2006 National Style 1 Tricone
From about 2002 onwards I taught myself how to play bottleneck slide on a really crap acoustic with ridiculously high action (that I bought at Cash Converters for 70 bucks). By 2005-2006 I began to want a more authentic sound so I moved to a couple of Chinese made resonator guitars, first a single cone then a tricone. They were fine at first but gradually I became aware of their limitations.
Then in 2008 I played this brand new National at the now disgraced Jackson's Rare Guitars in Parramatta Road Sydney. I took my Chinese tricone there a few days later to do a side by side comparison and decided I had to get the National. The difference was astounding. My old one sounded like it was stuffed with wet panties and the National rang like a bell.
I'm playing "Good Liquor Gonna Carry Me Down" by Big Bill Broonzy.
All videos recorded on a Nikon DSLR camera so the sound is not pro quality.
I'm playing "Frankie" by Mississippi John Hurt
I'm playing "Roll & Tumble" by Hambone Willie Newbern.
The slide was a new one from
Diamond Bottlenecks.
This is the most basic model without any of the trimmings - no Mother of Pearl, no engraving or etching, but it sounds exactly the same as the ones with all the trimmings that cost a thousand dollars more.
In 1938 this model cost $125 and the very fancy style 4 cost $195. As a comparison, at about the same time (1940) a Martin D-28 cost $100 and a D-45 cost $200. (Sources: original catalogues)
I paid about $4850 for it in late 2008 because the Aussie dollar was only about US80 cents at the time, but in 2012 with the dollars about equal you could get one in Australia for $3500! Of course in early 2016 the dollar is now worth only about US70 cents so timing is everything. I sold it to a very famous Australian guitarist in November 2018.
I have tried special flatwound reso strings on it but I find that I get very good results with a medium gauge set of normal acoustic strings. Some people suggest substituting a .016 on the top string but I found that the standard set works fine. This is in open G. So the gauges go from bottom to top:
- D - .056
- G - .045
- D - .035
- G - .026
- B - .017
- D - .013
Schatten pickup output attached to end pin
Amplified sound
In June 2009 I fitted a Schatten pickup to it (no drilling of holes or modifications needed) and at gigs I play it through a Behringer MIC100 Tube Ultragain, just to add a bit of warmth and growl. However I never really got an amplified sound that I was happy with, apart from just micing it up. Last time I used it live I simply mic'd it up with a Shure SM57 and it sounded great so the pickup has now been removed.
Bob Brozman offers some suggestions to get good amplified sound but I have not tried these yet.
More Info
- National Resophonic web site
- Diamond Bottlenecks
If you're after the perfect slide, look no further. The 'Ultimate' are the best in my opinion - lead crystal custom-made slides that have an unbelievable tone.
