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Post by jromano23 on Jun 6, 2020 20:44:16 GMT
Similar to what exists for vintage L5s and Les Pauls, does anyone think it would be a good idea to have a National registry where people could upload photos of known Nationals along with comments about the instruments? I’m thinking it could be sort of like a living picture version of the serial number lists compiled so far. Lots of good urls are available... does anything like this exist offline? Maybe it could be a new tab here. Thinking out loud. For reference: www.burstserial.com/index.php?/page/serial_log
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Post by Pickers Ditch on Jun 7, 2020 5:09:57 GMT
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Post by pete1951 on Jun 7, 2020 8:20:47 GMT
As PD says, Marks Book has just about everything you need to know. There are some posts on the forum to update things when an odd National or Dobro comes to light. Pete
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Post by jromano23 on Jun 7, 2020 15:25:09 GMT
I was thinking more like a crowdsourced gallery where people upload pictures of their Nationals and link them to the corresponding serial numbers.
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Post by ken1953clark on Jun 7, 2020 16:06:15 GMT
Well, remove the geo-positioning data from your photos before uploading or you are just creating a high tech shopping list for guitar thieves.
And why crowd-funding? It costs nothing to set up a Facebook group (and FB do strip out geo-positioning data from uploads AFAIK).
Ooh, what a grumpy sod I am today. Normal service resumed ASAP.
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Post by jromano23 on Jun 7, 2020 16:21:17 GMT
I was thinking crowdsourced in relation to the source of the photos, not funding. Something like the LP link in the original post is what I had in mind, but maybe it’s overkill.
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Post by Pickers Ditch on Jun 7, 2020 17:17:25 GMT
Overkill is the right word.
Mark Makins book "Palm Trees, Senorita and Rocket Ships" plus online updates already exist so why reinvent the wheel?
Just coz "it's on t'net and you can google it" means absolutely nothing in my book (pun intended).
The details of my Nationals are already in the public realm even if I don't do or like social media.
Stay safe, Even grumpier old sod, PD.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2020 17:18:46 GMT
Mark's book is in fact more comprehensive than the LP register but it wouldn't do any harm to start a FB page so people can swap snaps of their guitars,much like they do with cigarette cards or football programmes.
Acerbic rather than grumpy old git.
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Post by jromano23 on Jun 7, 2020 17:50:08 GMT
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Post by Michael Messer on Jun 7, 2020 17:53:37 GMT
I don't think it would be possible to improve on what Mark has created because it is a catalogue of serial numbers that has taken more than 30 years to put together, and is constantly being updated. If you are not aware of this book, you really should have a copy.
One of the problems with making it so anyone can upload their numbers is that many people make mistakes when reading them, another is that it would end up being overrun with all kinds of numbers, rather than just vintage Nationals.
Shine On Michael
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2020 18:55:42 GMT
I don't think it would be possible to improve on what Mark has created because it a catalogue of serial numbers that has taken more than 30 years to put together, and is constantly being updated. If you are not aware of this book, you really should have a copy. One of the problems with making it so anyone can upload their numbers is that many people make mistakes when reading them, another is that it would end up being overrun with all kinds of numbers, rather than just vintage Nationals. Shine On Michael Not to mention the factory workers who made mistakes stamping them!
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Post by Michael Messer on Jun 7, 2020 19:40:28 GMT
I don't think it would be possible to improve on what Mark has created because it a catalogue of serial numbers that has taken more than 30 years to put together, and is constantly being updated. If you are not aware of this book, you really should have a copy. One of the problems with making it so anyone can upload their numbers is that many people make mistakes when reading them, another is that it would end up being overrun with all kinds of numbers, rather than just vintage Nationals. Shine On Michael Not to mention the factory workers who made mistakes stamping them! That's true Graeme, but even those have to be read correctly to be catalogued. With most of those it has been possible to place them in a particular series of numbers. What happens a lot is that a person tells Mark their serial number and he has to respond by telling them they are not reading it correctly. They insist they are, until suddenly they realise Mark was right and it's not an 8, it's a B. Shine On Michael
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Post by snakehips on Jun 7, 2020 21:09:05 GMT
Hi there !
A very big reason why I don't think this is a good idea is this :
Unscrupulous online sellers (eg. Ebay or Gumtree) copy the pictures, including serial numbers. Next, they put up an auction - with someone else's photos, looking legitimate as they even have the serial number.
It will be even more difficult to sort out the genuine from the scam online auctions
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Post by rbe on Jun 7, 2020 22:23:36 GMT
I think this is an interesting point.
I agree, Mark's book is great. And maybe, truly under-appreciated for the time and money invested. The serial number listing comes in handy and it is nice that it is there. I use it often.
But I come at this from a totally different point of view. A photographic record would be of great usefulness. But the aggregation and management of it would be an incredible pain in the ass. For the most part, it would be problematic and less than practical to undertake. A forum or blog or Facebook page would make it a non-permanent record and it would most likely disappear at some point when there was no one left willing to manage it. Also, there is currently no centralized place for resonator/National guitar information. There are several forums, blogs and pages, but none include everyone participating. So that will limit contributions. To start it from scratch would mean a huge curve to get it to any level of usefulness. Control over copywrites and usage would be a nightmare. Getting people to actually contribute would be difficult, too.
I like the idea in theory. I just don't think it can happen. I have been building a photographic library of National/Dobro instruments for a very long time. I have pulled most of the images from the internet, so it would not be proper for me to share them online or otherwise. But I use this library often. The bigger it gets, the better it has been. It answers questions for me that no one else can. So it would be great if there was an organized photo library of National guitars on the internet. Especially if compiling it and managing it was someone else's hassle. I just don't see it happening.
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Post by Michael Messer on Jun 8, 2020 7:05:02 GMT
In a way that was what Notecannons was intended to do when Colin and I set it up 20 years ago. Much has changed since then and by today's standards it looks dated, but the idea was to create a homebase for all things National and Dobro, and at the time it achieved its goal.
The idea of a photographic record is more than a nightmare and is the reason Mark decided to do illustrations. Unless shot by a professional, or a moment of luck for an amateur, reflective objects are almost impossible to photograph, because you don't see the object, you see a distorted photo of the photographer and their surroundings. All detail gets lost and that was the reason for the illustrations.
There are also only a few people who would take it seriously and do it properly. Hosting such a place sounds like hell to me!
Shine On Michael
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