Price Paid: $300 USD
Description: Electric hollowbody. Built in Korea. It has a mahogany hollow body in the shape of a Gibson Les Paul and is fitted with a 9.5" National style resonator cone. The strings (.016,.018,.026,.036,.046,.056) are anchored to a tailpiece and then run over the biscuit/bridge at the center of the resonator. It has a nato neck, rosewood fingerboard, lipstick style pickup in the neck position, and tone and volume controls. The finish is natural.
Tone:
Comments: If you are unfamiliar with the tonal qualities of a National style resonator then this might be pointless. The resonator is a thin aluminum cone placed inside the body of the instrument. It has a maple "biscuit" at top/center with an ebony bridge. when the strings are struck the vibration is transferred through the biscuit and mechanically amplified by the aluminum cone. The tonal quality of the wood body is largely irrelevant due to the fact that most of the sound is generated by the resonator. The tone is a bright, full, hauntingly metallic sound with incredible volume and sustain that is sure to call the Devil to the crossroads. It sounds great unplugged and is ferocious through the distortion channel on my Marshall MG-R30CD. I play mostly blues in open tunings and this is a great slide guitar.
Quality:
Comments: There were no flaws in the finish or the wood but it certainly isn't very fancy - very simple and plain. The resonator was perfect and the hardware is of good quality. I did not like the original bridge setup and had it replaced with a taller ebony bridge for about $30 to raise the action. I also had a second strap button placed at the base of the neck since it was without one from the factory. The lipstick style pickup is ok, but I am sure I could find a much better replacement. The neck is smooth playing and has a truss rod so you can tune "up" to open E or A without too much strain. This guitar is basically a cheap alternative to an authentic National. But if you are interested in learning to play slide and Delta Blues it is a great alternative at about a quarter of the price. Heck, Hound Dog Taylor used to wail slide on guitars you wouldn't buy at a garage sale!
Overall:
Pros: Resonator guitars can be difficult to find and expensive to purchase depending on where you live. I happen to live in a very remote and sparsely populated area of the country and I ended up purchasing this guitar from Musicians' Friend. The service was great and the price was right for my limited budget. I am very pleased with this instrument and play it every day. There is really no way I could justify paying top dollar for an authentic National guitar and since this guitar has exactly the same style of resonator (the design patent has lapsed into the public domain) it was a great deal for me.
Cons:

Submitted by:
J. Gentle (gentle45@hotmail.com)
Playing Experience:
one to two years
Musical Tastes:
blues

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