From acousticguitar.com and the National Resophonic website
Don Young - May 8, 1953 - June 15, 2016
“The world lost a kind and generous man last night with the passing of National’s co-founder, Don Young. As a musician and resonator guitar aficionado, Don enjoyed sharing his knowledge of resonator history with friends and co-workers. He will be greatly missed by all those lucky enough to have known him. His trademark engineer’s cap symbolized his love of trains. Don Young is survived by his wife and three daughters."
These men measured old resonator instruments of all makes and designs, and produced reproductions under the “National” brand name and trade mark, as was originally used by the National String Instrument Corporation for the first resonator instruments.
In 1990 a factory was purchased in San Luis Obispo, California and is still located at this site.
Since its inception, National Reso-Phonic Guitars is a manufacturer of resonator guitars and other resonator instruments including mandolins, ukuleles and 12 string guitars.
Their current production is over 1,000 instruments per year, representing more than 50 different models.
In addition to manufacturing new instruments, they offer a repair service capable of restoring almost any vintage National guitar to original condition.
In 2008, Young and Eric Smith, an employee of the company since 1991, purchased McGregor Gaines’ interest in the company.
Young reportedly sold his interest in 2014 and retired.
Vox Musical Instruments are famous for their amplifiers. Back during the Jennings/Thomas period the company attempted to put together a line up of guitars. These were made in Italy by the EKO and Crucianelli companies, but were overshadowed by their wonderful amplifiers. Some of these guitars from that period were very interesting and futuristic and still quite collectible.
2012 Vox Apache Travel Guitar
Vox tried unsuccessfully to resurrect their guitars a few years ago. But now the Vox Company has come up with a new instrument with an old name. The Vox Starstream.
2016 Vox
The Vox Starstream Type-1is a unique modeling guitar that incorporates a new system called AREOS-D. This highly developed DSP processor that powers the on-board electronics to produce classic electric and acoustic guitar sounds from the guitars magnetic and piezo pickups. This includes traditional volume, tone and pickup selectors and a control module to alter the instruments 27 different sounds, including electric and acoustic guitar six, twelve string and banjo sounds as well as synth and sitar sounds. The DSP was developed by the same designer that worked for Line 6.
The guitars shape is very unique since it has an electric guitar shape that is housed within a very unique frame. Vox states “the shape of the body and frame are based on advanced ergonomic design practices that conform the instrument to your body in a way no wooden guitar can.”
The guitars body is sculpted from mango wood, while the neck is made of maple. The neck is topped with a 22 fret rosewood fretboard. The six-in-a-line headstock included sealed die cast machine heads.This guitar is topped with twin Vox XLM humbucking pickups and six piezo in the bridge saddle.
The bridge and saddle are a vibrato unit. Below them are the tone, volume and pickup switch.
Although the Starstream Type 1 was set to sell in the spring of 2016 starting at $699 USD, I have not found this guitar for sale in the USA at this time. In Britain the suggested retail is £790. Anderton's has it for sale for £590.
In 1968, the guitar fad was declining, but the Vox company, JMI, and it's USA counterpart were still producing their incredible amplifiers and guitars. Among these was the six string Vox V269 Starstream and the twelve string Vox V270 Starstream XII. Both were amazing instruments that were loaded with all the bells and whistles a guitarist of that era would need.
These guitars had the Vox teardrop body with one unique F-hole on the upper bout. The bodies were hollow inside. The V269 six string model had binding around the top and bottom of the guitars body, while the V270 was unbound.
Both instruments had bound maple necks with rosewood fretboards and block inlays. The logo VOX was embossed in gold letters on the black headstock veneer along with vine design.
Both guitars came with what are described as twin Fero-sonic pickups. The truly unique factor that set these guitars apart were the built-in effects.
A slider switch on the upper side of the guitar turned on a transistorized oscillating circuit called an E-tuner. This seems simplistic today, but in the mid 1960’s there were no digital tuners. All that was available was an expensive strobe tuner, a pitch pipe or a tuning fork.
The guitars had a single potentiometer that functioned as a volume control for both pickups and two potentiometers that served as individual tone controls.
The next control was a distortion module that had a similar set up; an on/off slider switch and a knob to control intensity. And finally there was a repeater switch and a control for the speed of the repeats. This control was a holdover from the days that the company sold organs. Perhaps the best way to describe this effect is to consider the banjo sound in the Hollie’s song, Stop, Stop, Stop All the Dancing.
