Straight outta Compt… Memphis! We were on the phone to one of our associate dealers in Nashville recently, and asked the question, “Have you got any cool things that have maybe just come in?” And here you have it! A local Memphis/Nashville country/blues/rock player was selling off a bunch of gear, ahead of following a love-struck heart to one of the Scandinavian countries. So, right place, right time, we scored this beauty, (plus a killer Les Paul Goldtop, which will be appearing shortly).
Sings like a bird!
The guitar has been played all over the GAMT circuit, (Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee), for at least the last twenty years, yet is still in fabulous condition. We’ve just done a full setup, and with its genuine National cone, plus a new set of John Pearse bluegrass strings, she sings like a bird!
Huntington Beach
This was one of the last instruments built in the Dopyera’s OMI factory in Huntington Beach, California, the surf locale mentioned in the Beach Boys* hit, ‘Surfin’ Safari’. Showing an internal body date of June 1st, 1994, and a production code stating it to be the 412th guitar of ‘94, you can see they weren’t knocking out ten thousand a day – each and every Dobro was still being faithfully hand built, using most of the same tools, equipment and techniques pioneered by the original Dopyera Brothers back in the thirties.
Sandblasted artwork
Over the years, the Duolian series encompassed both wood and metal body instruments. Wood bodies were generally finished in plain Sunburst, while the metal body models enjoyed enormous variety, from an assortment of plain Duco finishes, to both engraved and sandblasted artwork, such as our Hawaiian** here, with its palm trees, fisherman and volcanoes. The moon and stars coverplate, originally reserved for 1930s mandolins and ukes, made its way on to guitars following the Dopyera brothers shifting production back to Los Angeles, under their new OMI banner.
Features
Our Duolian features a 24¾” scale Maple neck, (round, so can be played in any style, not just slide); Rosewood fingerboard, with mother-of-pearl dot inlays; 9½” National cone and biscuit bridge; rolled f-holes; and a 1¾” / 44mm nut width.
Free courier delivery
Some minor scuffing, a couple of small spots of rusty chrome around the f-holes, otherwise in fantastic condition, this beautiful Duolian is 100% ready to make a major difference in your life, whether that’s the lounge, the back porch, or on stage. Complete with its original hard shell case, our FREE COURIER DELIVERY is included to any address in Australia – generally 1 - 2 days on the east coast, more distant areas slightly longer. $100 airfreight to New Zealand, (usually 2 days), and $175 to the US, Canada, UK and mainstream European countries, (3 - 5 days)
Weight: 8lb 6oz / 3.9kg
*Fun fact 1: The honor of world’s first # 1 surf song does not belong to the Beach Boys. “Surf City” – all about 15km long Huntington Beach – was memorialised by the Beach Boys’ buddies, Jan & Dean, who rode the waves to the top of the charts in May of 1963, fourteen months before Brian Wilson & Co. reached that position, (‘I Get Around’, July 1964).
Fun fact 2: For the past two decades, Huntington Beach has officially tagged itself, Surf City, USA.
**Difficult(!) to photograph, pic # 4 shares an illustration from Mark Makin’s excellent book on National/Dobo guitars, Palm Trees, Señoritas….And Rocket Ships! Despite the photographic realism, Mark hand drew and painted all of the illustrations in his incredibly authoritative book
Just Guitars
