar-OHSC-/302470503296?_mwBanner=1

[leeophonic]

With no serial number to go from it is a leap of faith guitar, case at least looks period!!!

Late Nationals were a bit of whats left in the factory job, I would not be happy to pay that much due to the uncertainty, there is no may have been refinished about it if the serial number was sanded off.

Good luck you never know but seems about $699 too much.....

Regards

Lee

[slide496]

I found a picture of a brassbody 1939 collegian on pinterest but maybe its the one you played - if thats any help.

Harriet

[Deleted]

Gaucho...give it some time and do more research... it aint going anywhere fast at that price. It looks different to me than what Harriet posted. I am not sure about that neck either...i think its too high priced for what it is. I see duolians with some finish for that kind of money.

[rbe]

Gaucho, That is a Collegian. 1939 might be about right. They often have brass bodies. The neck is correct, but stripped. And it should have a metal badge on the headstock. Just not that one. That is a modern NRP badge. The correct one is very difficult to find, but they are out there. The are two tack holes on the back of the headstock at the lower end. That is where the brass serial number badge was attached, no badge, no serial number. The coverplate is original, but the handstrap is held on with screws. Not a preferred way to do that fix. Fingerboard looks to be non-original too. There aren't the five dot markers over the body (hiding the screws) and I think the there are double markers at the 9th and 12th frets. The saddle is not original, so the cone could be suspect tool. $1500 seems pretty high to me, but everyone has a different idea of what something is worth. One thing to consider is the brass bodies on these (and 14 fret Style 0s) have a bad tendency to split on the sides. Most of the stripped brass Collegians that I have seen, have already shown signs of that problem. If this one has not split, that is good. But on the other hand, pretty much everything here has been messed with.

[slide496]

Ahh, I think that a side issue is happening on the one I posted - it's taped in a couple of places, thanks rbe - I was wondering.

Harriet

[gaucho]

Thanks Rik and everyone.. awesome info! I was more interested in learning about this guitar than buying it ;

[Deleted]

My collegian was brass bodied, and had a split on the side!
TT