Regal Prince Model 1170 Model Arch Top Acoustic Guitar (1938), made in Chicago, serial # 180, sunburst top, dark back and sides finish, mahogany back, sides and neck; spruce top, rosewood fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
This 18"+ wide guitar is quite imposing, if only in sheer size! This Regal Prince arch top is a fairly rare creation, a pre-war beauty of enormous pulchritude but a certain charm as well. The better Regal-made carved top guitars are not well known today, and never really challenged Gibson and Epiphone's dominance of the pre-war Swing era. This guitar listed at only $85 in the late 1930s, a bargain price for what was after all an expensive item to make. There were two fancier models, the $125 "esquire" and the $250 "Crown" but all are quite rare; Regal seems to have sold relatively few of their own branded examples in comparison to the "Big Boys" Gibson or Epiphone.
This is a very large carved-top instrument, with a fairly subdued red/orange-black sunburst finish on the top of its 18 1/4" body. The wide-waisted shape is very similar to Gibson's top-line Super 400. The curly mahogany back and sides are finished in an even dark brown but transparent enough to show some lovely figuring. The top and back are bound in Celluloid, bordered with "zipper" black & white trim. The proportionally small F-holes are single-ply bound in white. The heavy deco-styled tailpiece is the typical Regal piece for their high-end guitars. The pickguard is screwed directly to the top on its upper edge with a bracket on the lower side.
The fairly slim C-profile neck is laminated mahogany; the unbound headstock has lovely abalone "Regal" and "Prince" in script inlaid around a pearl and abalone troubadour figure used on several different Chicago-made instruments in the 1930s. The neck is topped by a single bound rosewood fingerboard with small split-block inlay. The tuners are the same covered machines used on many National guitars at the time. "Truly an instrument for the Artist" Regal claimed "Workmanship and finish to please the most exacting critics".
The "Really big" archtop guitar was the "thing" in 1939-40, with Gibson and Epiphone vying for the top of the market with many smaller makers. Regal generally had more luck with budget instruments but this sunburst behemoth offered a guitar the same size as the top-line Super 400 or Emperor at less than 1/4 the price! While we would not claim this is the tonal equal of those (or a period D'Angelico!) it is a well-made guitar with a punchy sound with decent volume and plenty of 'cut'. If not the subtlest of arch tops, either visually or sonically this big Regal can still dominate a room with sheer charisma!
Overall length is 43 1/2 in. (110.5 cm.), 18 1/4 in. (46.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 in. (10.2 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
Overall this guitar remains in good playing, nicely original condition, showing some wear and tear but except for an replaced pickguard and (probably) bridge essentially unaltered from how it came from Chicago in 1939-40. The finish has some minor wear with scrapes, dings and scuffs overall but no large areas of playwear or heavy loss. We can find no noticeable crack repairs.
The neck has been reset, fairly neatly and is quite solid. It has been refretted with larger wire than 1940s pattern, and is fairly if not absolutely straight and plays well. The exact pedigree on the adjustable bridge is obscure; it appears the correct older Chicago style but appears more modern, or at least the adjustment wheels do. The repro single-bound tortoise celluloid pickguard is the correct original shape but less decorative than the original fitting.
This big pulchritudinous Prince is a cool find for sure, a relatively affordable showpiece of high deco guitar design and swing-era sweetheart for the player or collector with a taste for the slightly unusual. It is housed in the original red plush-lined HSC, in itself a real find as this is not an easy guitar to fit! Overall Excellent - Condition.
