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Another Visit to National Resophonic Guitar Today I'm bringing up 3 different National's of mine to have various work done. Two need minor solder work, a third will be converted from square to round neck. Let's see what's cooking at Nat Reso w Don, Mac, and the boys! |
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Body Part Press Here's the new press that is now making all their body parts. They used to farm this out, now they can make most any part in any shape they want. This is why they can now make left handed Nationals. Doesn't look all that big, does it? That is, until you realize the red ladder behind it is 6 feet tall! This thing is a monster! Pressing pressure is measured in tons! |
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Closer look at the business end.... Here's a slightly closer look at the point of attack! Various die's below are bolted to the lower press table. |
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Here are some die's being prepared. Below see dies for tricone and style O stamps. Heavy Metal!!! Left pic below on the right of the pic see tricone face stamp. Cool Style O F hole stamps on the right. Manly stuff, eh? Dirty greasy gloves and everything! |
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Here's one more look at the press room from the back. Note the scale from a distance. |
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Another New Toy... Here's the amazing water cutter they use to cut metal now. Speed of water at the size of a pencil lead allows it to cut right thru 1/2 inch steel plate. (See below right) Makes cutting body parts a cinch! Keep yer fingers outta the way! |
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CNC Machine (computer numeric control) Here we see the CNC machine they purchased about an year ago. This thing is computerized and makes short work of making necks or other shaped objects several at a time. |
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Burnt O, A la Carte Well, you never know what you're going to bump into up here. To the left, this is a Style O that was in a house that burned down. If you look close, the solder melted out the bottom seam. It is going to be taken apart and rebuilt from scratch. Hope this guy's insurance is paying fo it! |
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Above 2... More craziness... Ever see a semi-tone fretboard? Me neither! This is going to be played the following night at UCLA by a noted guitarist. It needs to be completed and fedexed in about an hour. No pressure, eh Don? |
Below 2.... Two pics of a Duolian that belongs to Catfish Keith. Note the redone Duco finish by Larry of Elderly. Pretty intense! Note the necks on the wall, I'm in the assembly room below.
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To the right......
Check it out, Keb Mo's Reso Rocket sitting on the bench, awaiting assembly. Keb went for the rubbed finish on a brass bodied style N. Looks nice, Kebster! Look closely you can see my initials scratched into the neckstick....... KIDDING! |
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This brings another fun day at the Nat Factory to a close. Here Don plays the square necked Style O I am leaving him for a round neck installation. He likes his lapstyle playing, you can tell. Till the next time, hope you enjoyed! Best, Len |
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