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I think this is an earlier example- worm under gear tuners and one gear gone walkabout. These usually have the Bell Brand tailpiece that Regal favoured and there is a clamshell type- which may not be original. Then there is the pickguard and if I was interested, I would ask to see a photo with this creation removed to see how it is attached.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/39411861712...8AAOSwWL5iq2qn
Hopefully that pickguard isn't glued down.
When I got mine and took it up to Jake W to have the neck fixed, I asked him about a pickguard. "Nah," he said, "they didn't have them."
Check out the case with this one
I want the case.
I put one on mine and have had no regrets or second thoughts about it.
It's a thin piece of tortoise plastic, and I used the standard 3M adhesive that is widely used on flat top guitars.
When I bought the plastic, the best looking tortoise celluloid was temporarily unavailable, so it's made of some cheap celluloid that I have since discarded. I may leave it alone, or I might replace it with some better stuff at some point. If someone comes by with a smartphone in the next couple of days, I'll try to remember to attach a picture.
I do not believe in leaving tops unprotected when there's a risk of tearing through it with a pick. I am not a proponent of the "Trigger" look.
I'm certainly not going to worry about whether adding a pickguard is going to devalue an instrument that's worth well under $1000.
I've also been known to put guards on pre-war Gibson and Martin guitars that were built without them. I go to the trouble of making them nice looking and appropriate for the era. Most of the time, I use the common shapes that the manufacturers put on the same models when guards became standard a few years later. I did use a cloud shaped guard on a couple of upper line Martins that were based on shapes that were used by Martin on custom orders in the 1910's, and also used by the Larson brothers.
For the Octofone, I used more of an art-deco shape. It made sense to me, since I perceive the Octofone to already have a bit of an art-deco air about it.
My point of view is that pick damage that goes through the finish or even worse, into the top, is bad for the instrument and devalues it a lot more than adding a nice looking guard. If a purist wants to tear through the top of his instrument, that's his business. I'm not going to lose any sleep over protecting mine.
You make a good point. I'd like to see what yours looks like.Quote:
Originally Posted by rcc56
That G & S case with that Octofone is great- and I imagine very rare. This Octofone has a screw in the guard and there appears to be something that is in the sound hole that it screws into. It is possible that this arrangement just clamps on to the top but it may be a more permanent fix that might be detrimental. I am generally in favour of guards for the reasons mentioned above and have made efforts to acquire them or making them as necessary.
My Octofone came in a cheap cardboard guitar case; no way to tell if it was originally sold that way, or acquired it over the years.
Great instruments, really fragile; maybe I'll investigate a pick guard for mine, dunno. Already had a carbon fiber neck reinforcing bar and a real ebony fingerboard installed. Gotta be a limit on how much one puts into an instrument that sold for <$20 new, right?
Octofone art-deco pickguard:
I really like that pickguard. The shape is very attractive.
Thanks, Sue.
My eye goes to the compensated demi-saddle / bridge. Muy coolioso.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sue Rieter
Mick
That's a bridge of unknown origin that had been in my parts box for years. I never figured out what it might have come from. It's not Martin, Lyon & Healy, Weymann, or anything else I recognize. I stuck it on there about 20 years ago; it needed a home and it seemed to be a good place to use it. When I put it on, I wanted a little more definition and sustain from the bass strings, so I inlayed a piece of bone in it, and it worked.
For anyone who might be interested in how these were built, the top is spruce [perhaps Michigan white spruce??], the back and sides appear to be birch, the neck is a light colored open pored wood [maybe cherry or an off-species of light colored mahogany], and a dyed mystery wood fingerboard. Sometimes I think that Regal made these as an efficient way to use up wood that was too small for guitars but too big for mandolins. The finish looks like it might be some kind of furniture varnish appropriate to the period. The scale is 20 7/8", and it has 4 tapered ladder braces each on the top and back. The foremost and rear-most braces are not as tall as the middle braces. If I remember correctly, the neck joint is a butt joint with a dowel. The construction is quite light-- I recommend that these instruments be strung quite lightly. I string it with a heavyish mandolin set: 11-16-26-41, and it seems content that way.
It was given to me about 22 years ago, needing a nut and a couple of braces glued. At one point, the neck started to come loose, so I installed a threaded insert and bolted it on. This was the first octave mandolin I ever saw-- back then, no one was making them, at least not on this side of the pond.
Some folks give the Octofones a bad review, but I like it. The tone kind of reminds me of what a mountain dulcimer might sound like if it had a real sound chamber with an active top.
Me too. Mine needed a headstock repair, and a neck re-set. I had a carbon fiber bar installed in the neck, which had warped enough to make the action super-high. When the tech pulled the fretboard to install the bar, the "mystery wood" kinda disintegrated, so I got a new ebony board out of the process.Quote:
Originally Posted by rcc56
I have my lower two string courses octaved, and I put up with the cheapo tuners and tailpiece. It's a cool little cheap instrument, that has to be babied to some extent; I've never played a more lightly-built instrument of that size. Quite a contrast to my other (Flatiron) OM, which has a scale three inches longer.
I love mine for playing rhythm at old-time jams, and for vocal accompaniment. Still wish I had the case advertised above, though; mine resides semi-permanently in an old 3/4-size guitar gig bag.
I feel a little bad. My former case was nothing to shake a stick at, but it wasn't a gig bag.Quote:
Originally Posted by allenhopkins
My DH took it to the Swap Shop at our local Transfer Station. Hopefully it found a new home.