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DrTeeth
Mar-12-2004, 1:09am
I've never even heard of them until recently. Any info?
Thanks,
Phillip

Eugene
Mar-12-2004, 10:48am
Much of what I'm about to offer comes via the Bluebook (http://store.bluebookinc.com/downloads/BrowseCategory.asp?Product=acousticguitar&Heading=560).

Regal was originally a late 19th-c. brand of the Wulschner family in Indiana. #They made high-quality bowlbacks and were endorsed by ca. 1900 classical/parlour virtuoso Samuel Seigel. #These original Regal mandolins are fairly rare.

In 1904, Chicago's Lyon & Healy (L&H) bought the Regal name and the contents of their Indiana shop. #Regal resurfaced in Chicago in 1908 with some degree of autonomy, but with some possible ambiguous ties to L&H remaining. #By the depression, L&H abandonned the business of guitar and mandolin, and Regal was functioning entirely as its own entity, churning out a great many low-end instruments (i.e. after the brand left its humble Indiana roots, it was simply massive, and Chicago-made Regal products are massively abundant).

I have no personal interest in any of the post-1904 incarnations of Regal, but I am really keen to lay my hands on a decent Wulschner-made Regal. #Anybody willing to offer one up?