Round Neck vs Square Neck Tricones

[Tim Whitlock]

I'm looking at used tricones for playing Hawaiian lap steel. There are several affordable round necks available that I can convert with a nut adapter or nut replacement. Will I hear any significant tone/volume degradation vs buying a square neck tricone already set up for lap playing?

[Joe Burke]

I have a National Squareneck that I love, and I’ve never tried a round neck. But Steve Dawson of Henhouse Studio plays a round neck nicely. Here’s an example.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDkHqBdx ... FsMnNhd3Zr

[Tim Whitlock]

Well that certainly sounds nice Joe! Thanks for sharing. Looks like he is using a nut adapter. I'm thinking the square necks are mainly for the practicality of keeping the instrument stable on the lap, however I wonder if some of the hollow necks add something to the sound. In any case, I'll probably grab the next well priced round neck I see. Thanks again!

[K Maul]

I have a National Mahogany roundneck Tricone. Not a metal body. Wonderful sound, a bit more mellow but still has the Tricone magic! I have a nut raiser on it but keep it in C tuning most of the time. I do use it as a fingerstyle/bottleneck too, usually in D. I’m careful about the stress on the neck. I don’t hear a big difference when I put on the nut raiser. If anything it is a little louder.

[Tim Whitlock]

I’m careful about the stress on the neck.

Good point Kevin. I hadn't considered neck stress, but a square neck logically would stand up better to heavier strings. Hmmm...

[Glenn Wilde]

Well that certainly sounds nice Joe! Thanks for sharing. Looks like he is using a nut adapter. I'm thinking the square necks are mainly for the practicality of keeping the instrument stable on the lap, however I wonder if some of the hollow necks add something to the sound. In any case, I'll probably grab the next well priced round neck I see. Thanks again!

As far as I know, nobody is making a traditional hollow neck metal body Tricone, so I would say a wood square neck and a wood round neck will be the same. I play my round neck Republic with a nut adapter and it sounds fine.

[Steve Lipsey]

My myrtle square neck tricone from Ben Bonham (bonhamdesign.com) is a hollow neck. I believe that like in a Weissenborn, the hollow neck contributes to the swirl of the sound.

the early Nationals "hollow necks" were actually not very hollow - my understanding is that the metal ones were actually sort of stuffed with some stuff, which reduced the space...that from Marc Schoenberger, a California luthier who worked with National for a while.

You can order a new National Tricone either way, I believe, with the hollow ones costing more..or have Ben Bonham build you one...

[Tim Whitlock]

That's gorgeous looking instrument Steve! Unfortunately, my budget limits me to something like a Royall, Recording King or similar, preferably used. Royall has some very nice looking roundnecks and they say they will be adding some squarenecks soon.

[Paul Seager]

The original National Tricone squarenecks had semi hollow necks which contributed to the tone. Obviously that would be missing on a roundneck model from any brand. But the essence of the Tricone sound will be there. In your post you used the phrase "significant tone/volume degradation" I'm going to say No!

It's all about budget, to some extent, its all about the cones (replacements are available at relatively low cost). But it's also all about the music. A roundneck won't hinder you performing and you will get the approximate tone. Volume is something else. Depends on how big the band is, how big the room, etc.. Nationals are loud and can keep up in a Hawaiian-like Combo but there is a limit!

If you keep an eye on the used-market, in addition to Royall, Republic, Johnson also made a square neck Tricone copy. Whether or not they'll fill the "significant" hole, I cannot say!

[Mike Neer]

I started off with a National Resophonic Polychrome Tricone that I purchased new from Mandolin Brothers around 1998. Not long after, I wanted to try lap style, so I added a nut riser. It was okay, but once I bought an actual 1929 Tricone a few years later, it seemed like a world of difference. The tone was a lot richer and the playability much better (but keep in mind that I wasn't a good lap style player at all when I had the polychrome guitar--it wasn't until I got a vintage National that I shedded heavily for two or three months to get my playing gig-worthy). I owned a few vintage Tricones and played for years but eventually wanted to move on to something more versatile and interesting. I was pretty burnt out on the sound to be honest.

[Glenn Wilde]

My myrtle square neck tricone from Ben Bonham (bonhamdesign.com) is a hollow neck. I believe that like in a Weissenborn, the hollow neck contributes to the swirl of the sound.

the early Nationals "hollow necks" were actually not very hollow - my understanding is that the metal ones were actually sort of stuffed with some stuff, which reduced the space...that from Marc Schoenberger, a California luthier who worked with National for a while.

You can order a new National Tricone either way, I believe, with the hollow ones costing more..or have Ben Bonham build you one...

I love that guitar, hope it sounds as good as it looks

[Steve Lipsey]

Glenn-
It sounds better than it looks! I played metal body Nationals for a while, but the wood body just has much more going on...more sustain, richer sound. It is built to the exact dimensions as a National...that's what I asked for, I have no idea if that is better than other dimensions or not but I trust Dopyera's experiments on best number of cones (3) and assume he also tested body shapes..