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Post by Noah Miller on Mar 27, 2024 0:36:07 GMT
I bought it last August. It came from a seller who really didn't know about instruments, let alone Nationals, so there were a lot of unanswered questions. I put in a low offer, expecting to have to put up to $1K in repairs into it... turns out all it needed was a new tailpiece and some strings.
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Post by Noah Miller on Mar 26, 2024 18:50:02 GMT
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Post by Noah Miller on Feb 9, 2024 14:13:05 GMT
It has the exact same engraving as The Rose in the 1996 catalog. There's no DM36 designation, just "The Rose", so the other guitars you saw might have been earlier. The big difference is the fretboard, which might be a custom order but I suspect was customized after the instrument was bought.
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Post by Noah Miller on Jan 23, 2024 21:32:20 GMT
The bridge is a Grover non-tip, which does what it says on the tin.
I ended up putting the other tailpiece back on and switching to uke strings, along with a new Farquhar bridge that greatly improved the sound. It doesn't intonate as well, but at least it's not an ice pick to the temples anymore.
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Post by Noah Miller on Jan 16, 2024 20:14:05 GMT
Did I need a banjo uke? At the risk of starting a fight, does anyone need a banjo uke? But hey, it's a rare Dopyera product in excellent condition. While I've seen a number of these in pictures, this is the first uke I've seen with a laminated neck or such nice maple. It's also the first uke I've seen with the mid '20s pearl logo. What do you say, ca. 1925? Any guesses what the "2" stamped into the back indicates? It came with a more recent tailpiece that I swapped out for a no-knot. The head is not original either, but it's a nice piece of real skin. There's a grain crack in the fretboard but otherwise the instrument is intact and very clean. I have it strung up like a mandolin and it sounds quite nice that way - intonation is better than usual for such a short scale banjo.
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Post by Noah Miller on Jan 2, 2024 21:10:35 GMT
I'm pretty sure that's an L-50 body. It's certainly 16", and the only alternative would be an L-4; the unbound fretboard suggests it's more in the price range of an L-50. But I can't make out if that's a set neck or a bolt-on either. There is an N-50 listed on the early post-War list.
There are also the 1145 and 1140, which made it into production. National used the same catalog pic for both, so the difference - if there was any - is obscure, but it shows a black guard instead of the clear one in your photo. That may be meaningful, or it may just be Valco changing the details every time someone in the factory got bored.
My guess is that it's really a sunburst finish in a high-contrast photo. It does look black, but bright sunlight can do odd things in black and white.
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Post by Noah Miller on Sept 5, 2023 19:40:05 GMT
Just released an album of folky material. There are resonator instruments on most of the songs, but I thought this track was interesting for featuring four of them: a 1928 Style 4 Hawaiian guitar, a 1931 Style 2 tenor, a 1932 Style 60 Tenortrope, and a 1975 Safari mandolin.
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Post by Noah Miller on Aug 22, 2023 10:51:38 GMT
That possibility had occurred to me. I know someone did some polishing; I'm wondering if they attached it as a grip to hold the plate while using a buffing wheel.
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Post by Noah Miller on Aug 21, 2023 23:19:50 GMT
Hmmm - yes, it does sit directly under the tailpiece when assembled. I haven't seen any deep damage from tailpieces there, only scratching, but I guess it's possible.
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Post by Noah Miller on Aug 21, 2023 22:56:49 GMT
Mid '30s Style 3 mandolin. The cover plate looks perfectly normal from the outside, but there's an odd piece soldered to the inside. It looks kind of like a crack repair, but I'd expect to see evidence of damage on the outside. Any ideas?
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Post by Noah Miller on Aug 7, 2023 17:35:55 GMT
Try the '42 catalog if you can find it. That contained the Recording King banjo, at least.
Interestingly, the Bacon Recording King models are not related to Montgomery Ward's Recording King brand. They were sold by other retailers as well.
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Post by Noah Miller on Jun 23, 2023 20:02:36 GMT
Take the body of a 1958 National Bel-Aire, attach the neck from a contemporary National Club Combo or Stylist, grossly misidentify it and charge me pennies on the dollar, and suddenly I'm very happy!
The serial dates to 1962, after Valco had stopped using both this body and this neck. I suspect that the body was set aside due to a grain split in the top veneer. The screw holes don't match any standard pickguard so I suspect this left the factory without a guard. My plan is to have a new guard made and install my floating Supro "Silver Streak" pickup - the ultimate Valco/Gibson parts mash-up!
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Post by Noah Miller on Apr 25, 2023 23:08:24 GMT
Yes, the Coronado had the Kord-King neck. It's structurally similar to the Stylist but has a slightly different profile. They're both adjustable via a set screw underneath the plastic heel cover.
Yes, this is not the officially correct fretboard. It's probably original, though - Valco were never averse to ignoring catalog specs, so there are lots of oddballs out there. The catalog showed two similar magnetic pickups but most have a center-pole pickup in the bridge like yours. I like to think their inspectors said "Is it currently on fire? No? Good, ship it!"
The bent headstock is uncommon on Valcos but not unheard of. I've seen it happen more often with other brands. In 1966 Valco added string trees to their new lineup, but that was because the 6-in-line headstocks created new problems for the break angle.
I'm not sure what's going on with the hole in the end of the fretboard. This neck should be attached by a singe screw under the 15th fret pearl dot, so I don't know why the extra hole is there at the 20th.
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Post by Noah Miller on Jul 19, 2022 20:56:05 GMT
Regal made some resonators in the '30s where the necks had a slightly shorter scale than the body could accommodate. To avoid having terrible intonation (well, worse intonation than the average round-necked Dobro), they cast some special spiders with the bridge offset about 1/4" toward the neck:
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Post by Noah Miller on Jun 8, 2022 23:05:59 GMT
Mine was solid maple. So was one that Jake Wildwood restored.
I'm pretty sure these have standard-spec L-7 bodies, and I doubt any of them are laminated.
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