- Regal Guitar Serial Number Search
- Regal Guitar 1930
- Regal Guitar History
- Regal Acoustic Guitar Serial Numbers
| Private (1896–1954) Brand (1954–present) | |
| Industry | Musical instruments |
|---|---|
| Fate | Company defunct in 1954, brand acquired by Harmony, then owned by other companies |
| Founded | 1896 in Indianapolis |
| Founder | Emil Wulschner |
| Defunct | 1954; 66 years ago |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | United States |
| Products | Resonator guitars, mandolins and ukuleles |
| Owner | Saga Musical Instruments (1987–present) |
- Unfortunately, our records are not complete enough to provide precise dating information for many Fender acoustic guitars from the early 1960s through the 1970s and 1980s. Although the tables below are as accurate as possible, serial numbers of these acoustic guitars have never been archived and are of no assistance when attempting to date.
- Guitars Regal RD-30TS Studio Series Squareneck Resophonic Guitar – Sunburst Mahogany $ 550.00. Guitars Regal RD-40B Studio Series Roundneck Resophonic Guitar.
- Current Regal Resonator Guitars are made in China and imported by Saga Musical Instruments of San Francisco, California. Saga acquired the brand and first started producing Regal Resonator guitars in 1987. This was the first time since 1941, that resonator guitars were made under the brand name. Saga’s first Regal guitars were made in Japan.
- In the early 1930s, Regal had licensed the use of Dobro resonators. When National moved from California to Chicago, Regal acquired the rights to manufacture Dobro instruments. That made Regal be another producer of 'house brand' guitars before World War II. Production of resonator guitars ceased in 1941, and of all fretted instruments in 1954.
The Regal Musical Instrument Company is a former USmusical instruments company and current brand owned by different companies through the ages. By the 1930s, Regal was one of the largest manufacturers in the world.
Since its inception, the Regal name has been used in a wide range of resonator instruments, such as guitars, mandolins and ukuleles. Nowadays Regal is property Saga Musical Instruments, with its instruments manufactured in Korea and distributed in San Francisco, United States.[1]
There are no numbers on the guitar in question because Saga/Regal probably didn't give their guitars serial numbers when they started selling them. You should contact Saga Music (sagamusic.com) for identification of your guitar. Assuming it's a Regal RD-45, I would guess a worth between $200 and $400 in the condition shown in the photo.
Currently, only resonator guitars are sold under the Regal brand. All are manufactured in Korea and then distributed in the United States.[1]
History[edit]
Emil Wulschner, a retailer of Indianapolis, opened his first music instruments factory –'Emil Wulschner & Son' in 1896 to build guitars and mandolins. Products were sold under three brand names: Regal, University and 20th. Century. Wulschner died in 1900,[1] and the new owners renamed the company the 'Regal Musical instrument Manufacturing Company' in 1901 and continued using the Regal name on instruments through 1904.
In 1904, Lyon & Healy purchased rights to the brand Regal. Four years later, the company officially re-introduced the Regal name[1] in Chicago, establishing their factory there. Lyon & Healy set Regal up as an independent company in 1924.
Regal Guitar Serial Number Search
During its first years of existence, Regal only marketed 4-string instruments such as ukuleles and tenor guitars. The production of 6-string guitars would began later. The Regal brand was heavily involved in the production of resonator fretted instruments from their first development until 1941, manufacturing components and bodies for both the National and the Dobro companies which they acquired in 1934, though the Dopyera brothers still produced the resonator cones for them. The bodies of their laminated bellied guitars were particularly suited to resonator conversion.[2]
In the early 1930s, Regal had licensed the use of Dobro resonators. When National moved from California to Chicago, Regal acquired the rights to manufacture Dobro instruments. That made Regal be another producer of 'house brand' guitars before World War II.
Production of resonator guitars ceased in 1941, and of all fretted instruments in 1954. That same year, Regal close down as a company, and its rights to the name and assets were sold to the Harmony Company. Harmony owned Regal for a brief period so Fender took over the brand in the late 1950s.[1] In 1965, Fender distributed five models of banjo under the Regal name, as the 'exclusive distributors'. It is not clear when Fender ceased to commercialised Regal products.
