Derek Trucks’ 1936 National Duolian Steel

According to a 2002 interview with Guitar International, Derek owns a 1936 National guitar that belonged to the blues legend Bukka White. This must be one of his most prized guitars because Derek has said on multiple occasions that he takes a lot of inspiration from White, specifically his old recordings from the 30s.

Yeah, I still use that! We didn’t record on this album with it. But we used it on The Allman Brothers record that we just finished. We finished it about the same time as my record. I think their record will probably come out early next year.

Derek Trucks Interview: “Be Completely Free To Do Whatever You Want”

Bukka White is most often associated with a 1933 National nicknamed “Hard Rock”, a guitar that is accounted for and is in the hands of a collector. So Derek logically must own a different guitar owned by Bukka, one that is perhaps not that well known, but it’s definitely safe to assume that Derek did his research and bought it from a reputable source.

He does however mention in another interview from 2005 that the guitar that he owns is the one that White used to record his stuff. So, this whole thing regarding Bukka White’s Nationals is a bit unclear, as he most often associates with only one guitar, but it turns out he perhaps had more.

I ended up finding the guitar that he recorded all that stuff with a few years back it’s a National Steel.

Used With Derek Trucks – JamBands

As far as finding any photos of Derek with the guitar, there is one National that he keeps safe at this home studio, that fits the description. Based on the oxidation, it’s definitely a steel model, and it looks like a ’36 Duolian.

Derek Trucks playing a 1932 National Style O at his home studio.
Derek Trucks playing a 1932 National at his home studio.

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