V270 Palm Wah-Wah and switch
The last effect was a palm operated Wah-Wah. This was turned on by a switch on the upper side of the bridge pickup. This effect gave off the crystal clear tone of the famous Vox Clyde McCoy Wah-Wah.
Vox V269 Vibrato
The model V269 came with a Bigsby-style vibrato unit, while the V270 had a simple bar bolted to the body to secure the strings. There was a chrome cover that went over this bar.
A large circular black pad was on the backside of these guitars. This snapped on similar to the pads found on some Gretsch guitars. This pad was actually the access cover to the guitars interior and needed to be removed to change the 9 volt battery that operated the instruments effects.
A friend of mine owned a V270 twelve string and it was a pleasure to play. The strings were set up properly; not too far off the fretboard. The effects worked beautifully. Especially the palm operated wah-wah. Both instruments have not been made since 1970 when the Whirlpool corporation purchased the assets of Vox USA. They are still available through online auction and sellers.
There are some very interesting and innovative guitars coming out of Northern Europe. Last year I wrote about Aristides Guitars that are built in the Netherlands.
Versoul Raya 6
I also did an article on Versoul guitars that are manufactured in Finland.
Relish Guitars
Now I have encountered some exquisite and unique guitars being built in Lucerne, Switzerland with the unusual name of Relish Guitars.
Relish Guitars - Jane and Mary
There are two versions of these unique instruments; Jane and Mary. Both are manufactured with a similar body shape, but out of different materials.
Relish Guitar Founders
Relish Guitars are a venture that was started by partners Pirmin Giger and Silvan Kung who are living their dream of designing and building an exceptional and unusual guitar, by taking a similar approach that artisans took with historical Swiss watchmaking technology.
Jane’s body (the guitar) is based on a milled aluminum frame which serves several functions. The strings attach directly to this frame which enhances their sustain.
The maple neck is bolted directly to the aluminum frame and center bar. The bridge is also attached to the bar. This further adds to the guitars sustain. So although the guitar body is essentially hollow the way the frame and neck are engineered, it provides the resonating factor of a solid body instrument.
The frame also acts has a stable housing for the components, which allows easy access to the guitars inner-workings including swapping out the pickups and changing the battery.
The pickups are connect to a circuit board by means of gold plated connectors that simply unscrew in the event you want to change pickups. Relish Guitars will add the connectors and cables to any aftermarket pickup you send to them.
Magnetic LED touch switch
The circuit board operates the unique LED switching system, which is powered by the battery. Instead of the usual Switchcraft style toggle switch, this guitar comes with two LED’s on the front of the body. By merely touching one or both the pickups go off or on.
The guitars interior work is pristine.
The Jane guitar comes with standard and passive volume and tone potentiometers and twin passive Relish Bucker XV pickups, which are designed and made in-house.
The fretboard is constructed of woven dark bamboo. This material is harder than most fretboard woods and is a sustainable product. It is topped with stainless steel fretwire and has 24 frets. There are no fret markers.
Schaller tuners - resin nut
This guitar is slightly over the 25 1/2” for its scale (650mm) and has a 10” radius. The nut is made of resin. The neck has a two-way adjustable truss rod.
I have to hand it to Relish Guitars for coming up with such a unique body shape. This double cutaway guitar is not a copy of anything else on the market. The Jane model comes in walnut, ash, cherry, blond flamed, white, gray/black and Bordeaux.
The top and back are made of milled plywood that attaches to the alder frame by use of bolts that utilize large o-rings to prevent any vibration.
Mary's frame
Unlike the Jane model, the entire back side of the Mary guitar is removable to access the pickup connectors if there is a need to change them out and also to attach the strings to the tone block on the underside of the Hipshot bridge/saddle.
The maple neck is bolted to the alder or ash frame by means of 4 bolts and a metal plate and is hidden away beneath the instruments back veneer.
This guitars neck is topped with a fretboard made of dark woven bamboo with stainless steel frets. There are no position markers on the fretboard.
The Relish Mary guitar
Mary comes with twin Relish Bucker XV pickups that are made by the company. The pickups are controlled with a 3-way blade switch. There is a single volume and a single tone potentiomers with chromed and knurled knobs. The headstock has a veneer that matches the colour of the body.
