More about the various types, and the blues artists who played Nationals

Photography by Erin Conforti

Note: I recommend that you read part one first, as that gives some essential background information.

Continuing from part one:

There were now two types of National Steel Guitars, not including the version now manufactured by Dobro. Those were the tricone and single cone models. As said earlier, the tricone has a smoother tone, with richer sustain. The single cone was louder, with a tone that had a lot of "attack."

That's an oversimplification when one realizes that two guitars of the same make and model can sound different. Each of the two catagories have subcatagories, also, so it can be confusing. There's no substitute for hearing each type being played, but I'll do my best to describe the various models that emerged, and the general sound characteristics of each.

Even Bob Brozman, someone who made the most exhaustive study of this guitar found it a daunting task to identify every model made from 1927 to 1941. He said, "At a peak production of nearly 50 instruments a day, literally thousands must have been made. Certain models are found fairly often, while others are quite rare or even unknown."

Brozman considered five main catagories in identifying year and model.

Those were:

1. Resonator: Three-cone or single-cone.
2. Body: German silver, brass, steel, or wood.
3. Guitar Bodies: Neck joins at the 12-fret or 14-fret.
4. Guitar Necks: Hawaiian (square) or spanish (round).
5. Headstocks: Slotted 91927-1935) or solid (1936-41).

Also, he broke those down into time catagories, which correspond to the major historical periods of the company:

1. Prototypes, false starts, and earliest produced.
2. Models of the John Dopyera era 1928-1929.
3. Models of the Depression years 1929-1935.
4. Models of the Chicago era 1935-1941.

To keep things simple, I'm not going to discuss the custom models, and other stringed instruments at this point. There was one common denominator to all of the above: The company used one series of "Style Numbers" to indicate the materials used, and the ornamentation. All of the styles were nickel-plated with some exceptions, most used ivory celluloid fingerboard binding. The style numbers ran from 1-4, 35, and 97. There were others, like an "N" or "O" style also.

There are two exceptions I have to note, which are the Duolian and Triolian models, which had wood bodies. It's important to note that, as these are the ones often confused with "Dobro" type guitars, which also had wood bodies.

Price is always important

Now, the price of these models is important to note. While the Nationals weren't made with the Blues market in mind, these guitars certainly began showing up in the hands of artists like Tampa Red early on.

Nowadays, a National is a premium priced item, so it can lead one to believe that the guitars were always expensive. That isn't really the case. Also, the model prices didn't change all that much, and in some cases, stayed the same throughout the history of the company.

The 1930's era price list

In Bob Brozman's book, he notes that the price of the various models weren't that out of line with other makes. Here's two 1930's era price lists:

National:

Duolian: $32.00-35.00
Triolian: $45.00-47.50
Style O: $62.00-65.00
Style 1: $125.00
Style 2: $145.00
Style 3: $165.00
Style 4: $195.00

Martin Guitars:

D-18: $55.00
D-28: $100.00
D-45: $200.00

As one can see, a Style O didn't cost much more than a Martin D-18. Also, the "O" was a single resonator type, and the most inexpensive metal body model. It was the single cone models that saved the company from the effects of the Great Depression. The tricones were the instruments of choice for professionals and advanced students. However, the high end market eventually became saturated, and it was the Style O and others like it that became the big sellers.

At this point, all you have are a bunch of model names, which I'll be the first to admit, means nothing. However, one can deduce certain things from what we've seen so far. The most obvious is that your average Blues artist probably played (for the most part) a Style O or cheaper model. In the case of Tampa Red, he was a successful musician for his time, and could afford a tricone. Others probably got a Duolian or Triolian. The price of a Duolian probably made it worthwhile to save a bit and get one, as opposed to buying a cheaper all wood Stella.

Playing the National

When you pick up a National and begins playing, one can see other reasons to prefer it. The bodies were smaller (since box size wasn't necessary to create volume) and that made it easy to hold and play. This wasn't a small consideration for a Blues musician who may have had to play all day or night.

Also, it had that same quality a good electric guitar has, which is that even the simplest rhythm work has a supercharged quality to it because of the way the volume and tone are delivered. No wood guitar can be as explosive, or sustain sweet slide passages as well. In other words, the perfect guitar for a street corner or noisy juke joint. It is a guitar that sounds like it has a rhythm section built in.

The best way to begin delving into this guitar is to list several famous Blues artists who used Nationals, and examine what type they had, and the sound they achieved. Most of the artists are familiar. So, for example, when I discuss Bukka White, it'll be fairly easy to find recordings to add real sound examples to my descriptions. For those of you who may not know a particular artist, this can lead to a new discovery.

Blues Artists and their Nationals:

Son House

Tampa Red: Very early Style 4 Spanish tricone guitar
Son House: Single resonator, either a Triolian, Duolian, or Style O
Bukka White: Square neck "exploding palm tree" tricone
Bo Carter: Style N
Blind Boy Fuller: 12 and 14 fret Duolians
Peetie Wheatstraw: Style 3 tricone
Scrapper Blackwell: 12 fret Sunburst Triolian
Bumble Bee Slim: Style O
Black Ace: Squareneck Style 2 tricone
Babe Stovall: 12 fret Duolian
Reverend Gary Davis: single cone (during his 30's recordings)
Oscar "Buddy" Woods: Tri-plate
Blind Arvella Grey: 14 fret Duolian

Obviously, there are modern Blues artists who use Nationals, and I'll cover them in the future. For the next few installments of this series, we'll examine the players listed. The intent won't be to provide a definitive bio of each, but to see how the guitar helped them shape their individual sound and approach. In doing so, in small steps, you'll understand how the various types of Nationals differed.

Bukka White

I can tell you that a Style O has a harsher, more aggressive tone than the tricone. However, it may simply be easier to see how Tampa Red differed from Son House. How they approached their instruments was shaped by the type they used, although Bukka White and his energetic style would seem to be an exception (being as he used a tricone). However, the qualities that made up the tricone did in fact work consistently for both Tampa Red and Bukka. That's something that will become clearer in the next part.

Coming in part 3:

The Big Three (Tampa Red, Son House, and Bukka White).

-Al Handa

Special Thanks:

This article, and the series that will follow it rely heavily on the classic book, "The History and Artistry of NATIONAL Resonator Instruments" by Bob Brozman. Brozman is also one of the foremost National Steel Guitar players in the world.

Check out Bob Brozman's web site. Also, a series of this depth wouldn't be possible without the cooperation of the National Reso-Phonic Guitars company, who have provided advice and materials in the research phases. The photos used in this piece are courtesy of National Reso-Phonic. Special thanks to Peter Bachner, Don Young, and Marie Gaines of National Reso-Phonic for their help and cooperation in creating this series.

Next installment will cover more about the playing qualities of both designs, and begin to discuss the variations that began to emerge as time passed. Also, a list of Blues artists who used the National. Go to Part Three now...

Copyright © 1998 by Al Handa. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission from the author.