Very enjoyable and informative video. Thank you!! Recently picked up a May Bell Hawaiian style slide guitar and currently rehydrating and contemplating converting the bridge to make her a frettable instrument. Enjoyed your video!

Nice rescue Robert! I have a Supertone that my friend is rescuing currently.....I can't wait to try it out....it was owned by my father who has been gone for 51 years..... the Supertone was purchased in the early 30s I think?

Wow that Regal does have quite the sound! Whoever bought it - I bet they hold on to it.

Very informative, thanks man. Good job on them as well

No doubt and I see your point as valid. I don't know much about Regal but I belive they had the "Serenader" model? I always liked the way the Regals looked. Woody Guthrie used to play a May Belle which is in the Guthrie museum in Oklahoma. There's pictures of him with it from around 1941 or so. I don't see many of them so you are right in wanting to price it higher or keep it as it's very rare. I dont know much about Larsen , but Gibson, I always considered to be slightly better quality because they painted their headstocks and internally used to have fabric around the outer bracing where the cuts and grooves are. I had a 1939 Kalamazoo KG14 where you could see steps of fabric coming out with glue on them. But very close in craftsmanship, the neck nlays I always liked better on Gibson too, Southern Jumbos and Advanced Jumbo. I would say they are comparable. Since sound is subjective, I like the prewar Stella, Martins and Gibsons best. I like the overtones of the Martin's and the Gibsons have a woody box sound. So warm to hear. I never liked the Harmony Stella's, sounded restricted and like the wood was too thinknor something with construction and vibrated much less on the top. Anyways, I enjoy you videos.

@R.S.Randall

2 жыл бұрын

Serenader was used by both Regal and Harmony at different points and my guess is it was probably a brand of a particular department store rather than a guitar maker. I hadn’t seen the the Guthrie May Bell before, interesting but I know Woody never managed to hold on to guitars very long and probably didn’t care too much about them so there are no doubt dozens of woody’s guitars floating around. As for Gibson’s build quality, it fluctuates wildly year to year and model to model. Whereas Martins go through more subtle changes and you can usually count on a certain level of fit and finish. But the nicest Regal stuff is easily as nice as the nicest Gibson stuff, at least for my money.

Awesome vid. I own a maybelle parlor by Slingerland. Btw, slingerland and slingerland drums are not the same company. Slingerland were known for their banjos.

@R.S.Randall

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Actually they are indeed the same company, it’s well documented, and it makes sense really, a banjo is a drum with a neck on it. Thanks for watching.

@user-sg6fb4ip5h

3 жыл бұрын

Right. I was talking about the original company. They folded in the 70s. And then the company changed hands several times. Enjoyed the vid!

Very interesting and entertaining video! Maybe you should do one on the Supertone.

@davidarmstrong9038

3 жыл бұрын

YES MAN! Great idea! do it!! I love my Supertones.

regal is a # 5 manufacturer of the golden era; based on sound, quality and production types. I rate: Gibson, Martin(under Gibson, yes), Larsen, Washburn, Stella(until 1939)#4 then Regal#5. Stella over Regal as Stella made 12 string, and more model variations of good quality sound. When they were bought out by Harmony in 1940?, they went down hill.

@R.S.Randall

6 жыл бұрын

According to the old catalogs the regal is a model 2019. It's funny, for me I would put both martin and larson above gibson if we're talking quality of construction, but of course, different guitars please different people. By my understanding regal was bought and sold a couple times and since most of their records were lost in a fire, its hard to pin down their exact history. As more instruments surface on the internet they are a more and more compelling manufacturer to me. I've never played one of the oscar schimitt stellas but in the abstract i like regals better just because they did so many wacky things and over a longer period of time.

@wildeman1253

Жыл бұрын

Robert, I own Regal and Oscar Schmidt guitars and mandolins and to me the two companies are just about equal, both companies built to several price points from plain Jane birch to MOTS encrusted, fancy bound beauties, and 12 strings. There's a very good book out on Regal that came out fairly recently if you haven't seen it.

Slingerland made many different models of guitars, banjos, mandolins, ukeleles, and electric guitars. Of course Slingerland is best known for drums, which was owned by Gibson at one time. I have a May Bell that belonged to my Grandmother that I recently restored. They were well made guitars.

@R.S.Randall

Жыл бұрын

Though these May Bells are often labeled Slingerland they were actually made by the Regal company under contract as they are identical to guitars labeled Regal and the work is constistent with the Regal factory of that period. This was and remains a pretty common practice for a brand to farm out some or all of the work on a product line. Thanks for checking out the video!