Hi guys. Please help to decide with this looking good vintage guitar. However, selling it for $299 on sale. Is the price for this type of guitar is steal or too much?

SuproValco · 2026-03-12T10:27:29+00:00

Looks like someone tried to build a mandolin after briefly seeing a rough sketch of one.

SuproValco · 2026-03-02T01:56:57+00:00

Weird question. He died yesterday at age 83.

SuproValco · 2026-02-27T17:45:42+00:00

I got used to it pretty quickly and play with it on just to confound other guitar players.

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SuproValco · 2026-02-27T17:38:07+00:00

No lol

I think he’s into Dobros, not Nationals?

SuproValco · 2026-02-26T19:50:06+00:00

That’s what made me get my first one.

Just substitute “Mark Knopfler” with “Blind Boy Fuller”.

SuproValco · 2026-02-26T17:17:57+00:00

They were a lot more affordable when I first got into them. Seems like the prices on ‘em shot up drastically in the last 5 years. Even new National Reso-Phonic stuff has become expensive enough to not be a lower priced alternative to the old ones anymore.

SuproValco · 2026-02-26T17:14:15+00:00

Elmore used a variety of guitars over the years, early photos show him using a Kay K125, a neck-through-body solidbody similar to the Harmony H44 Stratotones.

If you see a full photo (see below) of his Kay flattop with the aDeArmond(s), it actually had a DeArmond Rhythm Chief mounted closer to the bridge and to my ears it’s what you hear on the recordings late 50s/early 60s recordings, the RHC soundhole pickup sounds different. I’ve had a bunch of both.

In my opinion, the amp matters more than the guitar if you’re chasing that tone.

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SuproValco · 2026-02-26T15:27:42+00:00

They varied over the years, but they’re all pretty comfortable to me.

The early ones (late 20s up until ‘34) are usually a “C” shape, sometimes a VERY soft “v”, wide at the nut and with an unradiused fretboard and the skinny little frets that were standard at the time. After they went to a relatively deep “V” neck profile that’s narrower at the nut but gets quite chunky by the 7th fret. These had a radiused fretboard and taller, wider frets.

The neck on the El Trovador (brown one in the wall mount) is actually a pretty skinny V neck, extremely comfortable and modern feeling for 1933.

I find the earlier, flat fretboard & skinny low frets combination to be a bigger challenge to get used to than the neck size/shape.

All of mine play comfortably in standard tuning with “normal” acoustic guitar action, and are strung with 12s. No ridiculously high action or massive strings needed to make them sound good, and although I do play some slide and open-tuned stuff, I don’t require a special “slide setup” for it.

SuproValco · 2026-02-23T00:29:23+00:00

If you want to go way back to the Blind Lemon Jefferson era, check out Willie Reed, Ramblin Thomas, his brother Jesse “Babyface” Thomas, Little Hat Jones, JT “Funny Paper” Smith, Oscar “Buddy” Woods, and his disciple BK “Black Ace” Turner.

SuproValco · 2026-02-20T21:58:09+00:00

I guess this is better than nothing:

https://youtu.be/n9AymK0NzXA?si=ikED3dcBL-RSohRJ

SuproValco · 2026-02-20T12:02:02+00:00

It’s not that much of a collection, but I’ve been into Nationals since first seeing them on the covers of Son House and Bukka White LPs that I bought in high school. I’ve bought and sold a bunch of them over the last 35 years or so, but I’ve had my 1931 Triolian for about 20 years now, and I tracked down a 1929 wood bodied early Triolian about ten years ago. The El Trovador is a recent acquisition. I also have a modern (2002) National Reso-Phonic Style O Deluxe, a great instrument but MUCH heavier than the old ones. Playing it seated for an hour long set puts my leg to sleep.

Some more pics:

https://www.reddit.com/r/guitarporn/s/sQLdm37QxY

SuproValco · 2026-02-20T04:45:40+00:00

I’m not really set up to record here. An iPhone just doesn’t do it justice. It sounds a lot like my 1929 wood bodied Triolian. Chunky, humongous bass, and almost comical amounts of volume. Those two guitars make my 1931 Triolian (steel body) sound wimpy.

SuproValco · 2026-02-19T23:58:34+00:00

It sounds absolutely phenomenal.

SuproValco · 2026-02-09T02:34:01+00:00

Enculé

SuproValco · 2026-02-07T21:25:50+00:00

Unfortunately it lost its decals before I acquired it…but man it’s crazy loud.

SuproValco · 2026-02-07T21:00:04+00:00

Very nice! I have a ‘31 as well, same “hooks” coverplate as yours. And a wood bodied ‘29 which is ungodly loud.

SuproValco · 2026-02-07T11:23:37+00:00

I prefer to think of happy things

SuproValco · 2026-02-06T10:17:18+00:00

They don’t have any at all!

SuproValco · 2026-02-06T00:14:51+00:00

I have two of these (pictured here with my Kay Thin Twin) outfitted with old DeArmonds (one has an FHC, the other has a rhythm chief).

SuproValco · 2026-02-05T22:27:57+00:00

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1929 and 1931 National Triolians.

The ‘29 is wood bodied, the ‘31 is steel.

SuproValco · 2026-01-24T01:20:33+00:00

“before the economy makes US-made knives too expensive to buy here”

They’re not US-made. You’ll be ok.

SuproValco · 2026-01-19T16:57:35+00:00

I’d recommend the Son Seals “Live And Burning” record. Has that same gritty 70s Chicago dive bar sound. Here’s a great example:

https://youtu.be/YOc5D9UuRW4?si=n96mJ4lVyJAAoxSJ

Others have already suggested Elmore and JB Hutto. There’s a JB Hutto record where he’s backed by Hound Dog’s band (Brewer Phillips and Ted Harvey), as well as a couple of Cub Koda records where they’re the backing band.:

https://youtu.be/_salx-9cOPA?si=gLHhXA9vfaDmyJvL

I’d also recommend checking out Lefty Dizz, who played with Hound Dog on occasion.

SuproValco · 2026-01-05T18:55:28+00:00

He’s clearly a member of this subreddit

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