SOLD! - 1954 National Valco model 1124 Guitar

It's cool, it's rare, and it's guitar history!

* Want to check how a guitar like this sounds like? Search for "1954 National (Valco) 1124 Guitar Demo" on youtube and you'll find a very similar guitar. *

The early days of solidbody electric guitars are truly fascinating. It was a time when guitar makers were kind of figuring it all out, and, in turn, there were some wonderful ideas, tragic designs, and true oddballs that combined all the elements of what people thought an electric guitar should look like. 

In the early 1940s solidbody electrics were pretty much in their infancy. You had the Rickenbacker “Frying Pan” which was an early lap-steel guitar, Les Paul’s famous “Log” and Leo Fender’s Broadcaster/Esquire design. These were all early takes on what was bound to happen: The electric guitar! Looking at the scene in Japan, there was a huge Hawaiian-guitar influence and lap steels were very popular among players. Several manufacturers like Teisco first began producing electric lap-steels in the late ’40s, but it wasn’t until a few years later that some serious first efforts were created. Around this time, guitars with similar designs like the Teisco J5 were popping up in the U.S. like the Valco made National 1124, the Harmony H44, and the Kay K125. 

Valco's National 1124 guitars were among the first of the two pickup electric guitars made by the Valco company. Additionally this 1954 model was one of the first guitars to feature the now famous Valco single coil chrome covered pickups, attached to the neck and the bridge. The serial number of this guitar is x38556 (early-mid 1954) and is engraved on a small oblong aluminium plate nailed to the back of the headstock, just as Valco did in the 40's and 50's. All parts are original to this guitar like the open back tuners, the pickguard which is also the control cavity, the incredibly cool pickup switch, original Stackpole pots dating 304315 (week 15, 1953) and original capacitors, jack, pickups, bridge, tailpiece with an old soldered repair, finish etc etc.

The guitar plays very well and everything works great. The neck is straight and doesn't have the dreaded "Valco twisted/wrenched neck" like so many others have. The frets are the original small vintage ones but there's plenty of life in them up and down the neck.

You can play this like a regular small bodied guitar or you can play it as a slide guitar set up in open chords. We have it set up that way now and it really sounds staggering good!!!