Regal Serenader Concert Size Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1928)
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Item #11950
Serenader Concert Size Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar, made by Regal, c. 1928, made in Chicago, natural lacquer finish, rosewood back and sides, spruce top; mahogany neck with ebonized fingerboard, original black chipboard case.
The variety of instruments built by the Regal company of Chicago seems never ending; just when you think you've seen everything up comes something new. While mostly remembered for low budget instruments Regal also crafted some of the finest guitars to come out of Chicago in the 1920s and '30s. Many were built for sale under other names, and sometimes (as in this case) they bear no brand at all.
This fancy pearl-trimmed flat top appears practically identical to the "Serenader Concert Size" guitar illustrated in the 1929 Montgomery Ward catalog, except that model is described as having "Genuine mahogany" back and sides where this is made of rosewood. That model was priced at $24.95; this rosewood instrument would have had to be somewhat costlier simply due to the materials. We don't know if this is also a Ward's model or was made for another jobber, but based on the illustration at least cosmetically the instruments are indistinguishable.
This fancy concert-sized guitar has no label, number or other branding. The back and sides are made of a surprisingly fine grade of solid and beautifully straight grained rosewood which was not cheap even in the 1920s! The spruce top is ladder braced, strikingly trimmed all around with a wide band of colorful abalone with celluloid outer binding. The soundhole is bound with chain pattern marquetry bordering an thinner abalone ring. The back is single bound with a simple wood backstrip, the ebony bridge is a typical Regal rectangular pattern.
The one-piece mahogany neck has a fairly slim soft "V" profile; the ebonized fingerboard is single bound with an elaborate "tree of life" pearl inlay pattern from the 3rd to 11th frets and some dots added above and below for good measure. The narrow slotted headstock is bound and faced in rosewood with some small inlaid pearl pieces. The tuners are the same engraved Waverly strips used on 1920s Martins and Nationals, again a fairly expensive fitting.
While not as delicately built as a 1920s Martin (or even a top-grade Harmony Supertone) this is a well made pre-war rosewood guitar with high grade materials, very fancy pearl trim and a good sound. It serves well as a fingerpicker for pre-war blues stylings and other period sounds and is stout enough to respond to heavier flatpicking as well.
Overall length is 37 3/16 in. (94.5 cm.), 13 5/8 in. (34.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 7/8 in. (9.8 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 1/2 in. (622 mm.). Width of nut is 1 25/32 in. (45 mm.).
This guitar show a some typical wear and a decent amount of mostly older repair work overall but remains a nice playing and sounding instrument. The lacquer finish remains largely original on the back and sides, with one decent sized area of overfinish on the lower back related to crack repairs there. There are dings, dents and scratches to the back and sides but no really heavy wear. The top shows some noticeable picking wear and looks to have had some light French polishing done related to a number of crack repairs. The back of the neck is heavily worn down to the wood on the sides and spine with a number of feelable dings and dents.
There are several mostly older crack repairs. The top has four straight spruce grain splits running from the back side of the bridge to the back edge, with the longest one on the bass side extending forward of the bridge almost to the soundhole. Closer to the edge of the lower treble bout there is another fairly long grain split, with a couple of small ones right off the edge. These are all sealed with some fairly extensive cleating work underneath; this looks like older work and they not completely lined up as neatly as they might have been.
The rosewood back has a sloppily sealed crack off the lower treble bout edge, which looks to have taken a hit long ago. This is accompanied by an area of finish disturbance around it from an ancient overfinish. The side/bottom seam in this area was resealed as some of the binding is not perfectly seated, and there is some of that old overfinish in this area as well. There are several smaller grain splits in the center of the back, neatly sealed with no overfinish and cleated with cross-grain rosewood.
The neck has been reset and the bridge is a repro in the correct style but with an angled bone saddle. Internally the original long narrow Stella-style maple bridge plate has been replaced with a thin but deeper maple piece to better stabilize the top; the original ladder braces are intact. This guitar seems well enough suited to steel strings and is a good playing instrument with a surprisingly sweet and fairly powerful sound. It would also offer a deeper, mellower tone if strung with silk & steel. This is far from a pristine instrument but a nice player's example of a higher grade Regal guitar, one of the fancier we have had. It lives in what appears to be the original worn chipboard case. Overall Very Good + Condition.
