{"product_id":"national-glenwood-98-solid-body-electric-guitar-1965-13818","title":"National Glenwood 98 Solid Body Electric Guitar (1965)","description":"National Glenwood 98 Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1965), made in Chicago, serial # 1-65309, white finish, molded Res-O-Glas body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, black hard shell case. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe still-dazzling National Res-O-Glas guitars of the 1960s remain some of the most exuberant examples of vintage American electric guitar design, as well as an utterly unique concept even 60 years on. With a molded fiberglass body, aluminum-cored neck, and electro-acoustic \"Silversound\" pickup built into the bridge they certainly did not lack for innovative features, even at the peak of electric guitar design.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the end, the line was perhaps more overtly stylish than entirely practical, however, and after a production span of only about three years emerged more as collector than player favorites. While they do have the cachet of funky blues\/trash culture connotation today, these Nationals were actually not inexpensive when new and the Glenwoods in particular were marketed as top professional instruments. This model cost $295 (plus case) when introduced in 1962; this particular example is one of the last built with the serial number printed on a silver sticker on the back of the headstock instead of an impressed plate. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt that point the Glenwood 98 was the next-to-top-of-the-line guitar in this series, under the amazing sea-foam-green, gold plated model 99. This #2 offering was still quite the looker with a striking white finish on the sculpted \"map\" shaped body, fancy split-diamond and block fret markers and stock Grover Rotomatic tuners. This one has a factory-mounted genuine Bigsby vibrato unit, a fairly rare fitting vastly superior to Valco's in-house options. The dramatic look is enhanced by a clear back-painted pinstriped plastic pickguard with a \"NATIONAL Val-Pro\" shield logo, and the black edge grommet around the sides at the joint of the two-piece body. The look echoes American hotrod culture of the period and manages to seem sophisticated and downhome at the same time!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe most useful feature of this guitar is the provision of a full three pickup array -- two of the excellent familiar Valco magnetic units and the aforementioned internal bridge unit. Many of the less expensive Res-O-Glas instruments lack the magnetic pickup at the bridge and thus are much less sonically versatile. Each pickup has its own tone and volume controls mounted in echelon above and below the string line, with a three-way selector on the upper bout. The sound of the \"Vista-Power\" magnetic units is quite powerful with the typical National\/Supro raunch, while the \"Silversound\" built-in bridge pickup offers a very different tonality. As is typical with National the tone controls act in sometimes unconventional ways, with the bridge pickup having a bass (not treble) roll-off and the neck and Silversound pickups blended by the rearmost upper knob. This late-production example has a useful addition of a larger master volume knob by the jack, which appeared in 1964.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis 1965 Glenwood 98 is considerably more upscale than most of the similar but far more common period National and Supro models, and remains famous as a \"Dylan\" guitar, which Bob appeared with in a celebrated ROLLING STONE cover in the '70s and was used on some Rolling Thunder gigs. Iconic in its own way this is a very cool and rather uncommon 1960s guitar. The original map-shaped National is always an epic attention-getter and remains utterly distinctive despite more recent imitations!\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eOverall length is 39 3\/4 in. (101 cm.), 15 in. (38.1 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3\/4 in. (4.4 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3\/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3\/4 in. (44 mm.). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis guitar is relatively clean and all original except for a well-deserved refret, showing some fairly light general wear overall. The Res-O-Glas body is very durable and still quite clean with some scuffing and small wear spots, the black finished neck has only a few minor dings and dents. The hardware is all original showing some wear and minor corrosion to the various fittings, the most noticeable being loss to the stenciled graphics on the pickup covers from picking. There are a few stress marks around the jack but no structural issues. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe fingerboard has been trued and refretted with period-appropriate wire, with the original binding still intact (unlike many). While perhaps not up to say, typical Gibson standards with the straighter neck and new frets this is actually quite a playable guitar (a claim not all 1960s Valco products can muster!) with a great chunky sound. If generally considered primarily a collector's guitar, the Glenwood 98 is absolutely one of the coolest of all 1960s six-string creations, for show or go! This one is not equipped with an original case, but later generic HSC is included. Overall Excellent - Condition.","brand":"National","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47781807751308,"sku":"13818","price":3950.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0672\/8702\/3756\/files\/01_6db11e08-2d17-4e1b-a4df-0bba647fec8b.jpg?v=1777061689","url":"https:\/\/retrofret.com\/products\/national-glenwood-98-solid-body-electric-guitar-1965-13818","provider":"RetroFret","version":"1.0","type":"link"}