Regal Model 102S Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar, made by Wulschner & Sons, c. 1898, made in Indianapolis, Indiana, serial # 5340, natural varnish finish, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, spruce top; mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.
This is a very rare and historically interesting flat top, one of the first to bear the Regal brand. The now obscure Wulschner & Sons of Indianapolis were the original owners of the Regal tradename, active just before the turn of the 20th century. By 1900 the brand was already in flux, later surviving as a sub-line of Lyon & Healy for a while before becoming reborn an independent Chicago company in the early 1920s. While later Regals are mostly remembered as budget-brand instruments, these first Indianapolis made instruments are fine quality pieces, comparable to many of the better guitars of the period.
This Style 102s was the most basic model the company offered, at a price in 1897 of $23.75 which was a considerable sum at the time. While a plain guitar in terms of decoration it is built of first-class materials. This includes a superbly tight-grain spruce top, Brazilian rosewood back and sides and mahogany (or possibly Spanish cedar) neck with a pearl-dot inlaid ebony fingerboard. The top trim and soundhole rings are of dyed wood, with an outer top binding layer of celluloid. The ebony pin bridge is rather similar to Schmidt practice, with a curved rear contour and sharply defined pyramid ends.
The neck has a soft "V" profile, much less sharp and more comfortable than many from this era. There is a small wood disc under the soundhole inscribed with the makers name, and a partially disintegrated paper label above espousing the quality of Regal products. Internally the top is fairly stoutly ladder braced in the typical late 19th century pattern, with a very thin maple bridgeplate. It handles Silk & Steel stringing well, and would also be happy with Nylon or gut strings. This is a fine playing and lovely sounding instrument, and a cool piece of the mostly lost guitar history concerning the early beginnings of the Regal brand.
Overall length is 36 3/4 in. (93.3 cm.), 12 7/8 in. (32.7 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 5/8 in. (9.2 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 in. (610 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
Overall this very rare 120-year old guitar is in excellent playing condition The finish on the top, back and sides shows evidence of a later French polish finish over the original finish, which is intact underneath. Hardly any wear has been inflicted since that work was done; a few old worn spots can be seen under this finish.
There are a few older repairs; the most noticeable is a glued and cleated center seam separation between the bridge and tail block. A short crack has been repaired at the soundhole on the bass side running an inch or so through the lower area of the sound hole towards the bridge. The back has a couple of old grain splits to the rosewood. All of these repairs are now under the finish.
The bridge itself has been reglued, the saddle replaced with a later bone saddle and the neck neatly reset. The original thin-wire frets show hardly any wear. The nut is a recent bone replacement, the tuners are 1950s Waverly strips. Inside the guitar, the original bridge plate and ladder braces are in excellent condition with no signs of repair. This is a lovely little guitar in the late 19th century American tradition, a fine player with silk-and-steel strings offering a very rich sound for a small body instrument. Overall Excellent - Condition.
