That guitar looks more "modern" than something that would have been produced in the 1920's. Solid headstock, some wide appearing binding or some kind of trim. And I was always under the impression that National never produced in that era wood-bodied guitars, that it started with the Dopyeras after the split from National and the advent of the Dobro brand. Obviously, it could have been some sort of one-off or a custom instrument, but I think the solid headstock is a dead giveaway that it wasn't from that era.
No need to re-tread the whole thread here, the link I provided to the Steel Guitar Forum includes several folks whom knew Jerry Byrd personally, including his brother Jack.
The bottom line is that it is some fine playing from the "master of touch and tone," who reportedly didn't even like single cone resonator guitars, but thought it would be too unrealistic to be the guy in the sailor hat in "The Drifter" sitting there with an electric lap steel.
And some of the posts on the SGF indicate that Jerry Byrd said it was a borrowed guitar, and the speculation is that it might have belonged to Marty Robbins who among other things, was known to be a decent level pedal steel player.
Bob McEvoy :
from
Wilmington Delaware with
posts since04.26.2006...
Mark: Thanks for the information. That sounds better than what I found. One thing about the internet, it makes anyone an expert. It does look modern. Was national even a guitar company in the 1920"s
MarkinSonoma :
from
Great State of Northern California with
posts since12.08.2004...
I don't recall the exact year when National started, I'm sure it's easy enough to google...but I want to say 1926, and Dobro I believe was founded in 1928.
Gregg McKenna :
from
somewhere with
posts since12.10.2004...
Gregg, do you actually know what type of guitar it was? Pre-war Dobro? Regal built Dobro? Something from the era of the show itself, like a Mosrite Dobro?
I don't know for sure. I'm guessing (by the traditional looking body)and the early year, that it was probably a standard Dobro with a custom neck.
Liam :
from
The Black Hole of Aberystwyth with
posts since02.27.2007...
Comments
Here is a short video clip, you can see fairly clearly that it was a seven string guitar, with four tuning machines on the "bass" side:
http://www.waikiki-islanders.com/assets/sevenstring.mov
That guitar looks more "modern" than something that would have been produced in the 1920's. Solid headstock, some wide appearing binding or some kind of trim. And I was always under the impression that National never produced in that era wood-bodied guitars, that it started with the Dopyeras after the split from National and the advent of the Dobro brand. Obviously, it could have been some sort of one-off or a custom instrument, but I think the solid headstock is a dead giveaway that it wasn't from that era.
No need to re-tread the whole thread here, the link I provided to the Steel Guitar Forum includes several folks whom knew Jerry Byrd personally, including his brother Jack.
The bottom line is that it is some fine playing from the "master of touch and tone," who reportedly didn't even like single cone resonator guitars, but thought it would be too unrealistic to be the guy in the sailor hat in "The Drifter" sitting there with an electric lap steel.
And some of the posts on the SGF indicate that Jerry Byrd said it was a borrowed guitar, and the speculation is that it might have belonged to Marty Robbins who among other things, was known to be a decent level pedal steel player.
Mark: Thanks for the information. That sounds better than what I found. One thing about the internet, it makes anyone an expert. It does look modern. Was national even a guitar company in the 1920"s
I don't recall the exact year when National started, I'm sure it's easy enough to google...but I want to say 1926, and Dobro I believe was founded in 1928.
I don't know for sure. I'm guessing (by the traditional looking body)and the early year, that it was probably a standard Dobro with a custom neck.
The prototype National tricone was 1926, Dobro started in 1928.
Kathy,
I was finally able to take the time to listen to the clip.. Pretty great pickin and the quality of the recording was a surprise too! Thanks.
th