The combination of its steel body and large single resonator cone has always made the Duolian the perfect blues guitar. The names associated with the Duolian are legendary; Son House, Blind Boy Fuller, Tampa Red, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Booker White, Memphis Minnie, Skip James, Reverend Gary Davis...
Hard time blues
The Duolian is often hailed as the model that kept the original National company in business across the US depression of the 1930s. Despite the brutally hard times, enough musicians could afford the Duolian, selling at just over the thirty dollar mark, to keep the company in business until more prosperous times arrived. And few guitars had a sound that better suited the hard time blues of the Great Depression. While later also finding a home with country players, the Duolian was Dobro's best selling and most popular model from the 1930s on, and specially so with blues players.
Dopyera family
After decades of co-mingled histories of the Dobro* and National companies, this was one of the last of the original Dopyera family built instruments, before the re-emergence of the National name in 1989, as National Reso-Phonic. Traditionally completed in a frosted duco, the 'Contemporary Colors' series saw the Dopyera family/OMI factory at Huntington Beach in California turning out the Duolian in modern coats of Burnt Orange, Iced Tea Burst and others, including our beautiful Surf Green here. The paintwork and the shiny coverplate combine to make for an instrument that's going to knock your audience's socks off!
Biscuit cone
Featuring the large, single, "biscuit cone" upon which much of the Blues was built, the modern-'C' profile Maple neck and 14/19-fret Rosewood board plays very smooth and easy, boasting a 1¾" nut width for easy picking. There is only very light fret wear, (see pic # 6), and likewise very light overall playwear. (NOTE: Pic # 3 is the victim of workshop reflections, not dents or dings)
Genuinely vintage
The case, (pic # 8 and main), appears to be older than the instrument, however the original owner claimed it was original to the guitar, so...? The guitar is from 1987, making it genuinely vintage, and the case may be more-so. Regardless, guitar and case SHIP FREE to any address in Australia. ($100 airfreight to New Zealand, $175 to the US, Canada, UK and mainstream European countries. International freight added at checkout)
*Rudy and Emil Dopyera established OMI, (Original Music Instrument Company), in 1967, regaining the Dobro name from Semie Moseley in 1970. The brand name has been owned by Gibson since 1994
Just Guitars
