Vintage national mandolins

[Spruce]

Thanks for that, Paul....
Clears up a lot of holes.....

[brunello97]

Great story, Paul. Thanks for stretching it out. Have you any pictures of the prototypes?

Mick

[allenhopkins]

Stutzman's Guitar Center here in Rochester has a National "Havana" model wood-bodied round-neck guitar from the late '30's. Spruce top, arch-pressed back. Brozman says in his book The History and Artistry of National Resonator Instruments, "[T]he bodies were made by Kay. Very few have been seen." [p.98]
Guitar has a nice sound, and I'm hemming and hawing about a possible purchase; it's around $1.5K, not unreasonable.

Bought the Havana. It rocks.

[sean parker]

allen, when i read about your havana. went stright to the stutzman site, but couldn't find it. you must have got right in there quick smart! can you post a pic?

[Paul Hostetter]

Mick -

I never took photos of the other two. I actually have two more, partially done, sitting in cases in my shop. I should chase down some cones for them and get them on the road. One has five courses. Sometimes you lose momentum with something and it just languishes. In this case it's been at least 15 years. Ow.

Allen, I'd love to see the photos of your "Havana." Was the neck converted?

[allenhopkins]

Paul -- no, it's a "Spanish" or round neck, ivoroid bound, with dot inlays -- not the fancier blocks of the Aragon. Fourteen frets to the body, and the same "National" headstock inlay as the Aragon, but a slightly different headstock shape. Spruce top, large f-holes in the upper bouts. Laminated pressed-arch birdseye maple back. Pickguard's obviously been removed, leaving a small mounting hole in the upper bout.
I have never seen a picture of a Havana, but it conforms to the descriptions in Brozman's book and Gruhn's guide, so I'm quite sure that's what it is. I paid about $1,400 for it, less a $300 trade-in for a Johnson round-neck tri-cone. Swapped the tweed Johnson case for a Takamine case that fits the Havana; it's a deep body, so the Johnson case wouldn't fit it.
I don't have a digital camera as of now, so I can't post a pic. I'll try to remember to resurrect this thread and post it later when I have the capability to do so.

[sean parker]

here's a havana that's at gruhn. square neck.

[earnest]

personally, I think the old National mandos sound mo' betta' with 4 strings, but I'm a biased National tenor guitar geek. My style 1 is sweet and loud. It could blow an F5 off the stage, but I even play Italian tunes on it. Fortunately, it was such a wreck when I got it that I could make a few changes that definitely improved the intonation/action issues. I inlayed a graphite epoxy rod in the neck, and moved the fretboard back about 1/8" (the width of the nut). It plays great. The string tension at 15" is "stiff", so I like to tune it down to FCGD when I'm not playing with anyone. I'm curious, paul, why you think the new ones are easier to produce? Seems like the flat top/back would be simpler. I spose they've eliminated the dowel stick issues. eck

[allenhopkins]

At $500, that Havana at Gruhn's looks like a bargain! Needs rebinding, and most "Hawaiian style" (Dobro) players prefer spider bridge to biscuit bridge instruments, so the square neck is a minus factor. Gruhn's also has a less fancy headstock, with the "National" decal instead of the inlaid "National" shield that the Havana I bought has. Looks like the tuners are cheaper, though mine aren't any great shakes.

Still, a vintage National for that price is unusual.

[Paul Hostetter]

Joel - you solved the intonation issue the way I have done it: either move the board back or replace it with one with a slightly shorter scale. The new Nationals are machined from a block of wood with a top over it, not unlike a Les Paul. Way fewer parts to assemble, way better engineering. The irony to me is they claim this to be "based on a rare pre-war original" but the one they refer to looks nothing whatsoever like this current one, it looks like the one I made, except it was a tricone! It's in the lower right in this image. All the mandolins in this photo are tri-cones, the old body was designed around three cones:



Allen - I think the Havana at Gruhn's has a recently produced enameled plaque on the headstock, not a decal. Whenever I see a guitar for sale unplayable with no strings, it's a sure sign something's wrong. Cheapo replacement tuners. No binding - that'll be fun. Is the cone original? It's probably a fair price for a project. Making it into a roundneck will entail some real effort, and there's not so big a market for squarenecks, unfortunately. At least someone penciled the numbers of the frets!