My father can attest to the compress-ability of poplar. Had a tree rot and fall down in our yard, well over 3 ft. diameter base. When it came time for splitting into firewood, the Korean War Marine vet's ax would simply bounce off the piece. All compression, zero penetration. When it did split, it held together with a wet stringiness that would put a celery stalk to shame. Most pungent rotting smell, like a dead wild boar. Could be smelt a mile away.

I LOVE the aesthetic of these old Regals. The more MOTS and decals and perfling, the better! And they usually sound pretty good too.

I just watched an Adam Savage video about clamps and he mentioned you about the clamps you use repairing guitars.

I don't know much about guitars but I do know I like this channel.

I was in my garage working on fitting the neck on my second guitar build and I was doing my sandpaper pulls. As I was working on it, I thought, Tom never talks about the little hump you get in the middle of the bottom of the heal. I used the pull method to smooth it out, but I was not sure if I was doing it right. 2 hours later, I watch this and learn that, yes, that is the right way to take care of that. I learn something new in every video. Great content! I really appreciate that you take the time to educate your viewers every week. I know it is a lot of work. Just want you to know I appreciate it.

I can picture a very happy kid finding this guitar under the Christmas tree circa 1930. And his brother got the Red Ryder BB gun!

👍 when I was 8yrs. old my parents bought me a Ludwig drum kit with" Black Mother of Toilet Seat" just like Ringo Starr's, thanx for the memories.

That was an interesting one, for sure, and it ended up sounding good. I love that you do your best to get the end result as good as possible, even if the instrument itself was never expected to be up to that standard. It's got character.

Your videos make Sunday nights in UK a joy. Thank you.

That's actually a really nice-sounding guitar! Impressed with your upside-down playing too.

SALLY O’MALLEY 😂😂😂 Ted never stop sprinkling in those reference gems

$15 in 1930 is about $266 in today's money. That's actually more expensive than many modern entry level guitars, including Fenders, Epiphones and Yamahas.

It sounds a lot better than I thought it would. Nice job focusing the work on the essentials in what could have been a real minefield!

It is becoming increasingly evident, that the works under taken in your videos are a bonus to your prefaced introductions Ted, and are appreciated greatly .

Excellent as always, and your commentary is incisive, insightful, informative. Thanks!

Mother of Toilet Seat is also a commonly used term in the accordion fettling world

Very nice work. Experience and craftspersonship cannot be bought. What a great sounding guitar: :)

Thank you for another excellent video. Nice work, very thoughtful. Appreciate how you make your concerns manifest, like the MoTS not reacting well to heat, or the poplar neck compressing. They’re useful caveats and provide a lot of insight into the right things to think about when engaging in repair.

Wow, that is an interesting one there. A novelty with character. Honestly, I usually don't care much for the old Regals, this one is the exception. No truss rod and only .013 relief, only 2 braces and one is being used for the bridge pad, it is in unbelievable great shape. Yes I like it, and the right person did the repair, Great Job!

This was a good one! I like that you know where to draw the line on how much effort to put into these. I was in a similar line of work, and you'd see some people get totally screwed by other guys who convince them to go all out and repair something that was never very good to begin with. Anyways, excellent work on a cool little guitar!

Fine video as always, Ted! "Mother of Toilet Seat" eh?? Never heard that term before!! LOL!! 😊 I found that description TOTALLY & HUMOROUSLY, COINCIDENTAL! LOL!! I say that, because your telling this, has brought back memories to the fact that the toilet seat in the first house I remember living in, had the EXACT SAME appearance as that pickguard! LOL!! The house I'm speaking of, was located near Portage, Pa; and was owned by my paternal grandparents. We moved into it, in April 1968; (which was 4 months before I turned 2 yrs. old), & I haven't much memories of that house though, until nearly 2 years or so later. Anyway, my grandparents had moved out of that house, around Sept. of 1962, and at first, rented it to two newlyweds, (a fellow named: Don and his new bride), whose families were both neighbors then, and still were, during my time there. Anyway, by the time I came to remember that ol' seat, it had begun flaking, and was becoming rough to sit on! 😄 I recall around 1973, my Grandma came to stay with us for a week or so, while my mother had surgery, and was recuperating in the hospital, in Danville, Pa. I can still recall a bit, about the 1st time my Grandma exited our Bathroom, after using it. She just ranted, and ranted on! Not only about the condition of that seat, but about what she called: "that HORRID color!!" LOL!! I recall her saying that - that particular seat, must've been the one that Don put on, after he'd notified her that a new one was needed, at some point while they lived there, and she had given him permission to replace it himself, after he'd offered to do so: "But why in the wide world on earth, did he have to choose a such a HORRID color and pattern like that one!!" Oh my!! Thanks for churning up those silly memories for me!! Just remembering my late, Grandma ranting on like that, even with her clean language, (as she was a devout christian), along with your "mother of toilet seat" phrase; has totally had me laughing my but off!! 🤣🤣🤣 Best Wishes & Highest Regards Always, & Will be looking forward to more future videos, of your fine luthiery work soon!! Ron H. Abilene, TX. USA.

