National New Yorker Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1941)
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Item # 13534
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National New Yorker Model Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1941), made in Chicago, serial # 332G, natural lacquer finish, Laminated flamed maple body with spruce top, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, period tweed hard shell case.
This is a truly excellent example of a very attractive and interesting National New Yorker archtop electric from 1941. this blonde beauty was built fairly early into National/Dobro's (or for that matter any guitar company's) foray into the world of dedicated electrified Spanish guitars. The spruce top over the laminated flamed maple back and sides has one quietly interesting feature that sets it apart from the small flock of other 1941-2 electric archtop offerings: there are no soundholes. This detail shows National/Dobro as somewhat ahead of the curve on purely electric design; comparable Gibson and Epiphone instruments by comparison still look more like adapted acoustic instruments. The New Yorker still produces a decent acoustic sound despite its sealed body, but is less prone to feedback than most competitors.
The double bound body has a smaller footprint than some other period electrics at just 15 1/2" across the lower bout. The rather svelte round-backed mahogany neck has a very soft "V" 'feel and a 1 3/4" nut. The bound rosewood fingerboard is peppered with parallelogram inlays and domino-like dots past the twelfth fret; this is the same piece used on resonator guitars where the dots were used to hide screws bolting the neck to the body! The headstock has a plastic overlay with a raised "National" shield logo, the tuners are 1940s Kluson-made National-specific style with a pressed metal back coverplate bearing the company logo.
Despite National being known for having spiffy names for their electronics, we cannot seem to find one for this metal-covered pickup controlled by a simple tone and volume circuit. It is mounted directly onto the top with screws on either side; the coil is not adjustable but the screw poles are. National changed their pickups regularly in the 1930's-40s and this is their final pre-war design. Sonically, it has a wonderfully mellow sound and less noise than the majority of pickups offered in its day; it is humbucking in operation although that word had not been coined yet! The same pickup can also be found on National's Sonora model.
This is a really cool and very playable guitar, one of the more attractive and functional electrics from this period. Blues legend Memphis Minnie famously played a slightly different sunburst-finished version of this model in the 1940s, and by extension the New Yorker is often referred to as the "Memphis Minnie" model. We are amused that even though based in Chicago National officially used the name "New Yorker" for this classy machine!
Overall length is 40 1/2 in. (102.9 cm.), 15 1/2 in. (39.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 in. (635 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
This is really a superb example overall, about the nicest pre-war National Electric Spanish guitar we have had. It remains all original with amazingly very little wear, just a few light chips and dings here and there and no repairs or alterations. The neck angle is excellent and the back of it shows a few small signs of wear. The original frets and fingerboard are healthy and a pleasure to play. The electronics are untampered with, and the smaller details like the knobs and pickguard are a treat to see in this condition, as is the original pickguard showing no deterioration at all.
It resides in a vintage period tweed hardshell case with a small treasure trove of ephemera inside including an Amphenol to 1/4" adaptor for the guitar's output jack and the packaging for a period correct set of Bell Brand strings (made just over the river in New Brunswick, New Jersey). There is an older reprint of the 1940 National catalogue and some slightly later era paperwork including unused National mail-in warranty cards from the Valco Manufacturing Company. Charmingly, the previous owner took care to include some sheet music from National-using lap steel player Eddie Alkire and even better: an old print photo of a smiling Memphis Minnie with her sunburst New Yorker. Overall this is a truly excellent example of this fairly rare pre-WWII electric, a fine player and treat for any player, collector, or National aficionado. Overall Excellent Condition.
This is a truly excellent example of a very attractive and interesting National New Yorker archtop electric from 1941. this blonde beauty was built fairly early into National/Dobro's (or for that matter any guitar company's) foray into the world of dedicated electrified Spanish guitars. The spruce top over the laminated flamed maple back and sides has one quietly interesting feature that sets it apart from the small flock of other 1941-2 electric archtop offerings: there are no soundholes. This detail shows National/Dobro as somewhat ahead of the curve on purely electric design; comparable Gibson and Epiphone instruments by comparison still look more like adapted acoustic instruments. The New Yorker still produces a decent acoustic sound despite its sealed body, but is less prone to feedback than most competitors.
The double bound body has a smaller footprint than some other period electrics at just 15 1/2" across the lower bout. The rather svelte round-backed mahogany neck has a very soft "V" 'feel and a 1 3/4" nut. The bound rosewood fingerboard is peppered with parallelogram inlays and domino-like dots past the twelfth fret; this is the same piece used on resonator guitars where the dots were used to hide screws bolting the neck to the body! The headstock has a plastic overlay with a raised "National" shield logo, the tuners are 1940s Kluson-made National-specific style with a pressed metal back coverplate bearing the company logo.
Despite National being known for having spiffy names for their electronics, we cannot seem to find one for this metal-covered pickup controlled by a simple tone and volume circuit. It is mounted directly onto the top with screws on either side; the coil is not adjustable but the screw poles are. National changed their pickups regularly in the 1930's-40s and this is their final pre-war design. Sonically, it has a wonderfully mellow sound and less noise than the majority of pickups offered in its day; it is humbucking in operation although that word had not been coined yet! The same pickup can also be found on National's Sonora model.
This is a really cool and very playable guitar, one of the more attractive and functional electrics from this period. Blues legend Memphis Minnie famously played a slightly different sunburst-finished version of this model in the 1940s, and by extension the New Yorker is often referred to as the "Memphis Minnie" model. We are amused that even though based in Chicago National officially used the name "New Yorker" for this classy machine!
Overall length is 40 1/2 in. (102.9 cm.), 15 1/2 in. (39.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 in. (635 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
This is really a superb example overall, about the nicest pre-war National Electric Spanish guitar we have had. It remains all original with amazingly very little wear, just a few light chips and dings here and there and no repairs or alterations. The neck angle is excellent and the back of it shows a few small signs of wear. The original frets and fingerboard are healthy and a pleasure to play. The electronics are untampered with, and the smaller details like the knobs and pickguard are a treat to see in this condition, as is the original pickguard showing no deterioration at all.
It resides in a vintage period tweed hardshell case with a small treasure trove of ephemera inside including an Amphenol to 1/4" adaptor for the guitar's output jack and the packaging for a period correct set of Bell Brand strings (made just over the river in New Brunswick, New Jersey). There is an older reprint of the 1940 National catalogue and some slightly later era paperwork including unused National mail-in warranty cards from the Valco Manufacturing Company. Charmingly, the previous owner took care to include some sheet music from National-using lap steel player Eddie Alkire and even better: an old print photo of a smiling Memphis Minnie with her sunburst New Yorker. Overall this is a truly excellent example of this fairly rare pre-WWII electric, a fine player and treat for any player, collector, or National aficionado. Overall Excellent Condition.