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The variety of instruments built by the Regal company of Chicago seems never ending; just when you think you've seen everything up comes something new. While mostly remembered for low budget instruments Regal also crafted some of the finest guitars to come out of Chicago in the 1920s and '30s. Many were built for sale under other names, and sometimes (as in this case) they bear no brand at all.
This fancy pearl-trimmed flat top appears practically identical to the "Serenader Concert Size" guitar illustrated in the 1929 Montgomery Ward catalog, except that model is described as having "Genuine mahogany" back and sides where this is made of rosewood. That model was priced at $24.95; this rosewood instrument would have had to be somewhat costlier simply due to the materials. We don't know if this is also a Ward's model or was made for another jobber, but based on the illustration at least cosmetically the instruments are indistinguishable.
This fancy concert-sized guitar has no label, number or other branding. The back and sides are made of a surprisingly fine grade of solid and beautifully straight grained rosewood which was not cheap even in the 1920s! The spruce top is ladder braced, strikingly trimmed all around with a wide band of colorful abalone with celluloid outer binding. The soundhole is bound with chain pattern marquetry bordering an thinner abalone ring. The back is single bound with a simple wood backstrip, the ebony bridge is a typical Regal rectangular pattern.
The one-piece mahogany neck has a fairly slim soft "V" profile; the ebonized fingerboard is single bound with an elaborate "tree of life" pearl inlay pattern from the 3rd to 11th frets and some dots added above and below for good measure. The narrow slotted headstock is bound and faced in rosewood with some small inlaid pearl pieces. The tuners are the same engraved Waverly strips used on 1920s Martins and Nationals, again a fairly expensive fitting.
While not as delicately built as a 1920s Martin (or even a top-grade Harmony Supertone) this is a well made pre-war rosewood guitar with high grade materials, very fancy pearl trim and a good sound. It serves well as a fingerpicker for pre-war blues stylings and other period sounds and is stout enough to respond to heavier flatpicking as well.
Overall length is 37 3/16 in. (94.5 cm.), 13 5/8 in. (34.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 7/8 in. (9.8 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 1/2 in. (622 mm.). Width of nut is 1 25/32 in. (45 mm.).
This guitar show a some typical wear and a decent amount of mostly older repair work overall but remains a nice playing and sounding instrument. The lacquer finish remains largely original on the back and sides, with one decent sized area of overfinish on the lower back related to crack repairs there. There are dings, dents and scratches to the back and sides but no really heavy wear. The top shows some noticeable picking wear and looks to have had some light French polishing done related to a number of crack repairs. The back of the neck is heavily worn down to the wood on the sides and spine with a number of feelable dings and dents.
There are several mostly older crack repairs. The top has four straight spruce grain splits running from the back side of the bridge to the back edge, with the longest one on the bass side extending forward of the bridge almost to the soundhole. Closer to the edge of the lower treble bout there is another fairly long grain split, with a couple of small ones right off the edge. These are all sealed with some fairly extensive cleating work underneath; this looks like older work and they not completely lined up as neatly as they might have been.
The rosewood back has a sloppily sealed crack off the lower treble bout edge, which looks to have taken a hit long ago. This is accompanied by an area of finish disturbance around it from an ancient overfinish. The side/bottom seam in this area was resealed as some of the binding is not perfectly seated, and there is some of that old overfinish in this area as well. There are several smaller grain splits in the center of the back, neatly sealed with no overfinish and cleated with cross-grain rosewood.
The neck has been reset and the bridge is a repro in the correct style but with an angled bone saddle. Internally the original long narrow Stella-style maple bridge plate has been replaced with a thin but deeper maple piece to better stabilize the top; the original ladder braces are intact. This guitar seems well enough suited to steel strings and is a good playing instrument with a surprisingly sweet and fairly powerful sound. It would also offer a deeper, mellower tone if strung with silk & steel. This is far from a pristine instrument but a nice player's example of a higher grade Regal guitar, one of the fancier we have had. It lives in what appears to be the original worn chipboard case. Overall Very Good + Condition.
