The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #63763 Message #1039788
Posted By: GUEST,reggie miles
22-Oct-03 - 01:42 PM
Thread Name: What about a Regal RC-2 Duolian Reso Guitar?
Subject: RE: What about a Regal RC-2 Duolian Reso
I had a couple old, bottom of the line Regals from the 30s or 40s, the kind with the four, instead of eight, legged spiders (bridges). I picked 'em up cheaply, (about $35. each) because the bodies were trashed. Fortunately the cover plates, cones, and bridges were still in functional condition. I put the works from each into one of those new, (factory seconds), Regal/Saga bodies, that I also acquired inexpensively, (about $35. each). The new bodies gave the old parts a new lease on life. They sounded and played great, as sweet as pie. I used them to play all of my purdy songs. I ended up trading one of them off with some other stuff I had collected to buy a '65 Newport ragtop, (my midlife Chrysler) which now clings to life, after years of faithful service, beneath several layers of blue plastic tarp, badly in need of just about every kind of repair. Some low life scum not fit to walk the earth stole the other one.
To answer your question, first remove the strings. Then all you need to do to change cones is unscrew the screws holding down your cover plate. There's about 10-12 of these along the outside edge of that big shiny hubcap looking item on the front of the guitar. That will expose your cone. You'll want to mark where the bridge is positioned under the cover plate before you remove it from the body. Use a pencil and make light marks on the edge of the sound well, (the big hole where the resonator fits into body) so you can re-align the legs of the spider upon reassembly. The cone and bridge, (or spider), are attached to each other by a single screw in the center.
NOTE: If there are, (this is not the rule but sometimes there are) other miscellaneous screws, staples, nails or tacks holding the bridge and cone in place get them out of the way. You can throw them away as you don't need them. They hinder the vibration and were probably used for quick assembly by some factory cog under pressure to make a quota.
To continue, unscrew the center screw. That will separate the bridge from the resonator cone and replace the old cone with your new Quarterman. The new cone will not be an exact match to your old one but very close. Therefore, it may take more or less turns to properly adjust the tension needed to attach the bridge to your new cone. Keep in mind that the tension created by this screw is the key to getting the best sound from your resonator. It also affects the playing action along the neck as it lowers or raises the string height. When you reassemble the bridge and cone simply snug the screw into place. You won't need a lot of tension on it. A turn or so after it brings the two pieces into contact with each other ought to do the trick. Set the joined bridge/resonator back into the body and align it with the marks along the edge of the sound well. Screw the cover plate back into position and restring and tune your guitar. The final adjustment will have to be made after you have everything put back together with the strings attached and tuned.
You'll need a narrow bladed screw driver that can fit into that little hole in the center of your coverplate's cross member. You will probably notice that the tension of the tuned strings pressing down on the bridge has caused the resonator screw tension to loosen. This may cause the bridge to vibrate against the cone with an unwanted buzzing sound. Slowly tighten the screw until the buzz disappears. Then add another 1/2 to 3/4 turn to hold it snug. This tension causes the resonator and bridge to vibrate as one. Too much tension on this screw will lower your action on your neck and decrease the resonator's volume. Too little tension will cause the pieces to buzz against each other.
There is a balance that must be achieved here between these two extremes. There is a fine line between too loose and too tight. To gain optimum resophonic output some experimentation may be necessary. I've set what I thought was enough tension only to have the darn thing loosen up in the middle of a performance and sound terrible. I guess a little more tension might be preferable to too little.
At this point I should mention that any future changes in string gauges or tunings can alter this tension and adjustments may become necessary to maintain optimal performance. So, keep your little screwdriver at the ready. I always carry one with my guitar.
In conclusion, as long winded as my explanation above might seem, keep in mind that this isn't rocket science. It doesn't take a trained professional to turn a few screws. And if I, an untrained pre-fessional can do this, anybody can.