Regal Reverse Scroll - is this a spruce top?

[nmiller]

This was waiting for me when I came home from work today. It's pretty clean - no breaks or repairs, just a few minor scratches - and has a color scheme that must have been a joke by a few drunk Regal employees; nothing like purple pearloid, a sunburst finish and kelly green bakelite all thrown together.

I noticed that the grain in the top was particularly straight, and thought it might be spruce. I'd read that these were made entirely of birch, and certainly the rest of the instrument is birch, but I'm not certain of the top. What do you think?


67428 67430
67429 67431

[BradKlein]

The unbound portion of the top should provide the answer, no?

[nmiller]

How so?

[F-2 Dave]

What a funky looking mandolin! I like it. Thanks for posting pictures. Is the top spruce? I don't know wood that well, but it looks kinda sprucey.

[BradKlein]

How so?

By looking at the edge of the top, where it is not bound, you can see if it's solid, or laminated. If it's solid, I would say it's spruce or another conifer from the look of the top.

[nmiller]

Oh I know it's solid, but I've seen solid birch tops before.

[MikeEdgerton]

Look at the top from the underside with a mirror. Is the grain the same (basically) on the top and bottom? It's most likely spruce but these guys were actually pretty good at faux finishes. That Regal should have a solid top, it's early enough. There are pictures of the patent for that mandolin in Hubert Pleijsier's book Washburn Prewar Instrument Styles.

This is a Regal Reverse Scroll model mandolin. The odd color combinations were not that unusual.

If you look through these (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/search.php?query=regal&exactname=0&starteronly=0&forumchoice%5B%5D=&prefixchoice%5B%5D=&childforums=1&titleonly=1&searchdate=0&beforeafter=after&do=process) conversation killing threads the applicable subjects will jump right out at you, including a few you yourself started about your other Regal :)

[barney 59]

I have one. Mine has a solid spruce top, birch body.

[bobbyburns]

I've had quite a few of these, and have 2 of them now. One is spruce topped, and one is all birch. The birch top one is the only one like that that I have had. Since yours has the grain lines, I but it's spruce. The birch top on mine has had no attempt to make it look like spruce. The spruce topped ones sound a lot better. I think these, like most other Regal products of that time, are very cool. Not a bluegrass sound, but still very cool. They made a few really fancy mandos shaped like this, but most of them, look just like yours, except for the pearloid head. How does it play? Most of the ones I had suffered a bad neck angle, due to being strung up with modern tension strings and hung on the wall. They seem to sound better with lighter strings, and hold up better too. Try the GHS classical set.

[Jake Wildwood]

That one looks like spruce.

[Bob Scrutchfield]

If you look through these conversation killing threads the applicable subjects will jump right out at you,

Mike,
I don't know very many people on the Forum yet and I don't Post very frequently.
I am trying to understand what the definition of a " conversation killing thread " would be. Could you please explain it to me? I can only imagine that it might be something that another member would find boring. I'm not sure how the original poster would know when he or she is posting a "conversation killer" ? I want to refrain from doing that myself if I can.

Bob :)

[bmac]

I have one of these in not quite as good a condition. They were sold under several brand names... Mine is labled Lyra but it is obviously the same instrument. Mine has no pick guard and no pearloid headstock, but the binding is black and white barber pole striped. Mine appears to have been a fairly low end mandolin as the plating on the tailpiece is quite thin and has worn off in several places. I bought it because it is just about the funkiest mandolin I have ever seen.... A great conversation starter.

[bmac]

Conversation killing thread

I am not positive of the definition either, but I think two conversation killing threads would be when folks try to bring religiion or politics into the conversation. Religion will drive off almost half of the participants and politics will drive off the other half leaving those few left fighting holy wars.

[allenhopkins]

...I am trying to understand what the definition of a " conversation killing thread " would be...

I would hazard a guess that what Mike meant, was a thread that answered the question asked in this thread, meaning that no more conversation on the subject was necessary.

While it's presumptuous of me to speak for him (never stopped me before!), I doubt he meant a thread that had offensive or proscribed content. There is a long-standing Cafe tradition of asking questions that have been answered, or attempted to be answered, in other, previous threads. Mike often provides a link to such threads, hoping that will eliminate the need to go over old ground. In due deference to his good intent, this seldom seems to work, and we plow ahead anyway.

[barney 59]

So much ground has been covered on so many subjects that if we didn't rehash this stuff there wouldn't be much to say----Hey! What do you think about them Bluechip picks? Kind a pricey don't ya think? ----

[Michael Lewis]

Take a very close look under strong light to see if the grain is painted on. The Chicago factories were sometimes very convincing with their skills. Look for any area where the finish is missing. I have seen "rosewood" and "curly maple" that would be convincing to many folks, until you see where the paint is missing and can see the birch underneath.

[MikeEdgerton]

Sorry, I missed this. I was told that adding links to threads was a conversation killer. Doesn't seemed to have stopped it.

[barney 59]

Take a very close look under strong light to see if the grain is painted on. The Chicago factories were sometimes very convincing with their skills. Look for any area where the finish is missing. I have seen "rosewood" and "curly maple" that would be convincing to many folks, until you see where the paint is missing and can see the birch underneath.

I've seen this, an old flat top mandolin probably built for Sears that a dealer had. It took me a few moments to realize that it had a rosewood faux finish. I brought it up to the shop owner that it was a paint job but he stated that they "never did that back then" and couldn't be convinced otherwise.