National Style 4 Tricone Squareneck Model Resophonic Guitar (1932), made in Los Angeles, California, serial # 2601, nickel plated finish, German silver body, ebony fingerboard, mahogany headstock with pearloid face, original black hard shell case.

This Style 4 Tricone is both a beautiful and wonderful sounding square neck National, the finest instrument of its type made in 1932; some would say ever! The National Tricone is generally considered the best sounding of all acoustic Hawaiian guitars, and this is an excellent example of the fanciest model.

The Style 4 Tricone was the top of the National line from its introduction in 1928 until the end of production in 1941. MUCH rarer than the plain Style 1, the Style 4 with its extremely elaborate "chrysanthemum" engraving is the fanciest and to many the most aesthetically pleasing of all Nationals. It cost $195 in 1932, a pretty daunting sum in the worst year of the depression so only a very few were being sold at this point. These ultra-fancy resophonic guitars would continue to be built up until WWII, but in dramatically decreasing numbers as the great bulk of National's production from 1930 on would be the cheaper single cone instruments, and eventually those new-fangled electrics by the end of the decade.

The Style 4 features a bound ebony fingerboard inlayed with large pearl diamonds mounted to the integral square metal-sheathed neck. The headstock is faced in pearloid with an engraved border and National shield logo at the top, the tuners are Waverly strips with ivoroid buttons. The flowing floral engraving pattern covering much of the instrument was supposedly designed by George Beauchamp himself and is extremely finely executed; this version has fronds running through the coverplate as was standard after mid-1928. The engraver's name is only recorded as Mr. Williams; his work adorns all the engraved Tricones through 1932. This slightly later model is stamped with the patent number on the top just below the bridge.

The guitar has the famously smooth deep Tricone sound, fabulous for both the original Hawaiian style or other 6-string steel guitar playing. "The Tricone guitar flowed like a river" is how inventor John Dopyera described it decades later, and no one has said it better since.

Overall length is 38 7/8 in. (98.7 cm.), 14 1/8 in. (35.9 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 in. (635 mm.). Width of nut is 2 in. (51 mm.).

This Style 4 has some mostly minor wear overall but remains all original and an excellent player. The nickel plated finish is still relatively bright; there is scuffing and handling wear overall but no heavy plating loss. There is more scuffing and heavier scratches to the back. The elevated handrest on the coverplate shows the most plating wear down to the metal below, with a smaller spot ahead of it on the coverplate. There are some dinks, small dents and worn spots to the top and back edges but no heavy dents.

The pearloid headstock shows some scratching but the engraved logo is still crisp; there is a mark on the back of the headstock where it looks like a sticker of some sort was removed long ago. The tuners, cones and saddle unit are still original, and the lush Tricone sound is still quite fully evident. This stunning guitar is lovely reminder of the golden age of Hawaiian music in the US, and a splendid instrument for any style of slide play. Excellent - Condition.