National Reso-Phonic Resophonic Guitar (1960), ser. #T-42249, black gig bag case.

National Reso-Phonic Model Resophonic Guitar (1960), made in Chicago, serial # T-42249, yellow pearloid finish, hardwood body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, black gig bag case. One of the National company's oddest fretted experiments (and that's saying something!), the 1950s Reso-Phonic model is essentially a solid body resonator guitar, which functions solely as an acoustic instrument despite looking like it really ought to be electrified! The 1930s style resonator cone is set into a small single-cutaway solid wood body covered in the same sort of yellowish pearloid Fender (and others) used on lap steels with. A second coverplate on the back to allow some sound to escape. A black plastic pickguard covering the upper half of the body is decorated with pinstriping, a script "RESO-PHONIC", and a metal plate National shield logo. The bolt-on neck is a very short scale, similar to the one used on the company's budget Supro student guitars and has a National logo sticker on the headstock. The instrument is not as loud as the company's pre-war resonator guitars but has a very distinctive tone, perhaps best described as somewhat like an original 1930s National already recorded onto a 78 RPM record! Odd, endearing, and one of our dark-horse favorite eccentricities; a great (if slightly trashy) blues machine if there ever was one.Overall length is 34 in. (86.4 cm.), 12 1/4 in. (31.1 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 22 in. (559 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.). This is a nicely original guitar, with some general wear but unaltered and -- as these go -- quite a good player. There is some scuffing and corrosion on the metal areas, most notably on the coverplates. The back plate has some odd narks that look like something sat in contact with it for a while. The pearloid on the body is solid and relatively clean with a few minor dinks, the largest being a decent sized chip to the wood on the back/top edge just below the tailpiece. The neck finish is mostly quite clean with areas rubbed away just on the top edge of the headstock. Unfortunately most of the paper National logo sticker has worn off the headstock face. The neck is straighter than most and the frets are very clean with hardly any wear. The pickguard stenciling also unusually intact with none of the usual rubbed-away spots. Overall this is one of the nicer of these we have had, a super friendly little oddball guitar. These can make a surprisingly useful recording tool and some say the perfect couch guitar. It sort of sounds like you're playing through a tiny amplifier that follows you around! Excellent Condition.