Fixing enough lefties to learn to play like Jimi Hendrix is a milestone achievement.

I find your encyclopedic knowledge of the back stories of the instruments captivating. The repairs are gutsy! I would never have the confidence to tear into vintage instruments to make the repairs you do.

I always enjoy the convoluted stories of instrument history. For some reason I like and own older instruments along with their complex problems, but you got me with "it's got to be as fun as it sounds. Something tells me it would be a bowl of fun."

another well-done video. thank you!

The Tuning is basically Open D but down a step

It's these "ugly ducklings" that are my favourites to see restored. I learned to play guitar on a Harmony archtop with a very pronounced V shape neck, probably a cheapie from the early to mid 1960s. Still regret selling it to get a modern archtop with pickups, as having played a few guitars since the old Harmony was actually pretty great.

Good to see a person that loves and appreciates older guitars. Lucky to have Ted to restore them.

“The fret positions are… optimistic” 😂

The more you showed of that guitar the more surprised I was that you even bothered to put it back together !

Always appreciative of your history lessons. And of course your craftsmanship.

Superbly judged work to create such a distinctive and satisfying sound.

Working on that sure seems like a spooky project. Looks like it would make a great wall hanger. Fun to watch you work.

That little pickin number was haunting. That Regal sounds like every guitar I heard played by everyone that played guitar in Junior High School! Sounds like a way-back machine,

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of sustain it possessed.

If all you did was show the repair your videos would still be compulsive viewing but these glimpses into the history of guitar building add so much. Thank you.

I love the mother of toilet seat reference. My grandparents had a pearloid toilet seat. Lol

Very cool repair, it sounds surprisingly good with that setup!

Personally I love all the little artistic details on this guitar! Very unique!

Both the techniques and the history are really useful, and the sardonic sense of humor just adds to the appeal. Thanks much.

Very nice job you did. And this guitar sounds surprisingly amazing for what it is!! Lovely.

Your breadth of knowledge never ceases to impress me. Just another example of your passion for your craft. Kudos.

Your videos are fantastic not only for entertainment value, but from a historical perspective you give us a look inside the processes by which these companies made their instruments. Things like the maple veneer sandwiched Masonite fretboard, and using linen as a sort of binder for the celluloid inlays is invaluable for furute historians and conservators! Between you and Baumgartner Restoration here on KZfaq I have developed a deep respect and fascination with conservation and repair.

When you first showed the overview of the guitar, I wondered what the fret markers reminded me of. It was on the tip of my tongue and you said “space invaders”…. I nearly shot my drink out of my nose, that’s it for sure. Lol. Great work as always.

Top notch as always! Thank you!

I have a Regal resonator guitar. Thanks for the history lesson. 🙂

When I realized that Ted's shop is approximately 20 minutes from my house by car, my first thought was "are any of my guitars broken in an interesting enough way?" I have a seagull 12 string with a bridge that was badly glued back on...maybe that would be interesting enough to get fixed by Ted.

Beautiful guitar, great care from you! Sounds great!

Musical art worth documenting! Thanks for the video!

Great work as always, thanks for another great video

Thanks for the video, always enjoy watching!

wish I lived in Canada. What a funny little Regal. Beautiful work, as usual. Cheers

I was shocked to hear this Regal sound amazing…you are so very talented . Great fun here , always amazing .🇨🇦😊Alberta Dave

I enjoyed the vídeo and liked the guitar. Your knowledge and skills never seize to amaze me. Thank you.

The gauze like material underneath the celluloid pieces on the fretboard is called super or crash and it came into widespread use in the manufacturing of books. You can see a super / crash layer in the spine just outside folded and sewn page signatures and just inside the cover boards. It is generally hidden from view by endsheets. You may be able to obtain some from a place that manufactures case bound or hard bound books or from their suppliers. Just found your channel and I find it very relaxing. I had spinal spinal cancer surgery in Jan. '22 and it left me bedridden and I have not even seen my garage or shed since then so it's nice to kind of just coast along with you and learn things looking over your shoulder. Thanks a bunch.

Thoroughgoing treat as usual-thanks! And nice work on the rightie plays leftie challenge 😎

It's tacky as hell and I love it

Always interesting. Nice work

Wow! A great history lesson as well as cool craftsmanship. Thank you! Best Regards/Wishes!

