As steel-string acoustic guitars were designed and became popular with folk and country players, the tuning knobs were located alongside the peghead for ease of reach by the player. The tapered friction tuning pegs used in the 1800s sufficed for the gut strings on early guitars, but their tendency to slip, difficulty in achieving precise and consistent tuning, and heavier string materials being introduced meant a better tuning system was needed.Įarly in the 19th century not long after the industrial revolution, mechanical engineering advances made the friction peg guitar tuner obsolete and it was superseded by the worm gear mechanism still used in most tuning machines today.Įarly geared tuners, still known as “tuning machines,” were used on classical guitars with the tuning knobs positioned behind the peghead, so as to be out of the way of the player.
Imagine twisting a stiff wooden tuning peg and trying to reach the correct pitch, as in this picture from Len Verrett’s early romantic guitar website, rather than easily turning the smooth geared guitar tuners we use today. A Square neck that is played in Steel Guitar style and Round neck played in Classical or Lap Steel Guitar style. The guitars played today have two styles of the resonator. The Resonator has found a home in several musical styles including Bluegrass. With outstanding art-deco and solid craftsmanship, National Resonators and the Gibson Dobro make fine guitar collections. who use the same design that guitar luthier John Dupyera patented. The two companies merged and became the National String Instrument Company In the late 80’s the trademark and patented guitars were bought and the name of the company is now called National Reso-Phonic Guitars The Dobro Trademark was bought by Gibson. Beauchamp and Dopyera split and Dopyera formed the Dobro Manufacturing Company which created a single Cone resonator with a new design that still bears his name. The Gibson Dobro & National Tricone- Classic American Instrumentsīlues is now considered the Classic American music and the National Resonator is considered the Classical guitar of that genre. Because of the success of the genre, other Guitar companies like Fender and Harmony have made Steel guitars. The National Resonator was originally intended for Jazz and Hawaiian Music but it became successful because of the blues and its players.
The Single Resonator used by the Delta Bluesmen was manufactured after that and very popular, less expensive during what became the Great Depression. Using 3 cones instead of 1, was not as loud but was less harsh and had more sustain. George Beauchamp and John Dopyera experimented with different materials and came up with a very thin conical-shaped aluminum guitar design used in a set of three connected by a T bar in an all-metal body. In the 1920s two men from Los Angeles used this cone principle to make a new type of guitar. The National String Instrument Corporation The guitar Son used was a Single Resonator both had distinctive sound but had one thing in common, they were very loud. These artists created powerful rhythms and slide work that would be a precursor to an artist like Bo Diddley and the rockers of the ’60s. Besides the smooth sounds of Tampa Red there was the harder sound of the Delta Blues players like Bukka White and Son House who used a different model of National Resonator guitar. In 1928 the National Resonator came on the scene played by Tampa Red a black blues artist who recorded with the instrument. Even in recording, it was necessary that the instrument or the voice had to be as loud as possible to project enough sound to cut a 78 rpm master disk. Most guitars back then were the catalogue type like the Harmony Stella Parlor guitar made of the heavy Birchwood. These early jazz bands were large and were normally fronted by women singers, like legends Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey who had to be loud enough to cut through the crowded tent with no acoustics.
This was because of its metal body which is what made it instantly recognizable to the fans of the Blues.īluesman- The Delta Blues and the National Resonatorīack then the Blues artist had to make himself heard over the normal noise that occurred when the crowd assembled to dance and enjoyed themselves. It was also impervious to outside environments of tent shows and juke joints. This guitar was 3 to 5 times louder than any guitar made of wood. Back in the ’20s, bluesman played the National Resonator Guitar.
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