2010 National NRP Wood-Body Resonator Guitar

Most modern National resonators are good but none float my boat quite like the recent wood-body models. I'm always impressed by how lightweight, rugged, and good they sound -- this guy has the volume and presence and looks of an old 12-fret Duolian but with a cleaner, more-fundamental, woody sound. The older vintage National wood-body boxes are not quite at all like that -- they have more of their own thing going which is nice but not as immediately relatable as something like this guy -- which pretty-much sounds "like a National" but with a lot less weight.

Anyhow, this one came-in on consignment and it had already had its neck reset so that was out of the way. Most newer Nationals need the neck angle adjusted after a few years out in the world and not having to do the job myself was a lucky thing as I'm so used to having to do it. I did, however, give it a glorified setup and now it's playing spot-on and it's ready to go.

It's a clean guitar and only lightly-used and it has a great, forest-green-burst paint scheme.

Just an early 2023 update here -- I've sold this guitar twice and have entertained so many admirers who wouldn't quite plonk down the cashola. The first time it "sold" the buyer got cold feet (or an empty wallet) and canceled the sale and the second time it came back because the action had shifted on its way out to California after a sale. It then sat in my "repair and relist pile" and I was worried I might have to adjust the neck angle again so let it sit for a while until I had time to check it out. It turned-out that the joint was tight and good to go and it was just because of bouncing around in transit that the action had come-up to 3/32" overall rather than "fingerpicking-friendly" 1/16" on the treble side. I added a shim/wedge to the neck/dowel joint area (it's a standard thing I do in resonators but the last guy to work on it hadn't) and that stabilized the neck joint stiffness perfectly and it brought the action right back to where I'd set it before. Not all stories are full of horror, huh?

Repairs included: a light fret level/dress, saddle adjustments and compensation, cone seating (I tack them in place with a tiny amount of aluminum foil tape so they don't shift-around when detuned), setup. I also added a "shim wedge block" to the dowel near the neck joint to keep the neck joint contact steady. This helps keep the action from shifting-around when it's moving-about. I've added pics down the post so you can see it. It's just a pine block that's easily removable.

Top wood: ply maple

Back & sides wood: ply maple

Bracing type: ladder

Bridge: maple biscuit & saddle

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: mahogany

Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 54w-12 lights

Neck shape: medium-bigger C/soft V

Board radius: ~10-12"

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium-wide

Scale length: 25"

Nut width: 1 13/16"

Body width: 14 1/4"

Body depth: 3 1/8"

Weight: 5 lbs 15 oz

Condition notes: it's clean and basically just "shopworn" save for a tiny bit of finish checking right where the heel meets the body on the neck -- something that was hard to photograph, even. There's also a tiny ding in the back of the neck (pictured) in first position.

It comes with: its original hard case.