Sounds great! Well worth the time and effort good job

That actually sounds really lovely and unique, so much so I would definitely consider sorting out the bridge

I have a mint 1930's round neck Ohau jumbo with an arched back. The back braces look like they came off the hull of a battleship. It's actually a great axe. Never seen another with an arched back before. They put the bridge literally in the wrong place, so I made a custom compensated saddle out of Water buffalo horn that actually overhangs the back of the bridge but it rest both in the slot and on the bridge face so it doesn't fracture. Plays and feels like a new guitar with a few caveats.

Fantastic video.

Mad skills, tooling genius.

It actually sounds a lot better than I expected. Nice one!

Very nice~. keep ‘em coming Mr. Luthier, keep ‘em coming

Never seen a guitar like that, thanks for this!

Hey Ted! Howdy! Always a toss up on these kinds of repairs. I see you are getting close to 100K subscribers! Congrats! I tell all my friends(2) about your channel! Sorry I don’t get around much anymore. Have had a couple of these guys and they really are hard to play. But it seems even though they were inexpensive at the time, the wood they used was better than what’s being used today. Love from NW Colorado. Thanxz

How beautitul these binding decorations are. And these plants remind me of a mandolin from Sicilia, there is a mandolin workshop, in the very south of Italy, that has done great decorations, similar to this guitar.

Very interesting guitar and neck reset. This must have been barely a break even between cost to repair and value of instrument. Owner must have really loved this guitar. Nice work, thanks for the video!

I have a 1951 Regal small body w/ mahogany back and sides and a spruce ladder braced top it is a cannon. It could pryuse a neck reset but with a gigantic 1/2” bone saddle (more saddle,more tone). it works.

I was not expecting that tone in the end. I know it's a camera mic with its own compression mimicking the sustain, but there were a lot of lovely overtones present. And what right-handed person can just play something like that on a lefty??? As a beginning guitar teacher I find it instructive to occasionally play a lefty to remember what it was like to be a beginner.

I like the sound for sure.

Sounds actualy even better than I expected.

My first guitar was a Les Paul style Regal. Way back in 1984.

love it's sound

It sounds great

excellent vid, thanks for the historical information, much appreciated

Gaudy is a most appropriate description of this guitar.

Great job, T!

Great video. Nice playing. Have to say that guitar had a really cool sound. Kinda sounds like the blues. Which makes so much sense. Ted, thanks. I learn something every video. Not a repair guy, just an old metal head that loves guitars. Between you and Jerry Rosa I’ve learned enough to make a nut, reseat a bridge and shape the saddle. Ended up repairing a beater acoustic for my son which he still plays.

Well, that certainly doesn't look like a Buick

Sounds great actually!

It has a really nice tone to it.

The philosophical debate is interesting. A few of my instruments are worth very little on the used market but they mean a lot to me. I’d pour a well over their market value to rescue a couple of them.

My sympathies for having to treat an ancient catalog guitar as a serious instrument.

What an adventure!

Uncooperative species? If that ain't the pot calling the kettle black -- a poplar

Very Cool

First thing out of my mouth was "that's Fancy"

After all was said and done , the sound wasn't too shabby.

Thank you sir

Gday mate, you probably don't want to hear this but. . Watching your videos gave me enough knowledge therefore confidence to fix my own 🎸. It is an ibonez rg270dx, I had it in a stand but kicked the whole lot over (again), it landed back down headstock first. There was a v crack emanating at the back of the locking nut screw area going down either side and through the neck stopping 1-1/2" down just at the underside of the fingerboard. You could pivot the headstock a cm back and forth bending the fingerboard😖. It has the wizard 2 neck. Didn't have access to hide glue so used polyurethane glue😐, wrapped it with surgical tubing then clamped it for 2 days. I have been feeling sick about the loss for about 3 plus years, not any more! It plays better than it used to, it would buzz when played on d in some places in the neck but no longer does this. I'm now thinking there was an existing crack from a previous fall and I finished it off knocking it over again. Still holds 11's at tune, going back to 10's. 👍on ya mate.

Your riff at the end droned like a dulcimer. A very old-time folky sound.

Ted you got the lefty sounding new again!

Look at that fret board. That would make me crazy lol.

Wow this was one interesting fretboard and guitar in general. When you removed the 14th fret area... id never seen anything like this before. Some serious skill needed to work on something like this, id have been so paranoid of breaking the fretboard work removing the neck ! wowza. Nice job ! :-)

Not seeing any comments on the fact that you can play the guitar even if it's strung for a leftie player. I do the same & it's not easy but always overlooked. It takes people a moment to realize what's going on lol

Ted, how a 92 yo celuloid on the fretboard show A LOT less signs of decay than the stuff made up to the 70's?

Yikes. You’re a saint for tackling this thing, and I feel like if you’d gone deeper into it you’d just keep uncovering more and more underlying issues. Once again though, great work.