1930s Regal Two-Point Concert Ukulele

The last time I worked on one of these, apparently, was back in 2013 -- and a second time in 2013. It was nice to have another one in the shop, though, as they are sweet little critters and have an outsized voice and presence. I only got a quick video done in the workshop, but you get the idea...

This one is unmarked but it was made by Regal in the mid-'30s. It's solid spruce over solid birch and has a poplar neck and an ebonized-mysterywood fretboard. The bridge appears to be maple or similar.

It needed the usual work, too -- a couple braces were loose, the neck needed to be bolted at the joint (these have iffy dowel joints that do not hold), it needed the frets leveled/dressed, side dots added for ease of use, and the tuners needed a bit of tightening. The saddle was also located slightly incorrectly so I cut it down flush with the bridge, cut a fret slot, and fit a fret saddle in its place. It'll wear better and it certainly sounds a little better than the one-piece bridge/saddle design that it was using before.

Judging by the wear and tear, someone definitely loved this instrument a lot as it got a ton of play. The scale is not quite "modern" concert scale length (15"+) but runs around 14 1/2" or so as I recall.












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