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Post by marshcat on Sept 22, 2022 9:15:29 GMT
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Post by snakehips on Sept 22, 2022 11:10:21 GMT
Hi there !
Whilst I'm sure that guitar sounds great as it is, I bet it would sound better without all that gunk, and the gaskets (unless the gaskets are compensating for cones that have sagged).
The original cones in my 1931 roundneck Style 1 Tricone had sagged, and Marc Schoenberger had placed card gaskets under the cones (for the guitar's previous owner) - BUT the guitar still lacked life, tone & volume. I took out the gaskets and fitted new NRP cones - and the guitar came alive again - and sounds great.
The original cones still look shiny & minty (but just don't sound great !).
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Post by ricks on Sept 22, 2022 15:41:50 GMT
Well, I guess they had their reasons for installing gaskets originally - maybe tonal? - when I refurbed my '31 Style 1, I tried the Hotrods both with & without gaskets, & ended up keeping them in, since without gaskets it sounded more strident & less sweet to my ears; of course, it takes a good while for them to bed in, but volume doesn't seem to have suffered, & my ( possibly wrong! ) intuition is that the gaskets do their job, ie sealing the contact between cone & well to make it more airtight, & push more sound through the body, but it's all kinda subjective, & my take on it is just mine..,
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Post by Michael Messer on Sept 22, 2022 19:51:39 GMT
Some of the most beautiful sounding old National Triplates I have played have gaskets, and some of the most beautiful sounding old National Triplates I have played don't have gaskets.
An interesting one is Mark Makin's round neck style 2. It's a really lovely sounding guitar and a couple of years ago I had to open it to perform open heart surgery, I was very surprised to see that not only does it have gaskets, but they are made of polystyrene approximately 3mm thick. It's the stuff they used to use in the 60s and 70s as lining for wallpaper in cold houses.
Gaskets and messy insides is an interesting and sometimes hard to work out why type of subject.
Bob Brozman always used to claim that gaskets should be removed and insides cleaned up, but over the years I have learned that is just not true. Another example is my 1939 12 string National Havana, if that's what it is. It has a felt gasket and it sounds other-worldly in every sense of that phrase. It is an extraordinary and totally unique instrument, but take out the gasket and it doesn't really sound all that great.
I believe they knew what they were doing in the 1920s and 30s when they chose "to fit or not to fit" gaskets in National guitars
Shine On
Michael
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Post by leeophonic on Sept 23, 2022 15:48:04 GMT
Interesting as to what is going on with the three different shades of neck stick, the mushrooms and props look correct but who knows until you dig deep. Hopefully this is where the stash of cones come in handy.
I had some old mahogany kicking around and made some mushroom bases, if you need any give me a shout
Make sure the kitchen table is cleared up when finished de gunking, take care down there Lee
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Post by marshcat on Sept 24, 2022 10:26:35 GMT
I intend to leave the well, four mushrooms and cone gaskets alone - they do, after all, constitute an irreplaceable historical artefact  and the guitar sounds just as good as all (!) my other square-necks. The dust bunny, of course, has been returned to his natural habitat.
However, I will have to replace the nut. Some misguided individual cut it down to facilitate Spanish/upright playing  and then another misguided individual packed it with cardboard  to raise it again.
If anyone has a spare bone nut or nut blank (approx. 53 x 12 x 4.5 mm) for a square-neck triplate lying around, I'd be eternally grateful.
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Post by marshcat on Oct 1, 2022 12:08:01 GMT
Heartfelt thanks to Lee, who came to my aid with a perfect nut blank!
Also, this instrument seems to have made its way from 1920s California to Britain via South Africa, judging from the Afrikaans:
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Post by leeophonic on Oct 2, 2022 9:02:47 GMT
They all have a story to tell with a journey not only of thousands of tunes but miles as well, I seem to remember the 32 OO went from Gibson to Bombay to England, who knows who with or if it saw the conflict and wars of that time, makes it interesting for those that like that sort of thing.
Regards
Lee
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Post by marshcat on Oct 3, 2022 11:25:24 GMT
Lee: Indeed, the 1932 L-00 has an Indian heritage!
And here's your finalised new nut on #1770: |
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Post by leeophonic on Oct 4, 2022 13:49:13 GMT
Good to see everything has come together again, hopefully tone has come up a notch with less shake rattle & roll.
Regards
Lee
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and the guitar sounds just as good as all (!) my other square-necks. The dust bunny, of course, has been returned to his natural habitat.
and then another misguided individual packed it with cardboard 
to raise it again.
