1930s Regal-made Recording King "Junior Jumbo" 000 Guitar

I've worked on a lot of Junior Jumbos. Click here to see a really similar one and then here and here and here and here for more.

This one has the Wards "Recording King" brand at the headstock and a nice sunburst, but is otherwise pretty similar to most of the others I've seen. It probably dates to the late '30s or very early '40s judging by its features and it's in overall great shape for its age. It has a ginormous neck, squashed-body (very "KG-11-ish") shape, and 000-width lower bout.

It's ladder-braced with the main brace at an angle (transverse-braced) and this gives a lot of old Regals a warmth advantage over similar normal-ladder-braced competitors of the time. They just sound a bit more open, warm, and woody with a nice, airy, lingering sound in the upper-mids that's hard to describe. These Junior Jumbos are built slightly more-stiff than some of Regal's smaller guitars and so they take a flatpick really well, too, whereas the lighter ones are more dedicated fingerpickers.

Repairs included: neck reset, fret level/dress, side dots install, new ebony bridge, new bone saddle, new bone pins, cleaning, and setup.

Made by: Regal

Made in: Chicago, IL, USA

Top wood: solid spruce

Back & sides wood: solid birch

Bracing type: ladder w/transverse main brace

Bridge: ebony

Fretboard: ebonized maple

Neck wood: poplar

Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 54w-12 lights (custom 54w, 40w, 30w, 22w, 16, 12 set)

Neck shape: huge C/soft V

Board radius: ~10-12"

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium

Scale length: 25 3/8"

Nut width: 1 13/16"

Body length: 17 5/8"

Body width: 15 3/4"

Body depth: 3 7/8"

Weight: 3 lb 12 oz

Condition notes: it has a repaired hairline crack next to the pickguard (not obvious) and some pickwear and mild scratching throughout. It's otherwise crack-free. The bridge, bridge pins, saddle, and one tuner button are replacements -- but otherwise it's all-original. While the original bridge would've been rectangular, I find that the belly bridges help keep the tops on these a bit more stable when strung on the heavier side. I used an ebony bridge because the original was a black-painted poplar one.