NormanBlakeDobro - Posted - 08/10/2023:  07:39:03

Hello!

After scouring the web trying to find an exact match of these features of what I think is a Regal resonator, I've come up empty in identifying a model. It was owned by bluegrass/old time legend Norman Blake, which is some awesome provenance. It has the following features:

-Square Neck
-Slotted, curved headstock shape
-Bound ebony fretboard
-Three holes below fretboard
-Pat 1896484
-1-10 32 written inside, with "WR" initials
-All mahogany construction (top, back, sides) and sunburst on top and back and sides.

It's obviously very similar to many early to mid 30's regal and dobro resonators, but the combination of features have proven difficult for me to pin down.

Thanks for the help!

hlpdobro - Posted - 08/10/2023:  08:56:10

I'm leaning towards a Model 37 with bound top, back and finger board. I note the replacement tailpiece and severely egged region. Wondering if the cone has been captured by a possibly egged out top. Some photo angles suggest CA built. Another Regal. I can't tell for sure.

The 37 was offered in mahogany, walnut and maple, according to George Gruhn.

Interesting box that's been through a lot.

h

MarkinSonoma - Posted - 08/12/2023:  21:52:15

I agree with Howard, it certainly looks like a Model 37, but in the the world of guitar photography, based on angles, the two photos on the lower right have different looks. That's where you have to be careful when sharing photos. The upper photo looks like a "garden variety" Model 37 built in Los Angeles, whereas the one below it looks like a "wide hips" Model #37 that Regal made for a time after signing on to build Dobros in Chicago.

Assuming the one above it is the correct shape, it appears to be a Los Angeles built Dobro Model 37. Where it gets weird is the 1-10-32 date combined with an obvious rounded headstock slotted neck by Regal. All sources, including Steve Toth's superb book Dobro Roots point to late 1933 to early 1934 when the Dopyeras reached an agreement to with Regal of Chicago to begin building Dobros.  

They used to ship parts back and forth between Southern California and Chicago until it was determined that the expense wasn't worth it, so the Dopyeras shut down the L.A. operation and moved everything to Chicago. Sears Roebuck, Montgomery Ward, and others were headquartered in Chicago so this was much closer to the source for sales and distribution. 

I'm guessing that this Model 37 body was sitting in the L.A. warehouse for some time, then it was "married" to a neck from Regal of Chicago in 1933 or later. 

As far as the scratched out "Norman Blake" on the guitar - are you absolutely certain that this guitar belonged to Norman?  I have been a major fan since purchasing his Whiskey Before Breakfast album in the mid 1970s. I have a bunch of his albums on both vinyl and CD. I was able to see he and his wife Nancy live only one time - in Berkeley, not long after that particular album came out. I do know that Norman has bought and sold, and  been through a lot of fine instruments in his lifetime - guitars, mandolins, dobros, banjos - and the idea that he would "etch" (or scratch his name) on a guitar seems really strange to me. 

jacknj - Posted - 08/13/2023:  04:41:41

The guitar details explained above make sense. The scratched-in name does seem odd, and without a good provenance, it could have been a different Norman Blake. Remember the Seinfeld episode where George thought he bought a car once owned by Jon Voight?