National String Instrument Corporation

1928 National Style O plectrum guitar

The National String Instrument Corporation was a guitar company that formed to manufacture the first resonator guitars.

National resonator guitar designs

The National brand and trademark are particularly associated with two of the three basic resonator designs:

• The tricone design with three resonator cones

• The biscuit design with a single cone

Terms such as National or National pattern are often used to distinguish these patterns from the Dobro design.

Other National instruments

1930 National Triolian resonator mandolin

National also produced resonator ukuleles and resonator mandolins.

History

Formation

The company was formed by John Dopyera, the luthier who invented the resonator, and George Beauchamp, a steel guitar player who had suggested to Dopyera the need for a guitar loud enough to play a melody over brass and other wind instruments.

In 1927, National produced the first resonator instruments and sold under their National brand. They had metal bodies and a tricone resonator system, with three aluminium cones joined by a T-shaped aluminium spider. Wooden-bodied models soon followed, based on inexpensive plywood student guitar bodies supplied by Kay, Harmony, and other established instrument manufacturers.

Dobro

Main article: Dobro

In 1928, Dopyera left National, and with four of his brothers formed the Dobro Manufacturing Company to produce a competing single resonator design, with the resonator cone inverted. John Dopyera continued to hold stock in National. The Dobro design was both cheaper to produce and louder than the tricone. 

National soon introduced their own single resonator design, the biscuit, which Dopyera claimed to have designed before leaving, though the patent was registered by Beauchamp. National also continued to produce tricone designs, which some players preferred.

In their 1930 catalog, National list eight key associates, including Adolph Rickenbacker, George Beauchamp, Harry Watson, Paul Barth, and Jack Levy.

In 1932, the Dopyera brothers secured a controlling interest in both National and Dobro, and merged the companies to form the National Dobro Corporation.

National Reso-Phonic Guitars

Main article: National Reso-Phonic Guitars

In the late 1980s the National name and trademark reappeared on resonator instruments manufactured in California by National Reso-Phonic Guitars. As of 2006^[update] their model range includes not only the tricone and biscuit mechanisms used on the original National instruments, but also the inverted cone design used on the Dobro.

See also

• Resonator guitar, particularly the history section.
• Dobro Manufacturing Company.
• National Reso-Phonic Guitars.

External links

• National Resophonic WebPage.
• Vintage Nationals Pickin' Parlor, online community..
• notecannons.com, Colin McCubbin's site devoted to prewar national instruments.