National Style 1 in German Silver

[campusfive]

So, I totally wasn't expecting to actually get this guitar, but after an unexpected windfall, the wife was totally on board with getting it. She's actually wanted me to get one almost since we met, but it was never enough of a priority to justify. Well, since I have an excellent acoustic archtop, the definitive swing electric guitar, and a nice django guitar, the other priorities have basically been met.



So, I've wanted a Style 1 Tricone for as long as I've played Swing guitar, because my hero John Reynolds uses one. I've watched them come and go on ebay, and just never had the means and the opportunity at the same time. Then I saw this one - a Style 1, plus it was in German Silver, and it was used. The price was decent, though not within striking distance, so I watched it for most of this month. When the wife gave the go-ahead, I thought to just call the dealer directly rather than buy through ebay. Turns out they were having a sale ending today, so I saved 10% and shipping is free instead of the $55 they stated on ebay.

As for the German Silver thing, I wouldn't have bothered for the upgrade, but I was talking with John Reynolds about guitars, and he mentioned that'd be the one thing he would want because it's lighter and sounds even better than the regular ones. When I saw I could get a gently used Silver one for less than the price of brand new regular one... well that was one of the main reasons I was game.

Lastly, the seller, Artisan Guitars, seems like a pretty good place to buy a guitar, so I figure it'll probably play decently to start, and it's unlikely there'll be any issues with the guitar. Plus, even if the neck were irreparably warped, the National Factory is a 4hr drive, and happens be in the town where my best friend lives, so I'd have a perfect excuse to visit.

If there's any problem with the guitar, aside from a little finish wear where one's right arm goes, is that it won't arrive until after Christmas, and since I'll be playing in North Carolina from 12/27-1/1, I won't see until I get back. Boo.

Anyway, here's a couple videos of John showing what a Tricone can do!

[Klatu]

How about a John Reynolds video featuring guitar virtuoso Jonathan Stout?

[cosmic gumbo]

The classy ones have palm trees engraved on them.

[Jabberwocky]

The Joys of GAS. Congrats on a new pre-loved axe. Always lusted after one like a magpie to shiny things.

Isn't German Silver a take on the Chinese alloy, Pak Tong, transliterated from Cantonese, White Copper?

[fws6]

Oscar Aleman !

[TOMMO]

Congrats! I love resonator guitars and the tricone is the Queen of them!


Here is mine:




An early National Resophonic - probably not german silver - but I don't care...

Used for slide guitar not for swing, though!

Enjoy your new guitar!

[Greentone]

Nice!

[Guitarbean25]

I've always thought those guitars look awesome and I've wanted one. The shiny ones also aways remind me of the robot from Battlestar Galactica back in the 80s. That was also awesome.

[Klatu]

I'm more of a Battlestar Gallactica revival guy myself.

[lumena]

Just saw this. I have put one of these on my list... Its only a few months away ...

The Oscar Aleman sound.
would love to hear what you do with it.

[campusfive]

So, I'm still waiting for Fedex to deliver the guitar today - it came while I was out of town, so I had it held.

But what I was doing while I was gone might be of some interest to likeminded people. I was in Asheville, NC, at a Swing Dance Event tasked with leading an All-Star Big Band through FIVE NIGHTS, with each of the first four nights was a single historical bandleader (Basie, Shaw, Ellington, and Goodman), and then NYE, the last night being "Kitchen Sink Night" for everything else (we played Krupa, Lunceford, Hines, Teagarden, James, and even one song by Glenn Eff-ing Miller).

So, I brought my 1937 ES-150 (carried on in a Hiscox), and had the rest of the gear provided. We're very lucky to have a network of friends in the swing dance community who can lend us great gear. The 1940's Leedy Drum Set was provided by a dancer/drummer from Knoxvile. The event promoter, who is also a bandleader/musician/dancer, lent me his Loar LH-600 (on which I used my clip-on AT831b with a gooseneck), and another fantastic bandleader/guitar player/swing dancer from Seattle lent me his Vintage 47 Ric-Style Amp.

We did 3 sets of each artist, so I had ample opportunities to get into character of the various guitar players. I spent most of the time playing rhythm, but I got to take quite a few cameo-guitar solos. On Shaw night we did about 6 Gramercy Five tunes (as a small group from within the big band), and a big band tune from 1944 where Barney Kessel had a solo originally. On Ellington night, I took Ray Nance's spot for a violin solo on the 1942 arrangement of "C Jam Blues." On Goodman night, I was a pig in slop, as we a number of Goodman/Christian small group tunes with our guest clarinet player the legendary Allan Vache, plus playing the "Allan Reuss" chair was the best. But also amazingly, we did both "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Solo Flight", Charlie Christian's two tunes on which he was featured in the Big Band. I have to say the sound guys mic'd the Vintage 47, and had it turned up real loud in my monitor so I could cut over 14 pieces, and it was the best CC-style playing I've ever done. I was totally in the moment, and just channeling the sound. It was one of those lucky moments where all of the distractions peel away, and nothing was in the way. (I'm very, very distracted when my tone is not what I want it to be - like completely messed up).

Anyway, there'll be some video on youtuve out soon of much of the performances, but here's the epic conclusion of Benny Goodman night. A little context: "Sing, Sing, Sing" is a tune that for better or worse is the definition of the swing-era, and every swing dancer has a period of infatuation with the song, before becoming jaded and never wanting to hear the goddam song again. However, after we closed with BG's 1937 classic "Roll 'Em" there was only one place to go with the encore, and was so beautiful to rediscover the joy of this song. There's a minute or so of cheering and talking up front, but wait through both parts, as the end is pretty epic.

