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Post by bryanbradfield on Aug 25, 2012 0:27:32 GMT
Firstly, the cone is a standard stamped lugged cone used in a lot of Regals and Dobros before WWII. Whenever I say Regal, I'm referring to pre-war Chicago-made instruments, not the modern imports. The reason for the 4 holes is murky. I recall reading that one of the Dopyeras said the holes were to enhance the sound of electrified instruments. I don't buy that, in that I've never seen indications of a resonator and pickup in the same pre-war guitar. The difference between Bottleneck John's cone photo and Deuce's cone photo is that John's has a long-legged spider bridge, while Deuce's has the short-legged spider bridge, which is the intended mate for the lugged cone. Concerning the neck stick, it rests on a flat-topped pyramid. The construction and positioning of these pieces appears to be identical to those in my Regal. The 2-holed sound well appears to be stock to the guitar, although I can't recall of hearing of or seeing only 2 holes. The rectangular off-centered opening in the sound well appears to have been added by a later owner. Concerning the tailpiece, my Regal had a similar tailpiece, but a bit shorter. The first of your August 22 photos shows a bit of binding missing between the tail-piece legs. Is there evidence of a single screw hole on the rim or side, beneath that missing binding, which would suggest another tail-piece? After mulling over all of the above, my conclusion is that this is a pre-war Chicago Regal to which a Canadian made Brasher cover-plate has been added by a subsequent owner. From your earlier August 13 and August 15 photos, I was also headed toward this conclusion. Concerning the Regal model number, and I'm referring only to my old memories here, the Angelus, or style 19 model had no sound well. The model 27 had a sound-well with holes uniformly positioned around the entire circumference of the well. Therefore, this is a model 23. I'm partially kidding here. I've never seen a sound well like this, and assume that it is a limited run or possibly a prototype for something priced between models 19 and 27.
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Post by Bottleneck John on Aug 25, 2012 8:10:34 GMT
Alright, thanks for the input, Bryan!! I agree that features points toward a Regal build but I'm pretty sure it's not. A very good copy however! ;D The body size is almost the same, slightly thinner. Details shows that it wasn't built in a factory of Regal's size but made by a small shop luthier. There's simply too many small "errors" in the manufacture, unconsistent stuff around the guitar!It's overall appearence is too "rough" in the wood working, paint job etc.. I'm comparing it to my mid-30's Regal as I go along here. The headstock shape and slots for example, different in shape between the two, the "Brasher"'s slots are crude(drilled out) and rough in the edges, not all all like my Regal. The Regal headstock is radiused and this one is flat. Also the f-holes is too rough around the edges compared to the Regal. The top plywood is also thicker than on the Regal. Mahogany veneer in the top and bottom and solid mahogany in the sides!My first impressions is that it was hand made entirely... The missisng binding is just missing as it seems, this tailpiece is the only one that's been fitted on this guitar. There's no other screw holes there. Just one for the plastic strap button. And the sound well... Really strange.. It's original to the guitar without doubt, the square opening has been made later on to make some repairs on the lower bouts. But only three round holes?? Up to now my theory is that it's built by someone who had a Regal as a model, could have been built anywhere, no idea there. If not in Canada, where did the Brasher coverplate come from? I bought this one from Texas! A mystery for sure!!! ;D Whatever the origins, it will resonate again in Europe and it will be fun to bring it back to life..!!!
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Post by bryanbradfield on Aug 25, 2012 16:31:40 GMT
Brasher was never called Charles or Chuck or Charlie. His eldest daughter said that everyone called him Ted. He was born Charles Edward Brasher. He was a tool & die maker in Toronto. I suspect that he moon-lighted at his place of employment in that a pretty powerful punch press would be needed to stamp those cover plates. His eldest daughter took the dies, which were at her home when Ted died, to the land-fill. I can’t imagine why anyone would boot-leg a Brasher cover plate. If you are going to go to the trouble, why wouldn’t you boot-leg a Dobro or National cover plate? I believe that Ted cut the openings for the cone and cover plate into the wood bodies himself, at home. Every opening I’ve seen is crude and irregularly shaped. His metal bodied instruments are actually quite well made, but I suspect his wood working skills. Perhaps, he wanted to avoid the middlemen (Arthur Hensel & RS Williams Company), and try to make a wood bodied instrument himself. On the other hand, I’m quite sure that the reason he went into making these instruments was at least partially because he was thrifty. And finally, I’m quite, QUITE certain that Ted would never use Dobro (Regal) parts unless they fell into his hands for free. Look for any signs of initials, signatures, or dates inside. Use a mirror and look under the top. Many craft-persons leave their mark somewhere. Concerning your assertion that your body is not a Regal, I saw that the body was quite distressed, and I assumed that it had been left somewhere where it weathered extensively. Concerning a Brasher cover-plate ending up in Texas, I’m not surprised. The guitars have been showing up all over North America. Manufacturing and distribution were greater than I assumed when I looked into this subject some thirty years ago.
