1940s National Princess Lap Steel Electric Guitar w/Palm Benders

Overview: I worked on this back in 2024 and it arrived back here just as it left. My friend Rob had purchased it because, first of all, it's a kick-butt old National and, second, it had enough "rear deck" behind the pickup mount to fit the palm benders that he wanted installed -- good quality ones, to boot. I filled a hole that was for the volume control in that area, moved it so it can be "pinky-grabbed" to the treble side of the pickup, and then fit the benders back there. I didn't match the disturbed celluloid in the area (I mean, it hate a plate over it before) real well but it's not obviously wonky at a glance.

The resulting instrument is a nice-sounding old National steel with a bit of pedal steel abilities mixed-in. He's been using it strung with flatwound strings and tuned to open D (DADF#AD) with bends for the F# up to G and the A up to B and I left it that way after it came back. Rob never really got the hang of the benders and so I'm hoping that this will get some good use with its next owner! I've had some practice playing a steel with benders set just like this in the past and it's pretty addicting.

Repairs included: I did the conversion stuff noted above but also replaced the damaged original tuners with some Gotoh units hidden under the original coverplates. I also fit a 1/4" jack near the volume control on the side to replace the original "wired-on" cord system this originally came with and, as I recall, fit a fresh volume pot as well. It's ready to go!

• Weight: 5 lbs 2 oz
• Scale length: 23"
• String spacing at nut: 1 11/16" string spacing
• String spacing at bridge: 2 1/4"
• Body width: 7"
• Body depth: 1 5/8"
• Body wood: likely poplar
• Bridge: steel baseplate
• Pickup: National bucker
• String gauges: 54w-12 lights flatwound

Condition notes: Obviously, it's been modified a bit but has a lot of original features (including that killer pickup). There's some wear and tear here and there in the celluloid wrap but overall it looks nice. The tuners and wiring harness are replacements.

It comes with: Sorry, no case.

Consignor tag: RGRD