~1932 Regal Dobro Model 27 Sunburst
Description
Regal Dobro Model 27 c 1937 | $1250 | (v2334) In 1928 John and Rudy Dopyera left their brothers and the National Company in California to form the Dobro Corporation. These two patented and marketed a 'spider' type resonator setup, different from that of a National. By 1932 Dobro sales were booming and the brothers licensed Regal in Chicago to begin manufacturing the wood bodies for their Dobro and other branded resonator instruments. The metal parts were supplied by Dobro and the wooden parts by Regal. By 1937 all wood-bodied Dobros were made in Chicago. The Model 27, which cost $27, was an entry level guitar, but shared the same innards as the more expensive offerings. Towards the end of the 30s, the price rose to $32 so this could, technically, be called a Model 32. It's often tricky to date later 30s Dobros, since the use of serial numbers was dropped for the most part. This particular example has no serial number, and shares a number of late 30s appointments including no serial number, stamped cone as opposed to spun, and a traditional dovetail joint instead of the standard neck 'stick' typically used to attach a resonator neck.
The body is made from what appears to be three-ply birch laminate. The top, back, neck and peg head all sport an attractive sunburst motif. The top and back are bound in white celluloid.. The 12-fret neck is likely basswood with an ebonized and radiused fingerboard. The neck is carved in the typical Regal 'V' of the era, with enough 'meat' to ensure a straight neck under tension. One interesting side note is that when Regal built a 12-fret Dobro, the top of the body was not truncated to accept the extra two frets, allowing the body length to be greater than the 14-fret version. There is no sound well in this example. The cone appears original to the guitar and is in excellent condition. The tailpiece is the trapeze-type and typical of many Chicago-made instruments. The end pin is replaced with an input jack.
The body measures 14 1/4" across at the lower bout. Scale length is 25". The fingerboard measures 1 13/16" across at the nut and string spacing is 2 3/16" at the saddle.
The guitar is in mostly clean, original condition aside from the end pin and under-saddle pickup installation. We recently: reset the neck; leveled and dressed the frets; cleaned and lubed the tuners; installed a new saddle. The guitar appears to be well-played but well-cared for, too. There are a few fret divots and finger board wear in the first position The neck is quite straight with low action set at 5 & 6/64" with plenty of string-pressure to drive the cone. There are minimal nicks to the finish; overall quite sparkly! The guitar plays fingerstyle with ease and is quite loud with the desired Dobro 'high and lonesome' sound. One of the better playing and sounding of this ilk.
No case.
Check out the sound clip
The body is made from what appears to be three-ply birch laminate. The top, back, neck and peg head all sport an attractive sunburst motif. The top and back are bound in white celluloid.. The 12-fret neck is likely basswood with an ebonized and radiused fingerboard. The neck is carved in the typical Regal 'V' of the era, with enough 'meat' to ensure a straight neck under tension. One interesting side note is that when Regal built a 12-fret Dobro, the top of the body was not truncated to accept the extra two frets, allowing the body length to be greater than the 14-fret version. There is no sound well in this example. The cone appears original to the guitar and is in excellent condition. The tailpiece is the trapeze-type and typical of many Chicago-made instruments. The end pin is replaced with an input jack.
The body measures 14 1/4" across at the lower bout. Scale length is 25". The fingerboard measures 1 13/16" across at the nut and string spacing is 2 3/16" at the saddle.
The guitar is in mostly clean, original condition aside from the end pin and under-saddle pickup installation. We recently: reset the neck; leveled and dressed the frets; cleaned and lubed the tuners; installed a new saddle. The guitar appears to be well-played but well-cared for, too. There are a few fret divots and finger board wear in the first position The neck is quite straight with low action set at 5 & 6/64" with plenty of string-pressure to drive the cone. There are minimal nicks to the finish; overall quite sparkly! The guitar plays fingerstyle with ease and is quite loud with the desired Dobro 'high and lonesome' sound. One of the better playing and sounding of this ilk.
No case.
Check out the sound clip