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The Illustrated History of National, Dobro, Supro, Valco and OMI Guitars

The official website of Mark Makin and his new book "Palm Trees, Senoritas... and Rocket Ships" - the illustrated History of National, Dobro, Supro, Valco and OMI Guitars

A 423 page tour-de-force that explores the fascinating design world of the musical instruments produced by the Dopyera Brothers from 1923 to 1993. Famous for their 'National' guitars, they went on to pioneer electric pickups, fibreglass construction, amplifiers etc, and influenced the sound of Country Music, Bluegrass, Blues and Hawaiian music through most of the 20th Century.


This site contains a preview of some of this work, the story of its creation and also how you can order a copy of this special limited edition book.

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The Illustrated History of National, Dobro, Supro, Valco and OMI Guitars

Latest Blog Posts

The Rarest Style 4!
The Rarest Style 4!

Throughout the history of the National String Instrument Company and the amalgamated National Dobro company from 1927 to 1941, only six string Triplates were decorated with the high quality Style 4 Chrysanthemum pattern – that is, except for this one!

By: Mark Makin

The El Trovador Story
The El Trovador Story

A lot of people seem to get confused by the different features, details and serial numbers that are found on National El Trovador guitars. It was only in production for a little over 2 years but, rather interestingly, was caught up in a story of company anger and politics.

By: Mark Makin

Style N or Style O?
Style N or Style O?

Much confusion exists about the origins and construction of the Style N. Was it brass or german silver? When did it first appear? Many people are of the opinion that this high quality custom instrument issued in 1932 was made with a german silver body. This, in fact, is not true. To understand why, we must follow the history of the development of the Style 0.

By: Mark Makin