METAL MACHINE MUSIC

Let’s get something out of the way first. If you’re expecting wise words about the kind of metal associated with big hair and extreme shredding, leave now while there’s time. In this feature at least, we’re all about metal as a guitar-building material alone. Most guitars are largely made out of wood. This you know. Usually, the only metal you’ll see is used to make the frets, the pickups and some of the hardware, such as the bridge, the tuners and the strap buttons. And perhaps a few plates, and maybe the knobs. And there’s the strings, of course. Best not to forget about them.

Throughout the long history of our instrument, however, some brave souls have gone further. In some cases, much further. Our story starts in California in the 1920s, where John Dopyera set up the National company in Los Angeles in the middle of the decade with several of his brothers. It’s likely that he and George Beauchamp collaborated to design the resonator guitar, National’s contribution to the search for more volume.

George was a Texan vaudeville guitarist and a keen tinkerer, by now living in LA and working for National. Like many performers of the time, he was