1965 National Bluegrass 35

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1965 National Bluegrass 35

The Valco-built National Bluegrass 35 is an acoustic biscuit-bridge resonator guitar with a fibreglass body and bolt-on neck. It scores high marks on the vintage-cool scale, and would be a great candidate to electrify with a Dearmond Gold Foil pickup (we’ve tried it, it’s awesome). The model name, however, is something of a mystery. There’s not much that’s Bluegrass about this guitar, being a National-style biscuit bridge resonator rather than a Dobro-style spider-bridge instrument. And truth be told, there’s not much fibreglass in the pantheon of iconic Bluegrass instruments. We’re guessing the folks at Valco didn’t quite get their market research on target with this model, introduced just two years before the end of their 37 year run. Regardless, it’s a supremely cool thing, albeit maybe not for Bluegrass.

This example is in excellent condition and is completely original. It has been setup here at Folkway and plays well. The fibreglass body has held up better than most, and the vinyl gasket around the side hasn’t dried or cracked. The original cone is in fine shape, too.

The shallow-body guitar has a bluesy single-cone tone with less volume than a full-depth metal-body instrument. The neck is built with a rounded D carve, 1-11/16” nut width, and 24.75” scale length. Tulip-button Kluson tuners, raised National logo, bound rosewood fretboard with quarter-circle pearloid inlays.

With original chipboard case
1965 National Bluegrass 35
  • 1965 National Bluegrass 35
  • 1965 National Bluegrass 35
  • 1965 National Bluegrass 35
  • 1965 National Bluegrass 35
  • 1965 National Bluegrass 35
  • 1965 National Bluegrass 35
  • 1965 National Bluegrass 35
  • 1965 National Bluegrass 35
  • 1965 National Bluegrass 35
  • 1965 National Bluegrass 35
  • 1965 National Bluegrass 35
  • 1965 National Bluegrass 35
  • 1965 National Bluegrass 35

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