Serial Number Plates 1940-1964. Kay Musical Instrument Company was a US musical instrument manufacturer of the United States, in operation from 1890. The following is a key for decoding the serial number, but It's usually related only to National guitars or to Gretsch amps, though it works for everything. Yeah, the numbers don't always make sense. In 1944 CMI bought Gibson, and after WW2, this set up a link between Valco and Gibson.Until the late 1950s some National-branded instruments used Gibson body parts. National Resophonic serial numbers National Resophonic serial numbers. 1927-1942 Tricone silver metalbody (all styles, round and square neck), 1928-1942 Wood body resonators (all models), 1928-1942 Ukuleles, silver and painted metalbody, National Resonator Guitars - An American Tradition at the Bob Brozman official website. From the ‘40s until 1964, the serial could be found stamped into a small metal plate that was tacked onto the back of the headstock or the back of the cabinet. National made two types of resonator instruments: tricone and single conemodels. For dating pre-Valco acoustic instruments, Awesome "Trashy" 1960's vibe. For each position, there is a tone control (next to the switch) and a volume control (below the pickguard). $49.99. I’m sure it was the top of the line Valco made in 1953. Beginning in 1940, National/Valco serial numbers were on a small oblong metal plate (brass or aluminum). The sleek, space-age look of these guitars is enhanced by brightly colored finishes. Exceptional natural resonance. VINTAGE 1954 SELMER BRANDED / VALCO TWEED AMPLIFIER This is an original Selmer, Valco made amp built in about 1954 judging from the serial number which is a valco X number in the 32, xxx range. SUPRO SINGLE ENDED TRANSFORMER 4 OHM GRETSCH AMP NATIONAL AMP VALCO AMP Hollywood, Florida, 330**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. This finish styleformula was patented in the 1930's, and has apparentlybeen lost. Because of this, single cone Nationals sound much like a banjo. Microsoft baseline security analyzer replacement for mac. Which type of resonator you like may depend on what style ofmusic you like. Body Finish: National today can not recreate the original'Frosted Duco' vintage National Duolian finish. But really itis actually a single coil design, but smaller and less powerful than Valco's other pickup designs. $110. This is similar to a Stratocaster's selector switch. The new pots are 500k vs the 250k and it has a good, 010 Mallory cap, now. The res-o-glass versions of these guitars (the Val-Pro/Newport models) had theirguitar's finish first sprayed into a mold, and was then sprayed with Fiberglass.The two pieces (front and back) were screwed together with fivescrews entering from the back and going into blocks of maple glued to the inside of the body.Valco called the material Res-O-Glas, which was a combination of polyester resin and glass threads. This bridge pickupis close to a Fender sound, but without the sustain. Valco quickly became one of the leading manufacturers of lap steels, alongside Magnatone, Gibson and Rickenbacker, and the company also sold acoustic guitars with National … Atfirst, when they were only making wood body models, and I wasn'tvery impressed. There are three volume knobs, one for each tone setting, and a master volume. According to the list below it should be 1930. Starting in 1947, a new serial number system was adopted that allows for reasonably accurate dating of instruments. Of course this is the real world, and money and rarity DO matter. [1] Though the name, branding, and product line resemble the original National String Instrument Corporation, this company bears no historical connection to the prior company. For the most part, they have a small metal plate on the back of the neck, on the opposite side of the neck from the nut. Left: Straight cut 'f' holes on a 1929 Triolian.Right: Rolled 'f' holes on a 1934 Sytle O. Resonator Single Cone Sound Differences: 12 versus 14 Frets. When the War ended, Valco re-vested itself into the musical instrument industry and built instruments and amplifiers throughout the 40s, 50s and most of the 1960s. 1951 Vintage VALCO NATIONAL TUBE Guitar TWEED AMP Amplifier w/TONE Control NO reserve price. $4.00 shipping. Which dates this to 1951. The serial number at the back of the headstock dates it to '55. Also the reissues have a flatterneck profile, unlike the 'baseball bat' vintage neckprofiles and 'V' neck profiles. 23" scale. 