Regal RC-4 biscuit bridge resonator

[martinjbull]

Greetings all

I’m a forum newbie so please bear with me. I’ve searched the threads for something about the regal RC4 and apart from one very old thread (2914) I can’t find anything. I just bought one of these for a sale price from a dealer in Canterbury(Hobgoblin Music). For the last 20 years,my only Resonator has been a year 2000 Gibson dobro, 33D, spider bridge. Beautiful guitar – should’ve been at the price! Got it from the London resonator centre when it was still operating in Islington.

My question is that I seem to be unable to find any reviews or particular examination or discussion of the Regal RC-4 online, and this seems to be the case, even around the time the guitar was in production. It needs some work doing – action is too high for me, so I’m going to adjust the nut and look into lowering the saddle, check intonation (not bad actually). Frets could do with a polish, been hanging in the shop for quite awhile, I think. It’s oozing new guitar stiffness and the need to be “broken in“ with some loving playing.

Nearest thing to this Regal, I can find in current production is an RC2 – anybody have any idea how the model numbers works, do they go up from one to 4 or down from 4 to 1 meaning that the lower the number the higher the spec, according to the manufacturer? The classic biscuit bridge, barking tone of the guitar is lovely and was exactly what I was looking for. It also has quite a slim neck which suits my small hands.

So, anybody know anything about this particular RC-4 model?

[Michael Messer]

Hello Martin,

Welcome to our community.

Ah...so you were a customer at the LRC store back in the early 2000s. You may or may not know, I was involved with LRC as a consultant and have fond memories of spending time there.

I have read your post and I am not sure exactly what you are asking, because one search on Google turns up a lot of stuff about the Regal RC4. I didn't search through it all, but I am sure some reviews exist somewhere. I know I reviewed a few Regal guitars for various magazines, I don't think the RC4 existed back then in the olden days.

Having already made your decision and bought the guitar, what are you looking for in a review that you don't already know?

Interestingly, Regal moved their manufacturing of resonator guitars from Korea, and that is where your guitar comes in....

I can tell you that it was manufactured in Shanghai at the AXL factory, which is where quite a few big brandname resonator guitars are manufactured - Regal, Gretsch, Fender, Recording King, are names that spring to mind that are all from the same manufacturer.

Due to the massive machinery required to press out metal bodies, all Shanghai-built metal bodied resonator guitars and coverplates are made by the same body factory. They are really good at their job and produce some beautiful components.

The neck and resonator of your guitar were produced by AXL and they are well made.

Having read the specs of the Regal RC4 I think it is a shame that the Regal company latch on to names and words that they think are going to make their product more "real". For example... they talk about it being a "Duolian style guitar", which it is not. A Duolian is a steel bodied guitar, the RC4 is made of brass and therefore it is closer to a Style 0 than a Duolian. The Regal spec sheet also talks about "Bell brass body", which was an advertising term used by the OMI company in the 1960s and 70s, the people that built your Dobro 33D. Nobody at Dobro or anywhere else has ever built a guitar from bell brass, because bell brass isn't brass, it is an alloy of bronze. Gretsch also use this term to describe their snare drums, probably because the same person wrote both promotional sheets and created the spec info. Back in the 1970s when I got myself a brand new Dobro 33H like yours, I was very impressed with the fact that it was made from not just ordinary brass, but bell brass!

I have no idea why the RC4 is different to the RC2, maybe it is just the coverplate, or maybe they just needed a different model name for their annual accounts.

I am not sure what else I can tell you about your guitar. With a good setup it should be a good guitar and more importantly, if you like it, it is a good guitar.

I hope I have been helpful. If you have any questions about the guitar that I have not addressed, please ask me. If I can't answer, I am sure someone among our knowledgeable community will be able to.

Shine On
Michael.

[martinjbull]

Hi Michael, thanks for such a fast and full reply, you have answered my questions.incidentally you or someone working for you has seen my Dobro as Ron at LRC got me aHighlander pu fittted soon after they moved to Denmark Street and he said it went to you to be done, along with you taking a look at the truss rod as, sadl,y a well-intentioned but over enthusiastic guitar tech had managed to snap the truss Rod shortly before I had it sent to you. You assured Ron the guitar neck seemed stable and to keep an eye on it – it’s never moved. So thank you.
I can tell the Regal is a good guitar from that “feel” you get as you play a guitar even if it needs work to get the best playing experience. I’ve owned 50 or more guitars over the last 45 years from charity shop surprises to custom shop specials so I have a reasonable idea what I look for. The neck is particularly lovely so I have AXL to thank for that! Which brings me in to…
I think the best guitar short of National prices seems to be your range but unfortunately, although an MM Blues was my aim, my budget was a bit short (you guitars are not expensive, quite the absolute reverse) but £s are £s in the end… and life is complicated at the minute and I’m unable to work,. Also the wider neck, which is authentic and right, made me think my smaller hands might struggle (not for slide but for finger style). So…. I compromised.

The background information that you gave me about the Shanghai factory and the involvement of AXL plus all the other stuff is just a sort of background to the instrument that I was looking for.

It’s interesting that, although the guitar does, as you say, crop up in a few places online, if you do a Google search, mainly old out of date, adverts, saying the guitars are out of stock, but just repeating the stock marketing blurb (yes, including Bell brass!) And I wanted to know something of where the guitar had come from.

And now I know! just having the pre-defined sales waffle was frustrating.

I am delighted to have found another friend, to s it with my dobro and show me some more new territory…😉.

[Michael Messer]

Hi Martin

My pleasure - I am pleased that my words were helpful and that you now know more about your guitar.

