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Yet Another Visit to National Resophonic Guitar Today I'm planning to pick up a 1928 tricone style 2 and 36 Style O that have both been re necked. As you can see, I'm running a little late as I make the gorgeous drive up the coast to beautiful San Louis Obispo. Yikes, 10:20 already? |
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HUH? Well, as you can see the Style O has it's new neck, but otherwise is sitting on the bench. Don has a surprise for me, I'll be finishing the work on the 2 guitars as it's been too busy to complete them. Don likes to call it, "factory training". Look how minty the original cone looks. This was a square neck originally. |
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INNARDS! Here we see the inside of the O. You can see the new neckstick and supports. Interestingly, this also has the supports on the outer edges of the well support. We left them in place. |
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Here we go.... As you can see, I'm taking over Scott's station for the day as he's on vacation. Very cool custom built "table" allows the guitar to be rotated or tilted in any direction. I'd like one of these! |
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Here's a view looking back towards the assembly area. This is where the neck is attached to the body and dialed in. Scott would then do the very final dialing, making sure there's no buzzes, the action is just right, and anything else it might need before going before Sir Don for the final evaluation. |
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GOT WOOD? Here's a peek in the back room where wood bodies guitars are made using the same methods used for decades. Smells good! |
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Cones, anyone? |
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Necks, completed and ready to go. |
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All right, time to stop screwing around! I want to leave WITH my guitars sometime before the day ends. Here I begin work on the tricone, leveling the frets w a fret file. |
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FILE TIME. Here you can see I've just installed the dot inlays on the 1928 tricone Style 2. Note the original cones. I've taped off the frets around the new inlaid dot's in preparation to file the dot's level w the fretboard. |
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(I'm paying for this?....) Here I am w file in hand smoothing the dot inlays. From there, I will clean the entire fretboard w a vertical razor blade. I'll then go over the entire fretboard and frets w a fine sandpaper on a custom tool. From there, an even finer 3M pad before waxing the entire fretboard with fine steel wool. A little fine sanding on the new nut to make it feel smooth, and we're ready to string her up. |
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Time to close her up.... Here's a pic before buttoning her up. This body is amazing, original cones look great. Original gasket still in great shape. This is a beautiful guitar. |
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The Final Test...... Oh, Don, there you are... Where ya been, man? Oh yeah, giving a factory tour. Can I get a witness???? Don put's this cool tricone through it's paces and gives it a big thumbs up. |
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Ya Never Know.... What or who might show up at the National Factory. Here, a vistor from John Dopera's hometown in Slovakia shows up w a new invention of his. Check out that tailpiece, has the tuning changer gizmo going on, and it's electrified. |
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Well, that'll do it for this day. Time for that slow lazy drive home down the beautiful California coast. Another fun day at the National Factory. Hope you enjoyed it, I did! Best, Len |
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