REGAL Resophonic- Age & Value?

[Mike Gregory Banjo Maker]

In GENERAL terms:
1. When were they made
2. What is the ballpark value?

Here are the pictures

[red7flag]

You might have better luck at Reso-Nation. http://www.reso-nation.org/

[MikeEdgerton]

They were made in the 30's. Is there a cone inside that resonator? Regal made some faux resonators.

You can find the real resonator models on sites like Reverb and a few retail sites from $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 (maybe more). I can pretty much guaranty they aren't selling at those prices. I've seen them sell for less than half of the low price listed above. Perhaps someone that has recently sold or purchased one can chime in but you can't go by what people are trying to sell them for on the web.

[Mike Gregory Banjo Maker]

Yes, real cone.
Even with a couple strings missing, it sounds really sweet.

[Mike Gregory Banjo Maker]

DANG!
I tried register on Reso Nation..
Their evil robot then informed me that I had not copied the Captcha correctly.
So I redid THAT, and the Evil Robot told me that I had entered an invalid name or password.
so I clicked on Password Reset, and their Evil Robot told me the e-mail address wasn't valid.

That's the THIRD forum today giving me grief trying to find out basic info about this.

I am tired of trying.

[Jeff Mando]

You can find the real resonator models on sites like Reverb and a few retail sites from $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 (maybe more). I can pretty much guaranty they aren't selling at those prices. I've seen them sell for less than half of the low price listed above.

It should be noted that 20 or so years ago, before all the "reissue" resonator instruments started appearing, vintage resonator instruments were very hard to find and brought big money due to the demand, especially the plated guitars by National. Nowadays nobody gets too excited about resonators......kind of a shame, IMHO.

[allenhopkins]

Your Regal/Dobro mandolin is exactly like my Dobro mandolin, except that mine has the "moon and stars" pattern of cut-outs on the resonator coverplate. Regal and Dobro, both Chicago companies, cooperated in building these instruments, with Regal making the wooden bodies and Dobro the resonator and coverplate. The mandolins were sold under both brands.

As Mike E mentions, "1930's" is a good guess for its vintage. As far as I know, neither Regal nor Dobro put serial numbers on them, so its hard to get more exact. Check the coverplate for a "Licensed by National Dobro Corp." inscription; if you find one, that will date the instrument to after National and Dobro merged in 1934. I don't know if the Regal-branded mandolins had any mention of the Dobro name, but the resonator design was a Dopyera/Dobro patent, and had to be licensed out to Regal and anyone else using it.

As to value, I paid $250 for mine, 25+ years ago. Almost certainly less than $1K now; Guitar Center has one here for $600, looking a bit more raggedy than yours. If yours is in really nice playable condition, I'd say $600-800 or so. These came in shaped chipboard cases, felt lined.

Check out the neck angle; mine needed a neck re-set, and my repair guy said that the neck block was made of very soft wood. The instrument bodies Regal built for Dobro and National weren't noted for excellent material or finish work.