The National Hawaiian Electric Guitar, later named the "New Yorker," was introduced in the fall of 1937. Its stair-step-shaped body featured black-and-white stripes, inspired by the 1930s New York skyline (John D'Angelico gave the same name to his top-of-the-line archtop acoustic guitar, which featured similar decorative design elements). The National New Yorker, which sold for $75 in 1938, was equipped with a potentiometer tone control with settings for three tone qualities described in the 1938 catalog as follows:

"HAWAIIAN:  a clear treble with well balanced and smoothly rounded bass; CHIMES:  brilliant tones on all strings with true sustaining harmonics easily obtainable; HARP:  deep mellow bass on all strings—rich and vibrant in quality."