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Thread: Regal A-style questions

  1. #1
    Registered User Tim Gillane's Avatar
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    Default Regal A-style questions

    I have a flatback Regal mandolin, most probably from the 1920s or a smidge earlier (it was my grandfather's, I believe). it has a beige Regal label with a crown on it inside. There's what's left of a round Regal decal (dark green or black and ivory) on the head. The tailpiece appears to be chromed, and there are letters where it attaches that read "B__ Brand Patented NMS co." there's a some rust, so some letters are obscured. Does anyone know anything about the tailpiece? Would I find the model or a serial number somewhere on the mandolin (didn't see one)? The dots on the fingerboard look like mother of pearl. Click image for larger version. 

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  2. #2
    Registered User Tim Gillane's Avatar
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    Default Re: Regal A-style questions

    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Gillane View Post
    I have a flatback Regal mandolin, most probably from the 1920s or a smidge earlier (it was my grandfather's, I believe). it has a beige Regal label with a crown on it inside. There's what's left of a round Regal decal (dark green or black and ivory) on the head. The tailpiece appears to be chromed, and there are letters where it attaches that read "B__ Brand Patented NMS co." there's a some rust, so some letters are obscured. Does anyone know anything about the tailpiece? Would I find the model or a serial number somewhere on the mandolin (didn't see one)? The dots on the fingerboard look like mother of pearl. Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20170913_215709_resized.jpg 
Views:	178 
Size:	509.2 KB 
ID:	160774 ; Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20170913_215751_resized.jpg 
Views:	99 
Size:	445.8 KB 
ID:	160775 ;Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20170913_215824_resized.jpg 
Views:	160 
Size:	793.1 KB 
ID:	160776 ; Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20170913_215844_resized.jpg 
Views:	145 
Size:	497.4 KB 
ID:	160777Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20170913_111417_resized.jpg 
Views:	155 
Size:	627.1 KB 
ID:	160778
    Well. I think it's an A-style, but I know zip.

  3. #3
    Registered User nmiller's Avatar
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    Default Re: Regal A-style questions

    I'd say late '20s to mid '30s based on the label and the headstock logo. The tailpiece probably says Bell Brand under the rust, and it's plated in nickel (not chrome). Bell tailpieces can be found on a lot of old mandolins; like Grover, Waverly and Kluson, they made hardware for a lot of different builders.

    Regal didn't typically mark their model numbers on their instruments except for the most expensive ones. It appears to be identical to this model from a 1932-3 Continental catalog:

    Click image for larger version. 

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    However, the item number is Continental's, not Regal's. It was very common in those days for the same instrument, sometimes under the same brand and sometimes under several different ones, to appear in five different catalogues under five different numbers.
    www.OldFrets.com: the obscure side of vintage instruments.

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  5. #4
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Regal A-style questions

    Referring to Bob Carlin's Regal Musical Instruments, 1895-1955, the inside label looks 1920's. On p.68 he has a catalog reprint page from Progressive Musical Instrument Co. in NYCity, showing three mandolins; the #2923 ($24.00) has a tailpiece similar to yours. The tailpiece could well be labeled "Bell Brand," as stated above. The pictured "lute mandolins" are labeled "Perfacktone," which was a Progressive Music nameplate, and some are ID'ed as Regal-built. The catalog is "circa 1928," according to Carlin.

    It's not the #2923 model, which is described as "genuine rosewood...heavily inlaid top," but it seems to be a type of tailpiece that could show up on Regal-built instruments.
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  7. #5
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Regal A-style questions

    I don't think the bridge is original to this instrument. It might be but I doubt it.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
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