National 'El Trovador' c 1934 | $2475 | (v2160) The El Trovador is a pretty rare bird in the National lineup, and the first wood-bodied guitar that National jobbed out to another manufacturer (the early wood-bodied Trioleans were made in-house). In 1932, National contracted with Kay in Chicago to make the wooden bodies, with final assembly done in-house in California. The El Trovador is a quality instrument, great sounding.. but short lived. It appears that Kay ended production of the El Trovador body in late 1933. National shifted the body production to Harmony (also in Chicago) through 1934. It's likely less that a thousand El Trovadors were produced and not many surface in the market today.
The body is made of mahogany laminates with triple w/b/w celluloid binding around the top, back and resonator cover plate. The mahogany neck has a 'V'-carve, topped with a radiused ebony fingerboard and bound in white celluloid. The headstock is finished in the same dark color as the body and sports the National El Trovador logo. The tuners are a fancier grade than found on the lower end National Duolian. The brass cover plate in plated and features the same diamond-shaped sound hole pattern and four ribs as Duoleans and Trioleans of the early '30s. The cone is spun aluminum and typical of what you would find in these early Nationals. The serial number H029 is stamped on top of the head stock with the 'H' signifying Harmony-made.
The guitar is in overall very good ++, original condition with a neck reset and small strip of replaced neck binding the only evident repairs. The cover plate shows some plating loss and there is some checking in the finish and the laminate. The original cone shows some dimples, but is holding steady with tension. The end pin is missing. We recently leveled and dressed the frets. The action is set at about 6/64" and the guitar plays well with a slide and fingerstyle.
The tone produced is loud like a Duolean, but with a faster decay and more mellow tone .. you don't get the echo-y 'I'm stuck in a garbage can' overtones. Definately a blues guitar!
Comes with a soft case.
Check out the sound clip, one fingerstyle, one with slide!
The body is made of mahogany laminates with triple w/b/w celluloid binding around the top, back and resonator cover plate. The mahogany neck has a 'V'-carve, topped with a radiused ebony fingerboard and bound in white celluloid. The headstock is finished in the same dark color as the body and sports the National El Trovador logo. The tuners are a fancier grade than found on the lower end National Duolian. The brass cover plate in plated and features the same diamond-shaped sound hole pattern and four ribs as Duoleans and Trioleans of the early '30s. The cone is spun aluminum and typical of what you would find in these early Nationals. The serial number H029 is stamped on top of the head stock with the 'H' signifying Harmony-made.
The guitar is in overall very good ++, original condition with a neck reset and small strip of replaced neck binding the only evident repairs. The cover plate shows some plating loss and there is some checking in the finish and the laminate. The original cone shows some dimples, but is holding steady with tension. The end pin is missing. We recently leveled and dressed the frets. The action is set at about 6/64" and the guitar plays well with a slide and fingerstyle.
The tone produced is loud like a Duolean, but with a faster decay and more mellow tone .. you don't get the echo-y 'I'm stuck in a garbage can' overtones. Definately a blues guitar!
Comes with a soft case.
Check out the sound clip, one fingerstyle, one with slide!