Note that this is actually a reissue of a mandolin made 40 years previously several of the Dopyera brothers were still in charge of the family business (albeit after several stops and starts in the ‘60s) well into their 80s. In a square-necked guitar, this resonator type is the archetypal bluegrass machine it sounds beautiful for regular picking on a round-necked instrument. Each has its own strengths this mandolin’s spider bridge gives it a warm, nasal tone and excellent sustain. The mandolin to its left, a 1975 Model 15, is a reminder that John Dopyera created not one but three separate resonator systems. This guitar has a single cone, which produces a different sound than a tricone and is cheaper to build. These aluminum cones act like the paper cones in a loudspeaker driven directly by the vibration of the strings rather than an electronic amplification circuit, the resonator systems created the loudest acoustic guitars ever made.
The first instruments are called tricones or triplates because they have three cones inside. The resonator guitar was invented by John Dopyera after George Beauchamp asked him to create a louder Hawaiian guitar. I’ll start with arguably the classic National product: the 1934 Style O in the center. I’ve assembled a few items for this photo that were all designed and/or built under the Dopyeras’ eyes each represents a different contribution to the evolution of musical gear. Valco, its house brands National and Supro, and its business building instruments and amps for other brands survived until 1968, and some of the brothers carried on building resonator guitars well into the 1970s. National and Dobro merged in 1935 to become National-Dobro, which changed its name to Valco in 1942. Along with George Beauchamp, he started the original National guitar brand in 1927, then quickly left and founded Dobro with his brothers Emil, Louis and Rudy. John Dopyera, in particular, was responsible for a number of important innovations. The name might not ring a bell, but the Dopyeras were among the most important guitar builders of the 20th century.
I decided to put a little tribute together to the brains behind the brand: the Dopyera brothers. I’m a big enthusiast of vintage National instruments, not just the classic resonator guitars but the obscure electrics and wacky sidelines that came out of that brand’s factory.
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