National Style O - Circa 1930, 1st year, most collectible version.

1930 National Style O Guitar

One of the most classic and collectible of all resonators. A wonderful sounding guitar with plenty of bluesy bark and warmth, this Style 0 still has its original cone and biscuit – unique for vintage National tone. The playability is great, with fingerstyle/slide hybrid action that measures 9/64” at the 12th fret.

Maple neck with surprisingly modern C carve, bound maple ebonized fingerboard and bone nut that measures 1-27/32”, string width 1-11/32”. Original tuners and headstock decal. The neck was refinished. It’s nice & smooth. A unique touch, this came to us with mother of pearl inserts for the upper 4 frets.  The rectangular plate that looks like a pickup is actually not a pickup. It might lead one to wonder if a prior owner had thought of that plate as a restoration concept.

Style O’s can be seen in photos of bluesmen Son House and Bukka White but the model’s greatest exposure came in 1985, when the British rock band Dire Straits released Brothers in Arms. The album cover pictured nothing but a National Style O floating in the sky. The record went to Number 1 on the strength of the single “Money For Nothing,” and with that exposure, a premium arose on the 14-fret version of the Style O with diamond-and-arrows coverplate – previously not as desirable as a 12-fret version, but now famous as the “Dire Straits model.”

Today, the National Style O still has a unique appeal. It’s not as elegant as a tri-cone, not as workmanlike as a Duolian. But for the ultimate combination of tone, volume, versatility, aesthetics, and affordability, the Style O may well be National’s greatest achievement.

On the visual side, National’s six-string single cone classic has been spotted on a number of album covers from many notable musicians.

The “Complete Library of Congress Sessions, 1941 – 42,” from fire and brimstone breathing Bluesman Son House; 2003’s all-star tribute collection, “Shout, Sister, Shout!,” in honor of the early ground breaker Memphis Minnie; and the monster of 1985, which helped usher in the MTV era, “Brothers in Arms,” from Dire Straits, all feature a National Style O guitar in the album artwork. There it is, the Style O, in all of its historical glory.

With a shiny reflective finish, artistically smooth f-holes and a perforated cover plate, the enduring metallic design of the Style O is a stunning display of image and chronology, metal and wood in the form an iconic dreadnaught outline.

The Blues infused Style O has a singular regional sound. Music celeb Paul Simon named one of his solo anthologies, “Greatest Hits: Shining like a National Guitar,” after the famed instrument. The title originates from Simon’s tune Graceland: “The Mississippi Delta was shining like a National guitar.”

The National Style O offers complex but mellow tones, which in the hands of the right person, lends to a sweet sounding sustain. Initially intended to compete with the loud volume of a Big Band, the Style O resonator has a single aluminum cone mounted under the soundboard that mechanically vibrates as it amplifies the emergent resonance, hence the moniker “Resonator guitar.”

National is still manufacturing the Style O, as indicated on the company’s website:

“Our flagship model, the Style O, recreates the look and feel of the original 1930s single resonator guitars. This brass bodied instrument is polished to a mirror-like shine, nickel plated, and finally etched with the distinctive Hawaiian palm tree design. The maple neck is finished in a traditional sunburst. An ivoroid bound ebony fretboard and vintage-style engraved tuners complete the look of this timeless classic.”

1930 National Style O guitar Introduction specs:

Steel body, nickel plated, Flat cut f-holes, 12 frets clear of the body, Slotted peghead, Maple round neck, Flat fingerboard radius, Resonator cover with small holes drilled in diamond patterns, "National" decal on peghead. Front scene: 1 palm tree, many cloud & stars, border.

The 12 fret brass bodied National Style 0 is one of the more iconic guitars of the 1930’s. With its etched palm trees and deco stylings, this is the guitar that non-guitarists think of when someone generically calls a resonator a ‘National’. Introduced in mid 1930, this is an early example of the model that features an etched border around the top and back and a steel (rather than brass) coverplate.

The first issue from 1930 has the following specs:

·         Steel body, nickel plated

·         Flat cut f-holes

·         12 frets clear of the body

·         Slotted peghead

·         Maple round neck

·         Flat fingerboard radius

·         Resonator cover with small holes drilled in diamond patterns

·         "National" decal on peghead

·         Front scene: 1 palm tree with clear areas in the trunk's center around resonator's treble side, border. Back scene has two palm trees

Since its debut in 1930, the acoustic nickel plated Style O resonator, from the National Reso-phonic Guitar Company (National for short) of San Luis Obispo, California, has shaped popular music with a dazzling image and one special sound.

The Style O, which has 12 frets above the bouts and sports a 25″ scale length, weighs in at 8lbs. 14oz. and is offered with different engraving patterns or none at all. 12 string and flat neck options are also available.

Online at National, a new Style O is priced over $4500.00.

The National Style O is one of the few instruments that can deliver the indisputable and gritty “down home sound” of regional Country Blues. Now that’s a legend to be reckoned with.

National Style O Resonator Guitars

Description: National Style 0 Resonator Guitars
Available: 1930 to 1941.
Collectibility Rating: A brass body makes for a lower rating, also brass models are more common.

General Comments: Single cone resonator, nickel plated body with sand blasted Hawaiian scene on back and palm trees on front and solid area on sides, round shoulder, upper F-holes, round neck, dot inlay fingerboard, bound ebony fingerboard. There were 6 different variations in the sand blasted Hawaiian scene, and 8 total Style O variations if you include body changes. Four of the six sand blasting variations were used on the 12 fret models.