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Post by Mark Makin on Sept 1, 2012 11:02:57 GMT
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Post by Bottleneck John on Sept 2, 2012 14:03:45 GMT
Hey Mark! Thanks for the heads-up but I'll have to pass on that one. Here's my guitar, strung up for the first time in many, many years. Brown, beat up and back in business!!! It sounds great actually, total Dobro tone which I like! I've got some adjustments to do and then I'll make a little clip so you can hear and see it.. Gonna be fun! And then, maybe, I'll turn it into a 12-stringer.... I mean why not, I want an vintage reso 12str and this one's a mystery, so it can easily be re-built. Most folks would have thrown it away anyhow since it was really, really badly damaged with big holes in the body.... All repaired now with mahogany veneer. ;D Got a new CD to be recorded and released on a really nice label and I want only vintage instruments on this one!
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Post by bryanbradfield on Sept 5, 2012 0:11:13 GMT
My 1930s Brasher had been in a barn for decades when I became aware of it. The owner was hesitant about letting me have it due to its disgusting appearance and condition at that time. My 1930s Regal Dobro was ear-marked for the land-fill due to a broken-off headstock when I contacted the owner, who then set it aside for me. My badly damaged 1965 Gibson LG1 was thrown into a dumpster, after an unsuccessful attempt by a home restoration company to sell it for peanuts during an insurance settlement. At almost the same moment that he threw it, the thrower remembered that I would pay money for anything with strings on it, so he called me & … I did the restorations on all of the above, except for the final set-up of the Gibson. There is definitely merit in finding & saving instruments from the landfill. We are doing a service to future owners by identifying and recovering these things. Actually, after discovering the Brasher, I researched its history, and “wrote the story” for Canadian Musician Magazine, July/August 1983 issue. The magazine is out of print. I tried to post a scanned copy on the Notecannons Forum, but the copy exceeds the size limitations for the forum. If anyone wants a copy, contact me, and I’ll send an email attachment. The magazine article is 4,525 KB, along with an addendum sized at an additional 20KB.
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Post by Bottleneck John on Sept 7, 2012 8:58:28 GMT
Well folks, here it is! Sound nice! Honky Dobro tone.. I'm pleased how it turned out, always good to bring a guitar back to life and active service, haha!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2012 20:26:13 GMT
Great Dobro, great tune, great playing. TT
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Post by Bottleneck John on Sept 7, 2012 20:59:09 GMT
Great comments Deuce, thanks!!
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Post by Keith Ambridge on Sept 8, 2012 12:08:29 GMT
Love your playing John, and what a great voice! Also a nice website, you have lots of lovely guitars.
Keith.
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Post by Bottleneck John on Sept 10, 2012 17:05:07 GMT
Thanks a lot Keith!! Glad to hear you like my music and the website! I do have a bunch of instruments...
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Post by bryanbradfield on Feb 3, 2014 2:11:26 GMT
I'm rechecking these old Brasher threads, and, Bottleneck John, there is another oddity in the construction of your guitar that points to custom build, I think. The use of a Regal-style neck stick, as is evident in your guitar, usually coincided with 4 screws through the fretboard at positions 15 and 19 (2 screws at each location) to hold the fretboard extension to the top. Your guitar has a single dot at fret 15, suggesting to me that the fretboard tongue is glued to the top. I believe that this is unusual.
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Post by Colin McCubbin on Feb 5, 2014 1:23:07 GMT
Bryan has very kindly sent us a copy of the Canadian Musician magazine article he wrote, which appeared in the August 1983 issue. Mahalo Bryan! I have cropped the pages and saved it as a series of .jpg images, but will change these to a better edited version at a later date. Note: The magazine has cut off the last paragraph on this page, Bryan tells me it should have read:"The cones were protected by a robust metal cover plate attached to the top of the guitar. The patent for this guitar was filed in the United States in 1926 and was accepted in 1930."
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Post by Colin McCubbin on Feb 5, 2014 5:30:11 GMT
A gorgeous Brasher Maui Deluxe, with great engraving.
And a pair of equally gorgeous Headstocks,. On the Left from the Maui Deluxe and on the right from a Hensel Artist.
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Post by Bottleneck John on Feb 9, 2014 15:02:12 GMT
Bryan, you're right. I just checked it out and the fretboard is glued to the top?! Interesting, haven't seen that on a neck stick guitar earlier.
Thanks for the heads up, gonna play it for a little while now, haha! Been sitting in it's case too long now..
And what a great article!!
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