Biggfoot44 - Posted - 06/13/2024:  15:05:31

There I was . Had a few spare hours in between some Union business , and afternoon shift , and swung by the semi nearby warehouse of Used & Vintage Musical Goodness , with predictable result . I drooled over a vintage National 7 string lap steel , but out of my range .

But I did find this ( apparently ) Older Import Regal Reso for ridiculously reasonable $ , and it followed me out .

Particularly curious is the neck . Slot head, otherwise typically shaped Square Neck . But the nut width is only 1 3/4 inch , with the neck width tapering from body to nut similar to a typical Roundneck guitar .( Actual nut width , not the spring spacing . ) Width at bridge is typical Spider Bridge , aprox 2 1/16 inch , string 1 to 6 .

Why ? What possible motive would someone deliberately mass produce a narrow Square Neck ?

Other details- Soundwell , took Pic thru the sound hole missing its screen , but close range , flash , auto focus smart phone focused on body , not the interior at the last micro second . Modern Import Regal s/n probably don't mean much , but Pic included .

My Luddite nature struck again , and the pics didn't load from the gallery , so I'll do some straight from camera .

Biggfoot44 - Posted - 06/13/2024:  15:16:57

This hopefully works

 

Biggfoot44 - Posted - 06/13/2024:  15:19:10

And again

Biggfoot44 - Posted - 06/13/2024:  15:25:01

Arrrg !

Every time I think I'm doing it , it erases everything, and I get the message to the effect that the Post is empty , and I need to put something there .

I'll have to get Littlefoot44 to help me , the next time we're both at home , and awake at same time . ( Working nights , that's not always easy .)

MarkinSonoma - Posted - 06/13/2024:  19:06:54

It's difficult to say how old that Regal is, but I believe it's been quite a few years since they offered one with a slotted headstock - maybe they finally figured out at some point that most players don't care for them because they aren't used to changing strings on a slotted guitar. 

Unless I were offered a smokin' deal I couldn't refuse on something like a Bobby Wolfe reso with a slotted headstock (his preference when he was building), I want nothing to do with slotted headstocks. 

I was checking out the current Saga Music catalog online, and the squarenecks all have 2" wide nuts.

I have two prewar Dobros, a circa 1933 California built Model 37, and a circa 1936-37 Regal (the real Regal) Chicago built Model 37. They both have nuts that are a hair over 1 3/4" in width. Maybe the Saga folks at the time the guitar in question was built thought that's how it was supposed to be done.