Your Dobro was not sent to me as do not and have not ever done setups and repairs for anybody. Your Highlander pickup would have been fitted by Dave King, not by me. So it was Dave that would have checked the truss rod and said it was okay. Dave is the luthier for MM Guitars and I see him almost every week, so when I'm next over there I will mention your Dobro and see if he remembers it.

Shine On
Michael

[martinjbull]

Ah, my memory plays tricks on me. Perhaps Ron referred to you in the same conversation and I have conflated things. Many thanks,

Martin

[leeophonic]

At the time LRC moved to Denmark st, Dave King and Celine had a workshop in the same building as Dave was attending to the London repairs in situ, Dave or Celine would have been involved with the Dobro.

Regards

Lee

[martinjbull]

Hi everyone,

Michael has very kindly provided me with a shed load of information about my Regal RC 4 resonator. Very grateful for that.

It appears to me that resonators are temperamental beasts and can very easily fall prey to all sorts of buzzes rattles and strange unwanted sounds. My dobro D 33 needed to have a complete new saddle made by a luthier when I bought it, but since then has always behaved impeccably, I’ve noticed that the Regal RC 4 I recently bought picks up a strange deadness on the top E string that is relieved when I shove a thin pick under the trapeze piece to lift the trapeze away from the resonator cover,, hmmm… checking my dobro it has a rubber pad under the trapeze piece, so I’m going to make an adjustment with some similar soft material on the Regal.

Sooo… my question is, has anyone else in the forum encountered this issue (and should maybe resonators probably ship with such a modification?).

[leeophonic]

Normally a discrete slither of felt or leather resides on the underside of the tailpiece adjacent to the coverplate.

Regards

Lee

[Michael Messer]

Feb 5, 2023 19:51:09 GMT martinjbull said:

Hi everyone,

Michael has very kindly provided me with a shed load of information about my Regal RC 4 resonator. Very grateful for that.

It appears to me that resonators are temperamental beasts and can very easily fall prey to all sorts of buzzes rattles and strange unwanted sounds. My dobro D 33 needed to have a complete new saddle made by a luthier when I bought it, but since then has always behaved impeccably, I’ve noticed that the Regal RC 4 I recently bought picks up a strange deadness on the top E string that is relieved when I shove a thin pick under the trapeze piece to lift the trapeze away from the resonator cover,, hmmm… checking my dobro it has a rubber pad under the trapeze piece, so I’m going to make an adjustment with some similar soft material on the Regal.

Sooo… my question is, has anyone else in the forum encountered this issue (and should maybe resonators probably ship with such a modification?).

Martin, There really should be no gasket under the tailpiece. The whole design and use of resonances are based on metal against metal as much as possible. There are cases where sometimes a gasket gets used, but it is not something that I would recommend as a fix. Usually when a felt or leather gasket fixes a buzz it is because of the ball ends of the strings vibrating against the coverplate. I can't explain all that right now, but slightly reshaping the tailpiece to raise the ball ends away from the coverplate is the way to fix that. I doubt this guitar will require having that done. Your Dobro should not need a rubber gasket under the tailpiece.

The deadness of your top E string will be to do with that frequency and how it is being affected by the instrument. E is around 330Hz and if tuned down to D it is around 295Hz. The way that a resonator guitar is designed, with a straight one-piece bridge saddle sitting on a disc of wood on the resonator, does not really allow for each string to be affected separately. So if the string is sounding dead, it might be being choked by the bridge saddle, or a certain resonance in the guitar is not singing as it should. If it improves when you lift the tailpiece it is likely to be something to do with the way the string is sitting in the slot on the saddle. Try flossing the slot with the string, or a string slightly heavier. It is not the professional way of fixing a choked bridge slot, but it often does solve the problem.

Don't forget that you have a guitar that has never been setup by an experienced resonator luthier.

Shine On
Michael

[martinjbull]

Good morning everyone, I have to say I am blown away by the helpful and thorough responses that I have received from people – Michael, I’m extremely grateful to you for all the information and I shall be trying the various suggestions, and if I’m not able to fix it myself, I will call-in a luthier who knows resonators for a set up.

So this is simply a post to thank everyone. I wish you all a very good day today.

[Michael Messer]

Martin,

It is my pleasure. It's what we do on this forum and there is quite a group of knowledgeable and helpful members.

Shine On
Michael

[Michael Messer]

Lee is correct about the materials used, but as I said in my previous post, it really should not be necessary.

Shine On
Michael

[martinjbull]

Cheers Michael – I’m going to pursue the routes you suggest rather than putting padding under anything. It does occur to me that this guitar seems to have been manufactured a few years back and has been hanging in a guitar shop day in day out for quite a long time. In my experience, once you start playing a new guitar, it takes time to settle in and find its feet. I’ve noticed that the problem is far less marked today than it was yesterday, and I just wondered if the guitar is “bedding in”.
Thank you again for all your assistance.

[Michael Messer]

Martin, If it has been hanging on the wall and unplayed for some time and it was brand new when it was put on the wall, you are right to just play it for a while and let everything settle down and bed in. When you change the strings, only ever change them one at a time and tune it to pitch before slackening and removing the next one. That way nothing can move or become unsettled and all your bedding in time won't be wasted.

Shine On
Michael

[bonzo]

Hi Martin, welcome to the forum.
Michael mentions changing strings, and although he won't point you in the direction of his own range, MM strings at Newtone strings are the go to sets for many reso players on and off the forum. They are excellent strings made in the UK. But you have to make sure that you tune to pitch before trimming the ends as they may unravel as they are made on a round core in the same way as the original strings were.
Enjoy your reso!

Best wishes to you all, John