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1957 National "Dynamic" Archtop Electric Guitar w/ Original Case. Model 1125.

Estimated price for orientation: 794 $

Category: Electric Guitar
Class:











Description
Dexterity: Right-Handed Exact Year: 1957
Brand: National String Configuration: 6 String
Body Type: Semi-Hollow Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Model: Dynamic


     Travel back in time with this vintage guitar. Made by Valco in Chicago, Illinois in 1957, back when Chicago was still Music City USA, home of Harmony, Kay, Valco, Ludwig, Lyon & Healy, Deagan, Geib, Kluson, Shure, Jensen, etcetera. It's a Dynamic model 1125 archtop electric. Front, back and f-hole binding. Cream cupcake control knobs (volume and tone). Cream pickup surround (which is cracked around both screw hole which secure it to the pickup). Kluson Deluxe single-line tuners. Beefy NATIONAL logo on the headstock. Sunburst finish. 15-1/2" wide lower bout. 3-5/8" deep at trapeze tailpiece. It's kind of like a sunburst National New Yorker with simpler appointments. It's a foxy old guitar.     I got it from the original owner, who played in an anonymous Dayton, Ohio garage band in the 1960s, the Orphics, which specialized in Ventures instrumentals. He had a bunch of stories of the Dayton rock and roll scene in the mid-1960s, which featured bands like Tony & the Bandits (with a new lead singer, they became the Lemon Pipers), the Pictorian Skiffuls, and Tom & the Tempests.      Though this guitar does have some ordinary play wear, all in all, it is in quite nice condition. Lacquer checking. There is a scuff through the finish on the top below the bass f-hole. (A "friend" did it dancing around with the guitar, when they were kids.) Wear around the edges of the peghead, especially in back. Some wear on back of neck and back. Some fret wear on first three frets. Fingerboard is in good condition. Comes in the original chipboard case, which is in good condition except one of the three leather hinges is torn in half (and the case accessory pocket door has been glued back on). Neck is appropriately straight. Action is set between 2/32" and 3/32" at the 12th fret. It has the patented Valco neck tilt adjustment. Below the cream neck joint cover in back is a four-bolt system (see photo). The smaller Allen bolt adjusts the title. The bigger Allen bolt secures the neck. The two Phillips bolts on the side adjust the neck laterally (I think, but didn't use them). I have the neck set the way I like guitars, but you may want to tinker with it yourself. I just cleaned both pots. The electronics work fine. The guitar has a mellow sound to it. With the low action, it plays pretty smoothly too.     Questions? It will be wrapped in either foam wrap or 1/2" bubble wrap and shipped in a new 45"x19"x7" guitar box. Please check out my Ebay store, “The 1970 Time Travel Trailer,” for more cool vintage stuff, including a bunch of vintage guitars (and a few ukuleles, banjos, fiddles, mandolins and amps, as well as fiddles, brass, woodwind, and various oddball musical instruments and old instrument brochures & catalogs). And please check out our new YouTube TV show, “Musical Treasure Hunting,” to see more of our adventures searching for old musical instruments.