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Topic: 14 fret pre-war Regal Dobro's |
Brian Evans
From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted 4 May 2015 3:49 pm |
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my "new to me" Dobro is a 1936/37 model 25/27 no serial number 14 fret round neck Chicago made Dobro. I'm finding that pictures, or stories about 14 fret models are hard to come by, so I wondered what percentage of production might have been 14 fret models. It is quite interesting, actually. They lengthened the neck by two frets, and shortened the body by the same rough amount. The resonator is in about the same location in the lower bout, but the upper bout is shorter, the f-holes are closer to the resonator, and to my eye the visual balance of the guitar is better. Not to mention access to the upper octave in bottleneck style!
Thanks for any thoughts.
Brian |
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Brian Evans
From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted 5 May 2015 7:13 am
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Isn't that interesting, no one has anything to add about 14 fret Dobro's, made by Regal in Chicago. I'll keep looking!
Brian |
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Mike Cass
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Posted 6 May 2015 3:22 pm
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does it have a soundwell, binding, etc? How about a neck tongue or is it a dovetail style neck attachment? Stmaped or spun cone, small/large spider bridge? A pic or 2 would be helpful to get further bloviating from me  |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 6 May 2015 3:55 pm
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The text in the quote is not specifically about 14 fretters but they are mentioned. Also mentioned is the notorious Dobro sleuth (and "bounty hunter"), Mike Cass. 
Resonator luthier and avid Dobro historian Bobby Wolfe started a thread on Reso-Nation.org in August, 2008 with the title "Unique Model 27 Dobros"
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Unique Model 27 Dobros® from the 1930’s
These unique Dobro’s have been mentioned in publications several times.
First in my article titled "The Best Dobro in the World" published in Bluegrass Unlimited, 1993. Second In The Tom Gray Article, Vintage Guitar, 2002 and third, in Randy Getz articles posted on several Internet forums.
This write-up is a very condensed version of the original story that has been ongoing for many years.
In the mid 60’s very few people were interested in the resonator guitar. Even fewer knew much about the various models and their features. Tut Taylor, Curtis Burch and I were three of those that were interested. The story begins with the fact that Tut had been collecting them for years and had used various boxes as his picking instrument until 1968 when he found his keeper. He used that instrument from then on. It was a square neck model 27 even though it had some differences from the Dobro we knew as the 27. Until that time there were no known square neck model 27’s.
I was at many festivals and schoolhouse contests and met many new pickers each year from 1968 to 1987. Kept my eyes "peeled" for another one like it. .
( I’m sure Tut was also looking during this period).Finally at the Mt. Airy Fiddle Contest in 1987 I saw the second one. This one was owned by Gaylon Wardlow and he knew he had something special. He wouldn’t part with it.
After another year or so I contacted the best "bounty hunter" I knew, Mike Cass. In less than a year he had found one. Shortly after this he found another and it wasn’t long until he found a 3rd one. This one was again unique. It was a 14 fret square neck but with a uniquely shaped 14 fret body unlike any other 14 fret body. I ended up owning all 3 of these guitars plus a 4th one I had found.
With the "word" out on these boxes and other people including my friend Randy Getz looking for them my Serial Number Tally sheet showed 15 instruments in April, 1995. Think of it, only one for almost 20 years then with more people looking only 15 found in 28 years.
Now for a little info on the instruments. I have mentioned the superior sound of thicker box models in several articles I have written. They are the model 27 and the Model 37. Josh and Oswald both played 27’s. Mike A. and others preferred the 37. There were sq. neck 37’s but no sq. neck 27’s until Tut found that first one. These newly found square neck boxes had a different shading scheme and several other differences. Pictures will show most of these differences except one. The sound well. The best of the round neck 27s were mostly of the 7000 series S/N and contained the parallelogram shaped holes in the soundwell. All of these square neck 27’s have the parallelogram holes. Note...I’ve never seen this soundwell in the older model 37’s …they all had round holes and I believe this feature is what made me favor the 27’s over the 37s.
Around 1995 Tom Gray visited me several times for information, pics and material for the new Dobro History Book that never got published. I made him aware of these instruments and he in turn came up with several in his travels, purchased one or two and then contributed some good history about the boxes. These instruments were built shortly after the National-Dobro merger when they relocated operations to the McKinley Ave. plant in LA. This info led me to another discovery, namely, identifying the "different" peghead design. It is a National design featuring ...a smooth, no shoulder fan shape. The slots are longer, with rounded ends and ramped. Typical California built Dobros prior to this utilized square cut slots.
Some Bullets:
I found a 14 fret round neck of this series.
Gaylon Wardlow found a spruce top with Tiger Stripe maple back.
A red Tiger stripe maple wood version was found.
Another tiger stripe version, this time a tan/brown shade showed up in my shop.
Tom Gray located a brown/tan tiger stripe version.
August 2002 there were still only 37 total instruments on the list.
Randy Getz found a red tiger stripe tenor guitar equipped with mandolin parts
A 12 fret round neck version has not been found.
The earliest known S/N in this series is 8122 and the last one is 9081. All are within this range except 3. They are all red Tiger stripe models S/N 662…663…664. No explanation for this 3 digit variation.
It appears that they did continue this series with the previous model designations….27…37…45. With some variations of shading, trim, and wood used, these boxes do fit into those categories.
We have never seen factory literature / brochure showing this series instruments
There is a National-Dobro catalog for 1936-37 but it contains no wood Dobros. If anyone has a catalog/brochure with these instruments or sees one please let me know.
This series are the last California made Dobros before the whole operation was moved to Chicago.
This condensed version is from a 6-page write up I have maintained for years.
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Mark |
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Scott Thomas
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Posted 6 May 2015 5:59 pm
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The Guitar Center in San Jose website showed what I believe to have been a 14 fret square neck. It had the shading pattern of this rare California series of Dobros. It sent me looking for info, and I have read everything I could find on the net about them. They are indeed rare in 12 fret, 14 fret, round and square neck models. Exactly how many, I don't think anyone knows, but at last count AFAIK, there were 70 total of all types in the series accounted for.
A 14 fret round neck is especially rare, though I don't know the specific breakdown of all types.
Congrats on the find! |
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Brian Evans
From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted 7 May 2015 3:51 am
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Thanks guys! The guitar in question is bound top and bottom, unbound neck, round slot headstock, dovetail neck in a normal guitar neck block, no soundwell, stamped cone, Number 14 cast spider bridge with plain maple inserts, fan type cover, normal "dobro" tail piece. Body is 14 1/4" wide at lower bout, 9 1/2" wide at upper bout and 17 3/4" long, 3 3/8" deep at neck, 3 9/16" deep at tail block. Neck is round back, 1 7/8" wide at nut, 2 1/4" wide at body joint.
Thanks again, Brian |
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Mike Cass
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Posted 9 May 2015 3:43 am
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in some old catalouges its a model 27, others a 37.
Regal made. nice and clean too! |
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