NUD National Resonator

aquadan

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I'm told this is a combination Valentines day, next birthday and next Christmas gift....

About 20 years ago, I heard Son House on the radio playing a National guitar, and it triggered something in me. I've wanted a National reso ever since. The only problem was they cost a fortune and I didn't play guitar. Since taking up the uke, I've had a resonator on my wish list, but felt like it had to be a National (style O since I was wishing) so haven't really looked at the other brands, and figured it was going to reside firmly on the wish side of my list. Macmuse here on the forum found a used style O at a great price and let me know it was on the way about a week ago. I've been suffering through weather delays but it finally arrived today.

The amusing part of this is I don't like blingy ukes, and tend to go for simple finishes. This uke is about as far from that as possible!

It and I will never sound like that Son House guitar, but that doesn't matter. A dream has been realized, and it sounds fantastic and is a ball to play. And even more important, I am lucky to have such a wonderful person in my life.

I've discovered that trying to take close up photos of chrome is a thankless job, so a few of these are lifted from the national website.
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Mike Pereira of MP Ukuleles had two National Resonators on his table at the Reno Ukefest last year. As I pondered buying the MP cedar/mango tenor I ended up with, I played the Nationals, too. I believe that Mike had been building ukes at National about that time and he might be back there now. They are quite fine instruments.

I have a National Estralita guitar that continues to cause me to think about both the National Mandolin as well as the National uke. You should find yourself being a very happy person with this new uke in your hands.
 
Welcome to the club! I have a Maple sunburst National that I absolutely love. I tried a few strings on it before settling on the one I think it's the best. I tried Aquila (nylgut), Fremont (dark fluoro), Martin (clear fluoro) and I didn't like any of those a lot. Finally I followed the advice from a member of the Reso Ukers Group on Facebook and put a set of D'addario J92. It sounded like a proper reso then - you can really hear the cone! I don't like nylon on my wooden ukes, but I think it sounds the best on banjoleles and resos.
 
Welcome to the club! I have a Maple sunburst National that I absolutely love. I tried a few strings on it before settling on the one I think it's the best. I tried Aquila (nylgut), Fremont (dark fluoro), Martin (clear fluoro) and I didn't like any of those a lot. Finally I followed the advice from a member of the Reso Ukers Group on Facebook and put a set of D'addario J92. It sounded like a proper reso then - you can really hear the cone! I don't like nylon on my wooden ukes, but I think it sounds the best on banjoleles and resos.

Thanks for the info, it has the original Hilo(?) strings on it which are probably due for a change. I think they ship with Aquilla these days. I'll see if I can find some daddario locally, otherwise I may try some oasis strings I have in my string box.
 
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Beautiful uke AquaDan.

Congratulations.

(On getting the uke and for macmuse :) )
 
Great instrument. I tried some of their wood body ukes but they just didn't have the sound I wanted. I've never had a chance to try one of their metal ukes.
 
Congrats. To me, National's are the "Holy Grail" of reso ukes. I loved the vintage tiger maple one I once saw.
 
Congrats. To me, National's are the "Holy Grail" of reso ukes. I loved the vintage tiger maple one I once saw.

HMS had a gorgeous maple one last year that was seriously tempting. However, I'm glad I missed out as this is the style I really wanted. And it was cheaper than the Maple too!
 
HMS had a gorgeous maple one last year that was seriously tempting. However, I'm glad I missed out as this is the style I really wanted. And it was cheaper than the Maple too!

Missed out ;)

That was because Andrew decided that one was his (ultimately) and I couldn't buy that one. (I waited too long to decide on that potential purchase. Lesson learned)
 
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Thanks for the info, it has the original Hilo(?) strings on it which are probably due for a change. I think they ship with Aquilla these days. I'll see if I can find some daddario locally, otherwise I may try some oasis strings I have in my string box.

I really love the Oasis strings, I use them in my Martin and Ukebrand, but they don't make National justice. It just don't sound right, they lack the powerful tone a reso must have.

I get my D'Addarios from Stringsbymail.
 
I got some j92s at the little store around the corner, but am having too much fun with it to be ready to change strings yet. Maybe next weekend.
I didn't expect this, but I'm finding that my fretting seems better on this than my other ukes. It could just be new uke syndrome, but I think it's real.
 
I had a maple national a few years ago and I really liked Guadalupe fibre core strings on it. The only reason I sold mine was because it was concert sized and I really wanted a tenor reso. Congrats on your new uke.
 
I had a maple national a few years ago and I really liked Guadalupe fibre core strings on it. The only reason I sold mine was because it was concert sized and I really wanted a tenor reso. Congrats on your new uke.

Hmm, Guadalupe's web site doesn't seem to exist anymore. Wonder if they are still in business.
 
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