National New Yorker Lap Steel GuitarArt Deco. National New Yorker, circa 1951 The 1949-1954 Models of New Yorker are my favorites. They have what I consider their best vintage pickup. A sought after fat wide Vista-Tone with, (of course), fat wide sound. It's a p'up that many have swapped into their custom rigs. They also have a cool style and feel. Colorful, tasteful with great features. Tuners have the cool cover with the embossed National shield emblem on each strip. As with many vintage Valco-made instruments of that era, this came with a screw-on Amphenol connector. We provide an adapter to a standard 1/4" jack. This guitar came in exceptional original condition. Like it's fresh out of a time capsule. Rare to find in such exemplary condition. It's been thoroughly tested & has good electronics, plays and sounds great. Ready to entertain several more generations. The case is also in good solid condition.Vista-tones appear to be a humbucking pickup, but it’s an external impression created by the wide case/housing which is part of the design's function — it’s a single-coil dressed as a dual-coil. The Vista-Tone’s internal configuration has magnets to one side of a single coil, separated from it by a steel “keeper.” Its six pole pieces are height-adjustable screws. According to inventor Ralph Keller’s patent, “An object of this invention is to provide a pickup device which establishes a magnetic field extending for a substantial distance along each string, with the magnetic lines of force lying substantially parallel to the strings for the major portion of said distance.” The wide magnetic field spans the width of the housing, interacting with approximately two inches of the strings’ length. - Calvet describes the tone as a cross between a Strat and a P-90, though he says it breaks up differently when pushed: “There’s more fuzz around the edges, though they sound good clean too.”