In an effort to reintroduce the brand to global markets and focusing on overseas production sources, Saga Musical Instruments acquired the Regal name in 1987 and has steadily produced a complete line of metal and wood body resophonic instruments.[1]
Brand owners[edit]
- Emil Wulschner & Son (1896–1904)
- Lyon & Healy (1904–1954)
- Harmony Company (1954–late 1950s)
- Fender (1950s–?)
- Saga Musical Instruments (1987–present)
Regal Guitar 1930
References[edit]
- ^ abcdefThe history of the famous Regal guitar on Jags House website
- ^Regal Musical Instrument Co. on Lardy's Ukulele Database
External links[edit]
- Regal on Saga Music website
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Regal (musical instrument brand). |
Many bluesmen started out on Regalresonator guitars, now you can get a great quality Regal again foramazinglylow prices.
Instruments currently produced inKorea. Distributed by Saga Musical Instruments of San Francisco,California. Original Regal instruments produced beginning 1896 inIndianapolis, Indiana. Regal reappeared in Chicago, Illinois in 1908,possibly tied to Lyon and Healy (WASHBURN). U.S. production wascentered in Chicago from 1908 through the late 1960s. Models from themid 1950s to the late 1960s produced in Chicago, Illinois by theHarmony company. Some Regal models licensed to Fender, and someappear with Fender logo during the late 1950s to mid 1960s (prior toFender´s own flat-top and Coronado series).
Emil Wulschner was a retailer andwholesaler in Indianapolis, Indiana during the 1880s. In the early1890s he added his stepson to the company, and changed the name to'Wulschner and Son'. They opened a factory around 1896 to buildguitars and mandolins under three different trademarks: Regal,University, and 20th Century. Though Wulschner passed away in 1900,the factory continued on through 1902 or 1903 under control of alarger corporation. The business end of the company let it go whenthe economy faltered during those final years. This is the end of theoriginal Regal trademarked instruments.
In 1904 Lyon & Healy (WASHBURN)purchased the rights to the Regal trademark, thousands of completedand works in progress instruments, and the company stockpile of rawmaterials. A new Regal company debuted in Chicago, Illinois in 1908(it is not certain what happened during those four years) and it issupposed that they were tied to Lyon & Healy. The new companymarketed ukuleles and tenor guitars, but not 6-stringguitars.
However, experts have agreed thatRegal built guitar models for other labels (Bruno, Weyman, Stahl, andLyon & Healy) during the 1910-1920 era. Regal eventuallyannounced that their six string models would be distributed through anumber of wholesalers.
In 1930, the Tonk Bros. Companyacquired the rights to the Washburn trademark when the then-currentholder (J. R. Stewart Co.) went bankrupt. Regal bought the rights tothe Stewart and LeDomino names from Tonk Bros., and was makingfretted instruments for all three trademarks. Also in the early1930s, Regal had licensed the use of Dobro resonators in a series ofguitars. In 1934 they acquired the rights to manufacture Dobro brandinstruments when National-Dobro moved to Chicago from California.Regal then announced that they would be joining the name brand guitarproducers that sold direct to dealers in 1938. Regal was, in effect,another producer of 'house brand' guitars prior to World WarII.
It has been estimated by one sourcethat Regal-built Dobros stopped in 1940, and were not built from thenon. During World War II, guitar production lines were converted tothe war effort. After the war, the Regal Musical Instrumentcompany´s production was not as great as the pre- war productionamounts. In 1954 the trademark and company fixtures were sold toHarmony. Harmony and Kay, were the other major producers of HouseBrand instruments. Regal guitars were licensed to Fender in the late1950s, and some of the Harmony built 'Regals' were rebranded with theFender logo. This agreement continued up until the mid 1960s, whenFender introduced their own flat-top guitars.
Regal Guitar History
In 1987, Saga Musical Instrumentsreintroduced the Regal trademark to the U.S. market. Regal now offersa traditional resonator guitar in both a round neck and square neckversions. Saga, located in San Francisco, also offers the Blueridgeline of acoustic instruments, as well as mandolins, and stringedinstrument parts and replacement pieces.(Early Regal history courtesyJohn Teagle, Washburn: Over One Hundred Years of Fine StringedInstruments. This noteworthy book brilliantly unravels core historiesof Washburn, Regal, and Lyon & Healy and is a recommended mustread to guitar collectors.)