1940s Regal High-Grade Classical Guitar

Well, dang, you don't see one of these every day! It bears the Regal "Custom Shop" label in the soundhole and is built to a very high spec, with extremely-light fan bracing in the Spanish style and weight just under 3 pounds. Judging by the neck style, label, finish, and features, I'd say it dates to the very late '40s or very early '50s -- right before Regal went belly-up and out of business. I haven't handled any Regal classical guitars (well, aside from old gut-stringers of the 1890s/1900s) so it was pretty fun to have this waltz in the shop for resale.

While it's clearly a gut-strung/nylon-strung classical guitar, its tone and feel are very much more to the "flamenco" side of things. It has an unknown back wood that's got great quartersawn figure to it and mahogany sides. The top is spruce -- and all of this is solid. It's a loud, clear-sounding, brighter-sounding instrument that's perfectly suited to folk and flamenco styles. I've got it setup for low (3/32") action at the 12th fret, too, so it gets that chuggachugga sound when strummed vigorously.

It's all-original save the tuners and I rescued its original, "tweed" case. There are no cracks, no fuss, and it's absurdly-clean. That tweed case did its job!

The guitar reminds me of the handling/sound of a higher-grade Levin/Goya classical from the '50s or '60s (the maple-backed kind), but with the smaller, cozier lower-bout size of the Goya G-10s.

Repairs included: fret level dress, setup, case repair.

Made by: Regal

Made in: Chicago, IL, USA

Top wood: solid spruce

Back & sides wood: solid mahogany, back solid unknown?

Bracing type: fan, 9-brace, super-light

Bridge: rosewood

Fretboard: ebony

Neck wood: mahogany

Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” overall (fast)
String gauges: seem to be "regular tension" nylon

Neck shape: slim-medium taper C

Board radius: flat

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium

Scale length: 25 3/8"

Nut width: 2"

Body length: 18 3/4"

Body width: 14"

Body depth: 4"

Weight: 2 lb 15 oz

Condition notes: it's very clean and crack-free with only the mildest wear here and there. The most-obvious scratch is across the headstock's veneer. The tuners are replacements of recent make but I replaced their horrid, half-missing buttons with plain black ones.

It comes with: its original "tweed" hard case with plush red lining. I had to repair where the hinges attach to the lid and it's a little unsightly but seems sturdy-enough and saved the original hinges. The case looks great, though, and works well to protect it.