Regal "Custom-Built" Guitars
Collector's Guide To Identification — Part 1
Lack of production, shipment, jobber and sales data thwarts accurate dating of Regal Custom-Built guitars made from 1928 to 1936. So we've compiled info from recent dealer listings, repair records, auctions, sales and other sources so we can begin to correlate this data for vintage guitar owners.
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© 2018 — Kenneth Lelen — All Rights Reserved
Almost every time someone buys a
vintage Regal guitar, I get an email asking me what year their
guitar was made. As I’ve told people for years, “Can’t give you a date. No one knows — yet."
From 1928 to 1936 Regal Musical Instrument Co. of Chicago produced a large quantity but unknown number of "Custom-Built" acoustic guitars. It may have recorded manufacturing, distribution and sales data, but no such data has arisen, so guitar owners can't verify a date for their vintage Regals.
From 1928 to 1936 Regal Musical Instrument Co. of Chicago produced a large quantity but unknown number of "Custom-Built" acoustic guitars. It may have recorded manufacturing, distribution and sales data, but no such data has arisen, so guitar owners can't verify a date for their vintage Regals.
Some have a serial number on the neck block and label, while some have no serial number at all. And then, just to stymie today’s collectors, some vintage Regals lack any identification at all.
Not like dating a Martin
Vintage Gibson and Martin collectors rely on serial numbers, factory order numbers, repro and original catalogs, shipping info, even retail and jobber sales materials to date a guitar. We owe our gratitude to George Gruhn, Joe Spann, Mike Longworth and other researchers for compiling such vintage records.
Unfortunately, no such data on Regal guitars seems to exist. Lack of factory records, jobber contracts, sales receipts, etc. stymie correlation of a known serial number on a guitar to a specific date. Incomplete, unreliable and sloppy listings by guitar dealers and online sellers exacerbates the problem.
Without correlation, establishing provenance is difficult. Presence of an original owner’s receipt, period photo, heir's letter, etc. may help the dating of a vintage Regal. But 90 years later, we have no means to date an individual guitar's initial sale date, production or shipment.
Regal’s Custom-Built guitars
Regal’s line of Custom-Built guitars were well-made and sold across the country between 1928 and 1936. Made in five styles with slotted headstocks, each had mahogany necks, ebony fingerboards, ebony bridges, X-braced white or eastern spruce tops, mahogany or rosewood bodies, and quality tuners.
Finally, some Regal guitars had an ink-stamped serial number on the neck block. In some, it's located on an interior paper label. Some had it in both locations. And some had none at all.
Some of Regal's Custom-Built guitars were sold to Montgomery Ward, a catalog firm that sold guitars in retail outlets. Some were also shipped to such wholesale firms as Tonk Brothers of Chicago and B & J of New York. These firms sold the Custom-Built line across North America with various house brands to a discrete mix of retailers.
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| 1928 catalog page from Grossman Music Co., a Cleveland jobber, showing the five styles of Regal "Custom-Built" guitars. |
Three Custom-Built styles were concert-sized, with a lower bout width of 13¼ in. Two styles were grand concert-sized, with a lower bout width of 14½ in.
Prices were set at $20 and $25 for the concert-sized mahogany units, $28 on the grand concert-sized mahogany model, and $45 and $50, respectively, for concert-sized rosewood unit and grand concert-sized rosewood unit.
Regal's Custom-Built guitars competed in style, tone and cost with guitars made by the C.F. Martin Co. of Nazareth PA. Although produced in similar sizes, finishes, materials and appointments, prices on Regal's Custom-Built guitars were 20 to 30 percent less than Martin guitars.
Regal guitars from the 1930s-era are widely available in today's vintage guitar markets. Yet, some vintage dealers arrogantly sniff if asked to compare values on vintage Martins and vintage Regals. In my opinion, vintage Regals compare well in design, construction, materials, tone and playability. They fail, however, to meet the flatulent reputations and exaggerated values claimed by vintage Martin dealers and online sellers.
Regals’ MarvelTone guitars
Finally, an unknown number of Regal-made guitars with grand-concert (14½ in. wide) mahogany and rosewood bodies display a MarvelTone headplate inlay and snazzy fingerboard inlays. It is believed these instruments were shipped during the 1930s by Targ and Dinner Music Co., a Chicago jobber.
fingerboard inlays; and both a headplate logo and fingerboard inlays.
Like everything else in the Regal universe, MarvelTone guitars appear in several configurations. Some have fingerboard inlays, but no headplate logo. Some have a headplate logo, but no fingerboard inlays. Some have Custom-Built paper labels. Some have Regal metal badges. Some have a serial number. Some do not.
Only two MarvelTones — a Style No. 3 and a Style No. 5 — have been found with the MarvelTone headstock logo, pearl fingerboard inlays and serial #. The Style 3 has a serial # on the neck block, while the Style 5 has a serial # on a Custom-Built paper label.
See http://kenlelen.blogspot.com/search?q=Marvelous for info on this pair of Style No. 3 and Style No. 5 MarvelTones.
Documenting what's known about vintage Regal guitars
We have info on the design, construction and appointments of vintage Regals. But we can't verify dates on production, distribution and sales of an instrument.
Vintage Music Concerts recently compiled data from dealer listings, luthier repair jobs, sales, and other info on Regal, Custom-Built and MarvelTone guitars made from 1928 to 1936. Called Vintage Regal "Custom-Built" Guitars — Part 2, it was posted on this website on Thursday, August 2, 2018 so owners, buyers, sellers and researchers can learn and share info on vintage Regal instruments.
As you scan the charts, we hope you'll supplement the data and correct gaps. You can also contribute info on newly listed, repaired and sold vintage Regals. Ultimately, we can establish an edifice of verified documents, data and dates about some really nice vintage guitars.
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© 2018 — Kenneth Lelen — All Rights Reserved
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