1941-1968 National/Valco Serial Numbers (including National, Valco, Supro instruments) Tricone models. A very unique tone that has a great growly, punchy sort of sound. VICI - your factory source for top quality products for gas chromatography, liquid chromatography, medical research and practice, flow injection analysis, HPLC, SFE, and SFC. Also the 1932 to 1932 vintage Style Nis right up there too (essentially the same guitar but with a 12 fret neck). Post 3:40 PM - Jun 05 #1 2020-06-05T15:40. Body Material: All new National nickel-plated bodiesare made of Brass, not German Silver (most original 1928-1940 nickel-plated vintage models except the Style O, 35 and 97were German Silver, not brass).Sorry, but brass just doesn't sound nearly as good asGerman Silver, or even steel bodies. was tacked onto the back of the headstock or the back of the cabinet. Style O silver resonator vintage metalbody, Style N silver resonator vintage metalbody, The Don silver resonator vintage metalbody, Supro Collegian resonator vintage metalbody. Tricone models. They just look and feel, Truss Rods: New Nationals all have adjustable truss rods.I know, this is technically good; the original models hadeither no truss rod, or a non-adjustable truss rod. Serial#X25609. The serial number on that plate can be used to determine the year the guitar was made. Round maple neck. Late 1928 Wood Body Triolian Introduction specs: Wood body. From 1964-1968, the serial was ink-stamped onto a silver foil sticker that is found in the same place. I can't find any model number. some of these plates and many of these stickers have disappeared over time. It produces over 1000 instruments annually, in more than 50 different models. Flat fingerboard radius. Includes the Style 1, 1 1/2 ,2, 2 1/2, 3, 4, 35, 97 nickel plated models, and the style M-3 painted tricones. Those serial numbers were used on their arch top & flat-top guitars as well, and my old National amp has one also. The most Of course this applies to triconereissues too as original tricones were never availablein 14 fret versions. Many blues players feel the combination of singlecone resonator, steel body, and mahogany neck used on the Duolian is the ultimate Blues guitar. So 'National' acoustic and electric modelscould have a National neck and a Gibson body! The Valco Serial Valve Interface (SVI) is a device that converts commands from a computer, via a serial port, into positional control for our two position and multiposition valve actuators. This serial number points to the year 1959, and a good resource for dating Valco amps and guitars can be found here. This Airline SCREAMS! $4.25 shipping. This is attributed to their brass, not steel,body material. It is NOT a distortion amp. This is the Vintage 1948 Valco Supro National Lapsteel Electric Guitar. 60's SUPRO TAURUS BASS - made in USA. Plenty of grind and woody distortion, super warm and compressed. This lapsteel is a beauty. In 1935 National and Dobro merged to form the National-Dobro Company. Silver resonator metalbody, round and squareneck vintage models. Vintage sound & style, modern playability. In a tricone, the three 6' cones are set in a triangle. National Reso-Phonic Guitars 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. And in the third position, the bass isturned off. They began producing resonator guitars under the name 'National Reso-Phonic Guitars'. You are bidding on a great piece. $195.00. And I'm not the only one that feelsthis way. National ukuleles are very collectable. Art deco faceplate with original white“chickenhead” pointer knobs. But with the December 1941 attacks on Pearl Harbor, National's guitar production was ceased by government legislation and its workforce re-trained for War-related manufacturing. This hasespecially been the case for vintage Tricones. Within a year they moved the company's offices and production to Chicago. Vintage Guitars Info'sNational Resonator and National/Valco Map-shapedElectric Vintage Guitar Info. At the same time WW2 brought a similar fate to Gibson's factory, where as much as 90% of that company's production went toward the war-effort. Vintage National Resonator Collectibility. The Estralita Deluxe was made after 2001. 1960s Supro 3-Way Toggle Switch By Switchcraft w/ Tip For Airline National Valco. Remember this was the early age ofelectric guitars, and electrics basically made National's resonatorinstruments obsolete. Other Vintage National Models and their Collectibility. (Figure 2) Actuators of this series are further identified by a plastic control module housing. 1953 National Tweed There’s no model # on the amp, and it’s a very rare and progressive amp for it’s time. Amp was recently serviced. DESCRIPTION: Great-sounding/neat looking 1950's vintage Valco National Chicago 51 tube amp. This is especiallya problem on the Tricone reissues (except for the 'polychrome' tricone model). Serial number on a 1936 M-35 metal body. The height of the National-Gibson hybridization came in the mid 1950s. The sound has farther to travel to get the cones resonating than with a single resonator guitar.Thus, that's why tricones are not as loud on the attack.