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| Regal Long Necked 5-string - General Banjo Topics - Banjo - ezFolk Forums | |||||||||||||||
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paulhendriks81 Approved
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Hi there! Was just reading about the lack of info about old Regal banjos. Dang! I've had a hard time too. I just picked up an old long neck 5 string banjo by Regal, so they do exist, but haven't found out much about them other than they were manufactured from the 20' - 50's, mine is all original hardware (except the spikes i put in for the 5th string) with what appear to be old waverly tuning pegs. Don't really care what it's worth, sounds great sill rockin' a super old genuine calf-skin top (no doubt pre 1950's). Any other info would be appreciated. -paul out. PS : I bow my banjo to play gypsy style fiddle leads, and the long neck banjo offers some real sweet low drone notes, also, with 5 frets past the 5th string tuning peg, I can bow my real low cello sounding notes easily, without hitting that dang high string!
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Philj200 Approved 
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My tenor is a Regal. Here's a bit more information. They have one claim to distingtion. Assuming your banjo has a resonator, take a look at the brackets. They are individually forged and because of the unique shape, there is no separate resonator bracket disc. Every other banjo with a resonator I have ever seen has a slotted disk that bolted in a varity of ways to the head and the resonator. The Regals have a single stove bolt in the center of the resonator nesting the rim of the resonator into the outer edges of the multiple brackets. The stove bolt joines a sleeve nut in the wooden truss bar inside the head. Very different from any other in my experience, but it works. Those brackets are a bit on the fragile side and I had to epoxy several of mine together. But my tenor languished in a damp cellar for close to fifty years untouched before it came my way. I have several other banjos that all have plastic heads for durability. This one still had a calfskin head. Since it might be original I chose to retain it. How it survived is a mystery I choose to honor. Suspect your Waverly tuners may have been added as an upgrade. Mine has 1:1 friction pegs and they work but not without a battle each time. The company as you noted existed from 1920 until it was purchased by Fender in 1950. They never were a great brand but they were sturdy and reliable and while they made a line on instruments under their own name, mostly they were the manufacturer out of Chicago for house brands. Montgomery Ward, Sears, etc. By a J.C. Penny banjo in 1935, and you'll probably have purchased a Regal. Fender did not care to keep the brand going for whatever reason they had. I suspect, they wanted the tools and dies and perhaps the skills of a few people (it never was a big company) and within a short while closed the brand out. Not they came out with their own line for quite a while and their mid-priced instruments do not have the cast-bracket assmebly. The name persists in some Asian imports that have nothing to do with your banjo or mine. There is one other distinction; because of the individual castings, the instruments tend to weigh a ton. Question: Are you sure the neck is original? I am under the impression that Pete Seegar made the first know long-neck in the mid-50's and that Vega was the first to make them commercially in the mid-60's. Doesn't really matter if the instrument plays to your satisfaction. Most of my instruments are mix-and-match mongrels. I like them that way. (I have a Vega pot with a Goldtone LN on it and an Aida [from a tenor] pot with a scooped Goldtone neck on that one.) Can you post a photo or two? Last edited on Tue Jan 8th, 2008 08:56 pm by Philj200 ____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
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paulhendriks81 Approved
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     Hope these work. And help. Also, I was thinking about ways to make a banjo more playable with a bow, was gonna chop down a blank cello bridge see how that works. I still want the 5th string, but also want to be able to bow the low (1st string) without hittting the 5th. I was thinking about cutting a little step in the cello bridge mod to lower the 5th. This is probabley gonna mess with my intonation, right? Thanks again for the info! -paul out.
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Philj200 Approved
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Well, I'll rolled, dipped and batter fried. That's a Regal bnajo with a long neck. The pictures are fine. Major differences between your and mine. I suspect they are generational. We'll probably never know. You have standard brackets, not the cast oddities on mine. Your tuning board is relatively modern. Mine scream 19th-century (even if it could not be). I'll try to post some pix to show the difference but have not had good luck with that. Don't try the cello bridge thing without thinking it through. The entire viol family have curved fingerboards to match the reciprical arch of the bridge. You might consider a dedicated banjo with a custom (arched) fingerboard. Not impossible. Now I'll try to post the pix of mine little tenor (but heavy tenor). Attachment: IMG_1170.JPG (Downloaded 13 times)
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
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Philj200 Approved
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AOL is excruciatinglingly slow tonight. I'm forced to send the pix one at a time. Sorry. Attachment: IMG_1171.JPG (Downloaded 12 times)
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
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Philj200 Approved
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Note the castings on the second pix. and the plain tuning board without a name. "Regal" is stamped on the wooden truss rod which looks bigger and heavier on mine than on yours. Odd since the neck is 2/3rd the lenght and takes less strain. There is also a "Regal" decal on the inside of the pot. And obviously mine has a resonator. LN's usually don't. But there is no reason why they can't. Goldtone offers LNs with resonators. Could it be that you have a Regal made in the transition years when Fender operated the company? I have no idea how to dig further. Attachment: IMG_1172.JPG (Downloaded 11 times)
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
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| ezFolk Forums > Banjo > General Banjo Topics > Regal Long Necked 5-string | |
