The original household name when it comes to resonator guitars—National Reso-Phonic is our hands down favorite. We just landed a fantastic example of a 2003 Style 3 tricone in Polished Brass with gorgeous lily-of-the-valley engraving along the top, sides, back, and resonator plate. Basically every metal surface except the frets! The setup is slick and easy and currently dialed in for fingerstyle play rather than as a dedicated slide guitar. At about nine and a half pounds, this National is no featherweight, but we feel that girth translates into sweet, fat, juicy tone that’s hard to find elsewhere.

Other keywords: lutherie, luthier, slide guitar, blues, resophonic, reso guitar, tri-cone, fingerpicking

Shining like a silver dollar, this 2003 National Resophonic Style III in Nickel-plated Brass is worth every penny. Bedecked with “Lilly of the Valley” engraving of vines and flowers twining around the soundholes, bridge, and back and set up with a tricone resonator, this Style III is the cat’s meow of resophonic guitars. Practically immaculate, this National Resophonic has a mirror reflective surface polished to a floss-your-teeth-in-it sheen, so be prepared to dazzle your audiences with both the brilliance of both your playing and your resonator.

The setup is perfect for the Blues player who wants to do both fingerpicking and slide–be it standard tuning, DADF#AD, or beyond, this National Resophonic has a rich and dynamic voice that’s equally at home for quiet tunes or rousing rags. Here, the tricone resonator is the magic bullet, offering a more complex and nuanced tone by distributing the strings’ vibrations to its three resonators before entering the body’s sound chamber. Interested? There aren’t many used National Resophonics on the market these days, let alone resos in such pristine condition and gorgeous engraving.