Hot Rod Steel Resonator 12 Fret Duolian with National Pickup 2014 Distressed Finish

This guitar is the product of a company in California, Vintage Nationals, who branded this Resonator as the Hot Rod Steel Guitars.  These guitars were made in China, but all the fret and neck finish work was done in their shop in Santa Barbara.  It has a mahogany neck, bound ebony fingerboard, bone nut with a custom made saddle.   All the fretwork, string spacing, saddle setup are done in Santa Barbara.  The biscuit bridge and saddle are solid aged maple.

The company itself is also a premiere dealer of Vintage National Guitars, and the Hot Rod is made in the same spirit and method.  This has the vintage specs of a classic 12 fret Duolian, and is extremely loud.  You will find that recent "reissue" resonators generally do not have the wide fat neck that vintage resonators had or that this Hot Rod has.  If that's what you are looking for, look no further.  If you like this steel sound you will love this guitar.  The only defect is that there are a few cover plate screws missing. 

It is currently strung with a new set of John Pearse Spanish Tuning Resonator strings, with the first bumped up to a 15, and set up for bottleneck playing.

Comes with a foam core light weight case, which is very handy.    Shipping is for lower 48 states only. All shipments are fully insured.     

National Slimline Pickup - Product Information:   The National Slimline pickup was designed by National Reso-Phonic Guitars, Inc. and Villex®Electronics

This dual-coil humbucking thinline pickup, measuring .215” thick, is designed to be affixed to the top of a guitar at the end of the fretboard. You can route the lead wire inside or outside of the guitar body. The first mounting style is to affix the pickup using the provided 3M®double-stick tape and route the wire outside of the guitar to the endpin. This mounting technique requires no modification to your instrument. The second mounting technique offers two options--run the lead wire through the soundhole inside the body, or drill a 1/8” hole underneath the pickup and run the wire internally. In either case, the lead wire is then hardwired to the provided ¼” jack that must be permanently mounted in the desired location.

This National Slimline pickup incorporates all of the best qualities of an extremely warm sounding humbucker, while still being microphonic enough to amplify the nuances of the actual resonator vibrations. You can hear the tonal differences between a Tricone and a Single-cone set up exactly the same.

See the video for a very nice demonstration of the Hot Rod 12 fret Duolian and other models by the owner Lenny.