1920s
Regal Tiple
© Frank Ford, 2002; Photos by FF

l think it may have been Looney Tunes' Sylvester who said, "All us cats is high stringed. I'm just high stringeder than most." In any case, the same applies to the tiple. Small fretted instruments may be high stringed, but this one is definitely high stringeder than most. In fact, with its ten steel strings, the heavy tension is a frequent cause of a tiple's demise. This one appears to be doing well, but it certainly shows some signs of tension difficulties, including neck angle problems, deformation of the top and a bit of bridge looseness. Nonetheless, it's a good example of Regal's interpretation of the South American traditional instrument.

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