c.1935 Regal "Fancy Duds" Tiple

First off -- this is the cleanest vintage tiple I have ever seen. It looks like it was made this year and only played a few times in a music shop. The spruce is actually the whitish, brand-new hue of a new instrument, rather than the aged-in buttery-orange yellow color I expect to see on an old instrument. It's wildly clean.

Second -- it's 100% original, which is usually not the case, since these things tend to be treated poorly and bridges tend to crack and fly off with poor storage issues.

Third -- it sounds awesome. Crisp, clear, and sweet, with good volume. Just what the jangle-Doctor ordered. This is not typical, since most spruce-topped, "pin-bridge" style tiples tend towards a very mellow and warm tone with not much cut.

My work included a neck reset, light fret level/dressing (very light), slight saddle-area shave at the bridge, and general setup. Woods are: solid spruce top, solid birch back, sides, and neck... all crack-free! The fretboard is dyed-maple with a pearloid/stenciled-fret-marker veneer, and the bridge is dyed-maple as well.

Wonderful gold-sparkle headstock veneer with green Regal logo. Bone nut may be a replacement... or may be original... can't really tell!

This has a creamy-white pearloid fretboard veneer with stenciled-black marker frets.

The top and back edges as well as the soundhole are bound in white celluloid. The multicolored purfling (wood) is in just beautiful shape, with eye-poppingly bright colors (these usually fade to muted browns with time).

Oops, well, not 100% original... I forgot that when I shaved down the saddle area I also installed a replacement bridge saddle, since the original brass one didn't fit the whole width of the saddle area anyway.

Nice medium-brown, semi-satiny finish.

Tuners work great!

Nice, one-piece birch back with a mellow sunburst coloration.

There are just a few tiny scratches/scuffs here and there -- it's like this was played for a month or two and then left in the case in a cool, dry closet.

This has its original case, which is actually in OK shape, except that the hinges are broken. Par for the course, really!