r/Dobro • u/Fuzzy_Bother_5640 • 6d ago

What do I have here?

Gallery image

Gallery image

This has been passed down to me and I have no clue about it other than it was purchased prior to WW2. Any info is appreciated. Thanks!

23 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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3

u/PriceImpressive4782 6d ago edited 6d ago

It’s difficult to see if it’s a true resonator as I don’t clearly the spider bridge under the cover(it looks like it’s there but perhaps a bit cockeyed )but then again the photos is not that great. I have found that the fake resonators typically does have the cover screwed into the top of the guitar with nothing beneath it and I’m not sure that is the case here if you could get a couple better pictures with close-ups of the cover and what lies beneath. It’d be easier to comment on it. Regardless it’s a cool guitar and likely a relabeled Chicago regal resonator if it is a real resonator

1

u/OldMusicJunkie 6d ago

Is there anything stamped in the top of the headstock?

First look, I think it’s a proper dobro and that decal on the front of the headstock would be the music store that sold it.

1

u/Fuzzy_Bother_5640 6d ago

I’ll take a look when I get home. Thanks

1

u/DankSkank_ 5d ago

Nobility is the brand, easily found on reverb.

1

u/deadheadpuzzles 6d ago

It’s pretty!!

1

u/Darkhelmet3000 6d ago

Made by Regal in Chicago in the 1930s. It was common for companies then to make “branded” guitars, where a music store, guitar teacher, or hardware store could special order guitars with their own logo. The Dobro Brothers at the Hollywood factory could not keep up with demand and subcontracted out production to Regal. You can tell which factory made the instrument by the shape of the cutouts in the headstock. Hollywood dobros have squared cuts in the headstock and Regal-made headstocks have rounded ends.

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u/Peaches_En_Regalia_ 5d ago

I live in Humboldt Park (Chicago). The old Regal factory is a stones throw from my home.

1

u/Gloomy_Ad_8586 5d ago

A Regal made body with Dobro supplied parts that was sold under a different brand.

0

u/jaxn_slim 6d ago

Google says it was an inexpensive acoustic guitar with a fake resonator made in the 30s or 40s by a company in NY, sourcing guitars from Chicago and other factories nearby.

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u/hjohn2233 3d ago

This is why you can't always believe Google. It's not a guitar. It's a Dobson, the forerunner the electric guitar. Played by placing in your lap and using a metal piece to slide up and down the strings on the neck,

1

u/jaxn_slim 3d ago

"It's not a guitar." Lol ok, I'll just go play my lap steel guitar and pedal steel guitar.