Petros - Posted - 05/01/2024:  16:35:29

I'm confused about the once available National Scheerhorn "Rob Ickes" model with Spruce/Rosewood and that "pick guard" and the currently available Nati-horn Spruce/Rosewood model which also is pictured on the National site with that "pick guard". Visually they look identical. So what would Ickes have done to the Scheerhorn design to make it his sig model? Just the pick guard? Does anyone know if this is the same design as before but they just dropped Ickes' name?

Thanks

MarkinSonoma - Posted - 05/01/2024:  17:04:53

I'm 90% sure they are the same except for the elimination of the weird pickguard, and the fact that Rob no longer has an endorsement agreement. 

 

Lounge Primate - Posted - 05/01/2024:  18:33:33

It’s the guitar formerly known as “the Ickes model”. As Mark stated, Rob is endorsing another builder these days (Byrl Murdock who makes a "Rob Ickes signature model"). And the nati-horn still has the pickguard decoration according to the pics on their website.



If you haven’t seen this interview with Tim, he explains the development of the rosewood spruce guitar and other cool aspects of his designs.

squareneckjournal.com/2015/02/...heerhorn/

Edited by - Lounge Primate on 05/01/2024 18:38:04

MarkinSonoma - Posted - 05/02/2024:  11:24:16

Apparently someone isn't minding the shop at National since they still show the Ickes pickguard on the website.

There are some stories out there of Tim Scheerhorn himself doing setups on Nati-horns and accomplished players having a very difficult time telling the difference in sound between that guitar and an OG Tim-built guitar.

I have managed to play and hear up close and personal a lot of Nati-horns since they first hit the market 10 or so years ago. 

Of the three production models, the only Nati-horns that have blown me away with the factory setup have been the rosewood/spruce. I played one a few months back at Gryphon in the Bay Area and the old wheels started spinning in my head regarding how I was going to pull off buying it. I could feel the Visa card starting to heat up in my wallet. 

It was like a muscle car of dobros. I have played a couple others of this model which gave me a similar impression, but this one in particular just knocked my socks off. I checked the Gryphon website  - it's gone now. The maple and mahogany versions, for myself - just not in the same league. 

If Tim can get people to think that the maple and mahogany models might be one of his creations after a setup, I would love to hear what he could do after setting up a rosewood/spruce Nati-horn. 

Prior to becoming part of the "Beard family" with a pair of signature models, Josh Swift posted on the Facebook Dobroholics page a few years ago that he was approached about becoming a Nati-horn endorser and getting his own signature model. And Tim Scheerhorn offered to do the setups on his personal guitars. For whatever reason that didn't take and he went with Beard. 



See the brownish streaks in the Adirondack spruce on the guitar in the photo? I gleaned this off the interweb - the top's appearance has me wondering if it has been torrefied or "baked." You see those streaks sometimes on flattops that have gone through torrefaction. 

 

Edited by - MarkinSonoma on 05/02/2024 11:27:01

 

Petros - Posted - 05/02/2024:  12:22:54

I just got a confirmation through a dealer who spoke with National today and the current model (which does not come with the pick guard even though it shows it) is the exact same model and the Rob Ickes. I guess the P/G might have been the difference to delineate Rob's model. So there we have it!

MarkinSonoma - Posted - 05/02/2024:  12:40:39

quote:

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Originally posted by Petros

I just got a confirmation through a dealer who spoke with National today and the current model (which does not come with the pick guard even though it shows it) is the exact same model and the Rob Ickes. I guess the P/G might have been the difference to delineate Rob's model. So there we have it!

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On both of Rob's Tim-built rosewood/spruce guitars - one with East Indian  rosewood, the other Brazilian, which were built at different times in the late 1990s and early 2000s, they have the "signature" pickguard. 

When they put together the idea for his imported Wechter/Scheerhorn signature model they went with the pickguard in being  a much more affordable version of his main guitar. 

Lounge Primate - Posted - 05/02/2024:  13:52:39

Anyone tried the Byrl Murdock guitars?

Lounge Primate - Posted - 05/02/2024:  13:55:59

And I’ve got to wonder: if Rob was still playing in to a mic (instead of the nashville /aura rig), what his guitar of choice would be?