1920s Regal Octofone Octave Mandolin

Overview: I've worked on a lot of Octofones over the years. Most folks tend to want to string them like octave mandolins (as seen here) or with octave strings in the same tuning which is more of a Celtic bouzouki sound. The "Octofone" name was marketing jargon for Regal at the time, though, because they claimed it could be "8 instruments in one" -- uke, tiple, or baritone uke tuning, tenor guitar or mandola, and what-have-you.

The reality is that these instruments, from the factory, are super under-built and tend to have warped necks, neck joints pulling free of the body, and damaged tops. This one had some of that, for sure, and also had a hastily-applied topcoat of finish throughout the body.

We took pains to reinforce the neck before setting it up and confirming its destiny to be an octave mandolin, however, and now it's a great-playing, lush-sounding, good-looking piece of kit. The two-point, elongated body design is very much "its own thing" out there in mando-world and the neck is fast and easy.

Repairs included: It got a neck reset (with bolt-reinforcement at the neckblock), fretboard removal and install of two carbon fiber reinforcement rods in the neck, a level/dress of the frets, side dots, a new ebony/bone bridge fit, cleaning, replacement tailpiece, and setup work. It's playing spot-on and ready to go. I did the neck reset and Tim did the rest of the work.

• Weight: 1 lb 14 oz
• Scale length: 21"
• Nut width: 1 3/8"
• Neck shape: medium C/softest V
• Board radius: flat
• Depth at first fret: 0.75"
• Depth at seventh fret: 0.95"
• Body width: 10 5/8"
• Body depth: 3"
• Top wood: solid spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid birch
• Bracing type: ladder
• Bridge: ebony/bone
• Fretboard: ebonized maple
• Neck wood: poplar
• Action height at 12th fret: hair-over 1/16" bass to 1/16" treble
• String gauges: 46w-12 D'Addario octave mandolin set
• Truss rod: non-adjustable (2 carbon fiber rods installed)
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: narrow/lower

Condition notes: It's all-original save for the tailpiece cover, bridge, and nut. The body has been oversprayed at some point in the past which has yielded a bit of a "milky" finish look to the top. There are scuffs, scratches, small nicks, small dings, etc. here and there throughout the finish. There's a minor repaired hairline crack on the top upper bout. The back/side seams do not 100% align perfectly here and there. The top very lightly sinks around the bridge (common due to the light bracing) but it's a non-issue. This has been stable in service for a while, now.

It comes with: Sorry, no case.

Consignor tag: JW/OLVR