1930s Washburn 5237 000-Size Flattop Guitar

Shortly after I sold the last Washburn 5237, this one arrived for consignment. I wanted to get to it because the last one was pretty exciting tone-wise, but it had to wait for its turn in the queue. Now that it's done-up, it's a bit like a little bit of a present myself to be able to enjoy it after-hours until it finds its next owner. These 5237 models are "Tonk era" Washburns in that Lyon & Healy was no longer the stakeholder in procuring and selling them -- the Tonk Brothers were. This particular one was built by Regal for the brand and is basically identical in design and quality to Regal's own "custom shop" x-braced flattops of the same time. That means -- excellent!

It's basically a Regal copycat of a Martin 000-28 from the same time, though with a longer scale length that gives them a bit more pop like an OM. It even has light, scalloped x-bracing and sounds like a Martin for the most part. The feel is different -- these Regals have bigger necks -- and the sound is a little more "open" and slightly woodier in the top-end, but it has a ton of velvety mids/lower mids and a good bottom-end chug. These will flatpick, fingerpick, and strum-around just fine and enjoy being dug-into. They don't max-out and compress like a lot of old lightly-built guitars.

This particular guitar has been around the block a bit -- it has old repairs to the top and replacement hardware -- but post-repairs it's in good order and plays like a gem.

Repairs included: neck reset, fret level/dress, new bone saddle, setup.

Made by: Regal (for the Tonk Brothers)

Model: 5237

Made in: Chicago, Illinois, USA

Serial number: 851 (1930-1933ish?)

Top wood: solid spruce

Back & sides wood: rosewood (Indian?)

Bracing type: scalloped x

Bridge: ebony

Fretboard: ebony

Neck wood: mahogany

Tone: lush, velvety, lower-mids emphasis, open top-end

Suitable for: folk, old-time, singer-songwriter, country, country-blues, fingerpicking, etc.

Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 54w-12 lights

Neck shape: medium-big C

Board radius: ~12"

Truss rod: unknown

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium bar stock

Scale length: 25 3/8"

Nut width: 1 7/8"

String spacing at nut: 1 5/8"

String spacing at bridge: 2 1/4"

Body length: 20 1/8"

Body width: 15 1/8"

Body depth: 4"

Weight: 4 lb 0 oz

Condition notes: it has 5 hairline cracks below the bridge on the lower bout top -- all of which have older repairs. There are also a couple above the bridge running to the soundhole, also repaired. The pickguard is unoriginal and the bridge, saddle, and pins are all replacements, too. The tuners look like StewMac repro-style units, though they're along the lines of the originals. The top has been overpsrayed or refinished entirely. I'm thinking it's oversprayed, though, considering the old wear shown under that finish. The back and sides are all original finish and show plenty of usewear/playwear by way of scratching, but no cracks. The neck has original finish at the heel, headstock, and back of headstock, though the playing area of the neck has been "speed-necked" to a dulled/satin finish. The fretboard binding at the extension is cracked in a number of places but I've glued it all pat. Maple bridge plate and bracing appears to be all original (it looks the same as the last one). The frets have plenty of life left in them and the (new) saddle has good height for future adjustments.

It comes with: an old, possibly original, hard case.