1960s Regal (Harmony-made) Longneck 5-String Banjo

This Seeger-style longneck gem was made by Harmony and while it's very similar to their normal longneck model under the Harmony brand, the rim is left its "natural ResoTone" brown color rather than silver-painted and the headstock has a nice celluloid veneer with engraved Regal branding.

It's been sitting-around the workshop since last winter and, as I had a "banjo week" last week, I figured it was time to get it going. Cool features include "Dorr's Service Center" advert decals in the middle of the head, an armrest, geared tuners all-around (new 5th peg, original Waverlies at the headstock), and a woody, sweet tone with the benefit of a lightweight design.

That lightweight build is a big advantage because a lot of the older longneck banjos (Vegas, Gretsch/Bacons, Gibsons) got a bit heavy on the shoulder. This thing feels a bit more relaxed than that and has more of a folksy vibe because of it.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, side dots install, new bridge, new 5th-peg geared tuner, new bone nut, cleaning, and setup. I replaced the terrible neck brace (they never work well on the Harms) with two neck bolts instead and there's a shim between the heel and the tension hoop to set neck angle a bit better.

Setup notes: the neck is almost dead-straight but has just a hair of relief overall -- pretty amazing for an old Harmony neck, though these are steel-reinforced. Action is 3/32" at the 12th fret but that's effectively 1/16" if you capo the instrument down to normal G-scale. I'm sorry if that hurts your brain! The lowdown is that it plays fast and easy. String gauges are 9s.

Scale length: 32 3/8"

Nut width: 1 1/8"

String spacing at nut: 7/8"

String spacing at bridge: 1 1/2"

Head diameter: 11”

Depth overall at rim: 2 1/2"

Rim wood: ResoTone molded/synthetic

Fretboard: ebonized maple/pearwood?

Bridge: ebony/maple compensated

Neck feel: slim-medium C/D shape, flat board

Neck wood: maple or poplar

Weight: 4 lb 10 oz

Condition notes: the (replacement?) Remo head has decals on it, the 5th peg is a replacement, and the nut is a replacement. There's minor usewear throughout but overall it's in good order. The hardware is all-original except for the 5th peg, bridge, and possibly the head.

It comes with: its original chip case ready to go.