1940 National Collegian

This is where it all started. I found this 1940 National Collegian on good old eBay. It was completely stripped of its finish. A bare brass body (plated coverplate). A finishless, fat, basswood neck. And no National shield on the headstock. So here it is with its bursted vintage yellow B•Fanatic Guitarworks’ frosted duco finish. The neck was refinished in an amber to dark brown fade and it retains its original rosewood (or red bean) fretboard. It has the original tailpiece, cone and tuners. And I found the proper metal National badge to adorn the headstock. After over 30 finish attempts (over several years),  it finally worked out. Light pigmented frosted duco colors are just more difficult to accomplish than the standard metallics found on the original Nationals (and those are hard enough). I learned a lot about frosted duco finishes (and myself) while working on this guitar. I’m sure an attempt of a white duco finish is somewhere in my future.