[campusfive]

Oh, and I highly recommend selecting HD quality and waiting for it to load, and then turn it up!

[D.G.]

What a great gig!!!

[pubylakeg]

Can't wait to hear some of the Goodman/Christian set.

[tonedeaf]

Seriously nice!

The Mississippi Delta
Was shining like a National guitar.
P. Simon

[campusfive]

Ok, finally got the guitar in hand, and it's exactly what I'd hoped for.
The neck is pretty wide, which definitely takes some getting used to, but I was expecting that.
The guitar is basically new, with the case candy completely intact. Even the polish cloth was unopened.

Here's me goofing around on "Blue Skies" - I'll post some more once they're done uploading.

[lumena]

love it.

[campusfive]

Here's two more videos for you guys:

Some more of the National: "All of Me"

And some more of the band from last week - no electric tones just yet.
This was from Basie-night.

[Klatu]

The event promoter, who is also a bandleader/musician/dancer, lent me his Loar LH-600 (on which I used my clip-on AT831b with a gooseneck)

I remember reading a post a while back of a gentleman who was looking for the best way to amplify an acoustic arch top without using a floating pickup. He noted that he tried using a mic attached to a gooseneck clip and found that he couldn't get any real volume out of it without experiencing feedback. What results have you gotten from your AT831b? Would the volume be loud enough to play and solo over a straight ahead quartet?

[nickyboy]

http://media.ents24network.com/image...9636216697.jpg

Here's me at the Oxford jazz festival a few years back with my 1.5.

Mike Markey and Nick Jones

[tfaux]

Wow, great to hear jazz on a National, John, and man it suits your playing beautifully!
I have a '31 brass body Style O. It's a bit more trash-cannish sounding than the Tricone but I also like it for jazz, not least because it can compete in an un-miked setting. A fantastic--and vastly underemployed--tone!

[campusfive]

Ok, so here's some iphone video/iphone audio of the some of the Vintage 47 amp with my 150.
They've got audio off the board, so there will likely be better audio coming at some point.

[destinytot]

So, I'm still waiting for Fedex to deliver the guitar today - it came while I was out of town, so I had it held.

But what I was doing while I was gone might be of some interest to likeminded people. I was in Asheville, NC, at a Swing Dance Event tasked with leading an All-Star Big Band through FIVE NIGHTS, with each of the first four nights was a single historical bandleader (Basie, Shaw, Ellington, and Goodman), and then NYE, the last night being "Kitchen Sink Night" for everything else (we played Krupa, Lunceford, Hines, Teagarden, James, and even one song by Glenn Eff-ing Miller).

So, I brought my 1937 ES-150 (carried on in a Hiscox), and had the rest of the gear provided. We're very lucky to have a network of friends in the swing dance community who can lend us great gear. The 1940's Leedy Drum Set was provided by a dancer/drummer from Knoxvile. The event promoter, who is also a bandleader/musician/dancer, lent me his Loar LH-600 (on which I used my clip-on AT831b with a gooseneck), and another fantastic bandleader/guitar player/swing dancer from Seattle lent me his Vintage 47 Ric-Style Amp.

We did 3 sets of each artist, so I had ample opportunities to get into character of the various guitar players. I spent most of the time playing rhythm, but I got to take quite a few cameo-guitar solos. On Shaw night we did about 6 Gramercy Five tunes (as a small group from within the big band), and a big band tune from 1944 where Barney Kessel had a solo originally. On Ellington night, I took Ray Nance's spot for a violin solo on the 1942 arrangement of "C Jam Blues." On Goodman night, I was a pig in slop, as we a number of Goodman/Christian small group tunes with our guest clarinet player the legendary Allan Vache, plus playing the "Allan Reuss" chair was the best. But also amazingly, we did both "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Solo Flight", Charlie Christian's two tunes on which he was featured in the Big Band. I have to say the sound guys mic'd the Vintage 47, and had it turned up real loud in my monitor so I could cut over 14 pieces, and it was the best CC-style playing I've ever done. I was totally in the moment, and just channeling the sound. It was one of those lucky moments where all of the distractions peel away, and nothing was in the way. (I'm very, very distracted when my tone is not what I want it to be - like completely messed up).

Anyway, there'll be some video on youtuve out soon of much of the performances, but here's the epic conclusion of Benny Goodman night. A little context: "Sing, Sing, Sing" is a tune that for better or worse is the definition of the swing-era, and every swing dancer has a period of infatuation with the song, before becoming jaded and never wanting to hear the goddam song again. However, after we closed with BG's 1937 classic "Roll 'Em" there was only one place to go with the encore, and was so beautiful to rediscover the joy of this song. There's a minute or so of cheering and talking up front, but wait through both parts, as the end is pretty epic.

Absolutely marvellous! And I enjoyed seeing the gooseneck condenser mic clipped onto your guitar, which sounds perfect!

[Eddie Lang]

Congrats, Jonathan! What a cool guitar, and great sounding! I love the Blue Skies take you played.

Not to divert the thread from its topic, I just want to mention for those who don't know her, in a couple videos of the original post, the bass player is Katie Cavera. She's also a great rhythm guitar and banjo player. Worth checking out.


What's that funny feeling creeping in? Oh I know! I have a sudden urge to get a National tricone...

[destinytot]

Everyone's playing is simply wonderful; the performance and the event - over a 1,000 people! - really are an inspiration and a joy to behold.