Say what???

Made by Tut Taylor in the 1960s with a Regal decal? I've never heard of such a thing - more information is needed. Is there a serial number on the headstock? 

Were I a betting man I would put money down that it's a Chicago Regal-built Dobro with a date range circa 1936 to the end of production just prior to the U.S. involvement in WWII in 1941.

I have Tennessee #10 built in about 1971 according to Mark Taylor. I found this short article on the web but no mention of Tut having a relationship with Regal, doesn’t mean he didn’t just no info found.

“The Tennessee brand was founded in the early 1970s by Tut Taylor & his son Mark. On moving to Nashville from Georgia, Tut bought the former Billy Grammer guitar factory and started manufacturing the “Tennessee” line of mandolins, resophonic guitars, banjos, and acoustic guitars. This company continued for several years. In 1977 Tut decided to move to Pigeon Forge, TN where he started a small retail shop. Mark continued to build instruments under the "Crafters of Tennessee" name.”

The owner has it listed as such ,Waiting for a reply back with more info

quote:

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Originally posted by Dobro66S

The owner has it listed as such ,Waiting for a reply back with more info

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I will be interested in the owner's reply. 

Though some of the model numbers changed near the end of production a little prior to World  War II, this guitar right off looks pretty much like a typical Model 37 that didn't have the three holes drilled between the coverplate and the fretboard. And I'm guessing it has a replacement coverplate. 

The original Regal company went out of business in 1954. The brand was apparently owned briefly after that by Harmony, and later Fender - but there is zero evidence that they ever produced any squareneck resos. 

As far as the Tut Taylor connection, I'm wondering if perhaps Tut did some setup or repair work on the guitar decades ago, and something might have gotten lost in translation. 

Here are some interesting facts from the owner
Under the Regal Decal ,Resonator guitar co. Nashville TN.
Serial # B133

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=203846&view=next&sid=3327355816dea9f8804da5c0696ad380

I also came across this in my Web search

I contacted my friend Corey Lee McQuade who Tut chose to carry on the flatpicking tradition and owns lots of Tut’s guitars, etc.

This is Corey’s response to this post…

“A guy from ResoGat was talking to me about these 2 years ago and I was confused about it. I asked Mark about them and he told me that they made about 200 resonators for Regal in the late 70s at the Tennessee (Tut Taylor Inc) factory.
I told the guy at ResoGat and he brought his this past year. It's almost exactly like my Tennessee resonators that Tut made but with a solid peghead. They have a parallelogram soundwell too. The Regal decal shows made in Tennessee.
I took a bunch of pictures of that guy's Tut Regal and compared it side to side with my Tut Tennessee guitars.”

I remember seeing a couple Regal and unbranded old dobro’s at Tuts house years ago and did ask about the guitars but Tut only commented that he occasionally found a few really good  old guitars. He never mentioned to me that he built any for Regal when he had his shop in Nashville.  Corey knows much more of Tut's history than I do.  

Jan, thanks for getting a hold of Corey Lee, you beat me to it. 

I'm trying to figure out how Tut and Mark Taylor were able to use the Regal name and logo. 

As I wrote earlier, after the original Regal went out of business in 1954,  Harmony and later Fender owned the brand for awhile. 

I don't know that they ever did anything with the brand. A little like Gretsch owning Sho-Bud pedal steels, but no Sho-Bud has been built in decades. 

San Francisco importer Saga began making Regal resos in 1987. Maybe the Regal brand was up for grabs after the Fender ownership and prior to Saga reviving it, and the Taylors scooped it up for a period of time. 

Yet another chapter in the convoluted history of the dobro guitar. 

Thanks for the great Detective work Guys!

Hi there, I’m the guy with the Tut Taylor Regal Dobro - does anyone have a sense what it’s worth? Since I got carpal tunnel I barely play anymore and would certainly consider selling it to someone who will get more use out of it.

We are looking to buy a Tut Tayler resophonic guitar, but can’t find any identifying information; date, model#…anything.
It has a label on the headstock and that’s it.
Can anyone point me in the direction to find value?

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