{"product_id":"national-val-pro-88-semi-hollow-body-electric-guitar-1963-13301","title":"National Val-Pro 88 Semi-Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1963)","description":"National Val-Pro 88 Model Semi-Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1963), made in Chicago, serial # T-86077, black finish, molded fiberglass body with wooden core, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, original black alligator hard shell case. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe National Res-O-Glas guitars of the 1960s remain some of the most exuberant examples of vintage American guitar design, cheerfully unique and utterly distinctive even 60+ years on. With a molded fiberglass body, aluminum-cored neck and electro-acoustic \"Silver Sound\" pickup built into the bridge they did not lack for innovative features. The line was perhaps more stylish than entirely practical, however, and as time went on emerged more as a collector than a player favorite. While they do have a sort of funky blues\/trash culture connotation today, these Nationals were actually not all that cheap when new.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNational's parent company Valco always put a premium on aesthetics. This Val-Pro 88 was the upper midline guitar in this series with a striking \"Glossy Raven Black\" finish on the \"half-map\" body, \"quadrant\" fret markers and a plethora of little white knobs! The back-painted clear plastic pickguard was pinstriped from behind with a National shield logo in the center and the chrome pickup covers had decorative stenciling on the tops. The most useful feature is the provision of a full three pickup array: two of the excellent Valco \"Vista-Power\" magnetic units and the aforementioned \"Silver Sound\" internal bridge unit, giving a wide range of potential sounds. Each of the three pickups has its own tone and volume control mounted below the string line, plus a larger master volume all the way to the rear. A 3-way lever switch is provided on the lower cutaway. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis Model 88 dates to 1963; the pots are coded 6309 signifying fabrication in the 9th week of that year. It has one alteration; a Bigsby tailpiece was fitted long ago, probably when the guitar was new. This was a $50 upgrade at the time; the 1962-63 Val-Pro 88 did not originally come with a vibrato which was important to play many of the hits of the day. The list price at the time was $225, plus hardshell cases at $29.50 (flannel lined) and $49.50 for the deluxe plush-lined model. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis was a solidly mid-line pro-grade guitar, at least in Valco's estimation: \"You CAN pay more, but WHY?\" intoned the 1962 National catalog. This was by far the most useful model in the midline range; the less expensive Res-O-Glas instruments generally lack the magnetic pickup at the bridge and thus are much less versatile as playing instruments. The Val-Pro 88 is the highest grade of the \"lower line\" of these Nationals, a super cool and utterly distinctive guitar by any standard.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eOverall length is 39 3\/4 in. (101 cm.), 14 1\/2 in. (36.8 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1\/2 in. (3.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3\/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11\/16 in. (43 mm.). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is a very nice and good playing example of this fairly rare \"tuxedo finish\" Res-O-Glas beauty. There is some play wear, most notably to the neck finish which is partially worn away to the wood behind the first-fifth fret areas. The fiberglass back has some scratching and there is loss to the stenciling on the pickup covers which is pretty much inevitable with any heavy strumming. It remains original except for the added Bigsby vibrato and plays quite well with only light fret wear and a much straighter neck than most. It comes complete with a lovely original shaped black-alligator covered HSC, a very rare accessory. Overall Excellent - Condition.","brand":"National","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50543057371276,"sku":"13301","price":3250.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0672\/8702\/3756\/files\/01_601a9ea9-807d-4aa1-93b3-5d8f09a93fb8.jpg?v=1781046785","url":"https:\/\/retrofret.com\/products\/national-val-pro-88-semi-hollow-body-electric-guitar-1963-13301","provider":"RetroFret","version":"1.0","type":"link"}