~1920 Regal Standard Size Natural

Regal Guitar c 1920 | HOLD | (v1009) This is a nice, clean example of a (likely) Regal guitar that is commonly called a 'catalog' guitar because it's unbranded. The so-called catalog guitars were made for various distributors to sell throughout the US often through a mail-order catalog. Its lower bout size is what many catalogs called 'standard size' (there was never a guitar marketed as a 'parlor' guitar to our knowledge, especially in the era of steel string guitars). Even though the catalog guitars were marketed to the masses, their construction and materials are often of fairly high quality, as displayed by this example.

The top is solid spruce with ladder bracing, bound and inlaid with white celluloid and fancy colorful marquetry often associated with Regal-made guitars. The back and sides are a nice grade of solid mahogany. The neck appears to be poplar or basswood, and is carved in the typical 'V' shape of the era. The bridge is the 'flat pyramid' type, often associated with Chicago-made instruments, made from maple and dyed black. The fingerboard is an ebony replacement of the 'ebonized' board that had dried and cracked beyond usefulness.

The lower bout measures 12 3/4" across at the widest. Scale length is a short-scale 24 1/4". The neck is 1 3/4" across at the nut, and string spacing is 2 1/4" across at the saddle.

The guitar has survived in remarkable shape. There are very few nicks and dings to the finish, with a bit of finish 'melt' on the back. The tuners and end pin are original. The bridge pins are replacements. There are no old repairs evident. There is an inconsequential 1" crack in the bass side where it meets the heel, and a 3" crack in the back, extending down from where the heel joins the back. We recently removed the old fingerboard, installed two carbon fiber rods and a new ebony fingerboard. We leveled and dressed the new frets and installed three pearl position markers. A wooden cap was glued over the original bridge plate due to some string/ball damage.

The guitar is extremely light weight and plays easily with nice, low action set at 5/64". The sound of these guitars is often a surprise to many .. nice ringing tones, great definition and ample depth. Surely bang for the buck.

Comes with a soft case.

Check the sound clip.