2000s Regal Banjo-Mod Resonator Guitar
My friend Bow Thayer bought this Regal resonator from me "as-is" a bunch of years ago. He got it playing alright and then lopped-off a section of neck to make it useful for his 6-string banjo setup. He strings and tunes this type of instrument like a 5-string banjo but with a low G string -- so gGDGBD low to high. I know a few players who do this off and on around the country, but Bow's the only one in-region doing this 24-7 and on stages all over the place that I know of.
It, of course, expands the banjo-style range into that of a guitar and lets you get that low vroom of a proper fundamental note to your open chord. Rejoice!
Anyhow, I'd helped him get it playing decently and installed a K&K pickup a while back. Since then, the dowel glue joint into the heel finally failed and he brought it here to get it playing again. That involved a lot of fuss -- Ancel helped me yank the (pinned) dowel out of the joint and epoxy it back in place at a favorable angle. It then sat for ages until I had some time to finish it off.
Finishing it off meant securing the neck-to-body joint stiffly-enough that it would hold-up on tour and not be fussy for Bow. I added my usual "extra mushroom pad" between the dowel and the back of the guitar at the heel but went slightly further and made sure it stayed anchored by bolting it in place through the back and right into the dowel. That will keep the joint aligned in the rough and tumble, for sure.
Afte that the rest of the work involved replacing the bone saddle we made last time with an archtop-style, fully-compensated, adjustable rosewood one, tidying-up the other support posts in the body's interior, and rewiring the pickup so it has an on-board volume control so it can be adjusted at shows easily.
The efforts paid-off because now it's a dang-good player and sounds as good as its beat-up, loved-in body looks. I awarded myself extra points for leaving pearl inlay off of the last board dots so the screws would be easy to access (in case of dire setup emergencies) and also destroying my inner urge to rout and add binding to frets 1-5 on the bass side of the neck...
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