National Tricone Style 1 Resophonic Guitar (1928), ser. #0275, hard shell case.

National Tricone Style 1 Model Resophonic Guitar (1928), made in Los Angeles, serial # 0275, nickel plated finish, German silver body, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, hard shell case. One of the most original and distinctive-guitar designs of all time, the National "Silver Guitar" or Tricone resonator ihas recently enjoyed renewed respect and popularity. Widely considered the finest acoustic instrument for slide playing, the roundneck "Spanish" Tricone is also an excellent and totally unique-sounding guitar for many other styles of play. The round neck Tricone is considerably rarer then the square neck Hawaiian variant and has long been sought after as the ultimate acoustic blues/slide guitar. This guitar was a revolutionary instrument at the time of its introduction, and still looks futuristic today!This particular Style 1 is a very early model dating to the first half of 1928, the first full year of production. The Style 1 was at that time the least expensive National 6-string guitar, but even so it originally retailed for $125.00- a tremendous sum even at the height of the roaring '20's. When the Depression hit in 1929 these fancy and extremely expensive German Silver guitars would take a back seat to the cheaper single-cone Duolians, Triolians and Style 0's that become National's breadwinning products. This guitar has several features particular to 1928 Tricones-it is marked "Pat. Pend." on the body, the fingerboard is rosewood (most were ebony) and the tailpiece is the early Stella-style used only on the first 500 or so instruments. The original openback strip tuners are the plainer of the two styles used. The guitar bears a four-digit serial number 0275 stamped at the base, marking this as one of the first 200 or so roundneck Tricones (the sequence started at #100). The three cones are mounted in a metal well in the body-the first models used a wooden well, but soon before this one was built the company switched to the better sounding integral well system. This is an excellent playing guitar suitable for both open-tuned slide and regular Spanish play with the rich and complex sound only a Tricone can produce. The Style 1 with the unengraved body is the 'purest' example of National's Art Deco aesthetic, and mysteriously often seems to be the best sounding as well, although there is no scientific reason why that should be! This is a very nice example of the early production variant, an excellent player and beautiful guitar both to look and and hear!Overall length is 39 in. (99.1 cm.), 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 in. (635 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.). This guitar has some light overall wear, but is still very attractive and an excellent player. It has just emerged from our shop with a new neck set and refret with period-correct style wire. There is some scuffing to the plating overall, and a few small dents but it remains amazingly shiny and well preserved for its age. There is one noticeable dent on the top on the lower treble bout near the edge, but none of the edge dents these are often prone to. The cones are new, exact National replacements and the original worn cones are included. The back of the neck has some wear to the finish and a small clear lacquer patch behind the second fret area, but nothing that impedes play. The National logo decal is faded and has some small scrapes but mostly intact; the original tuners still function well. Overall a super playing example of this most sought after of resonator guitars. Excellent - Condition.