I have played slide guitar for over 35 years, normally on flat tops or electrics. Though I looked forward to getting a tri-cone, I was sorely disappointed. The model I received had a poorly cut nut, warped neck and needed a truss rod adjustment. I would have been willing to make those adjustments till I discovered the truss rod was stripped in it's hole. I had to do extensive repair work on it.

I own both the Regal RC-2 Duolian and the RegalRC 51 Tricone. Okay right to the bottom line. If I could only own one, it would be the Duolian. I dress it with really heavy strings, and it sings with a deep Mississippi delta blue sound which cannot be duplicated. I had to have my guitar tech bring down the action on the guitar to make it playable, but still this baby is very special. Now the tricone is different. It plays more like a wood based guitar. And it has better action. But it simply doesn't have that special resonator sound which comes with the single cone. Both guitars are bears to play. You will not get the action and the sensitive feel that you get from a wood guitar with these babys. Ain't gonna happen. The trade-off is the special sound. Can't be duplicated. Can't be imitated. You won't get it with a wood guitar. But you'll always have to fool around with your resonator. It's like a 1960's British roadster. You gotta be willing to mess around with adjustments and pay attention to buzzes and annoyances. Still if you want that sound, and you know what I mean you got to go with a resonator,

I've owned this baby for two years now, when first delivered I thought it looked great and sounded okay. I felt the action was high and didn't project as well as I thought it should. I trimmed the maple bridge by a 16th of an inch, and opened the guitar, and what a surprise, masking tape under the cones! I removed the tape, buffed the heavy finish off the neck using 600 grit sandpaper, and this baby went from mellow yellow to screaming vintage walkin blues! I had a professional musician friend of mine play it and he was amazed over the playabilty and sound change, and so am I. I felt it important to pass this on. Fingerstyle or slide, it does both with a venomous attitude. With no exagerration, it sounds like I paid 3000 dollars for this guitar.

Cut to the chase... If your 51 has buzz and you can't quite zero in on the fix, be gentle but pull the 3 screws and find the proper hex wrench and keep an eye which way your turning it, if the buzz is more crank the other way, slowly and thoughtfully, most everything is a comprise, you want no buzz but also want proper intonation, some like heavy strings.. great but the pull from the low strings are naturally going to put pressure on the neck to be bossed around by that side of the neck, twisting, you mostly won't see much except for string to fret space if that, thats where the truss rod comes in. Takes a little time but 9 times out of 10 this will help out big time. This is not to say its a cure all but if its the neck where i thing Regals QC is the big gripe and should be. Another little tip, the Quaryerman cone/cones are really fine quality but if You want your resonator, in this case to sound say, like Tampa Trds, buy National replacement cones. They will give you smooth... Quartermans unless they have changed in the last year are brighter with an edge. To each there own. I like the cones that are stock but experimented with am insert that is half graphite and half wood, trimmed to fit and its pergect for my no pick fingerpicking slide work. Much of what You get is yout technique whether its a National Res. or a Taylor acoustic or electric anything. As an aside... I am a collector of any footage of the late great icons as well as late great obscure but ocons to me. If you were see the players, you might be surprised by what style guitar they are using, you'll probably say dah, anyone can tell the differents between a wood res., metal, brass, many times the res. is wooden, and about slides, pen knives were a favorite, bone, tube covers,picking with metal picks, long fingernails, finger flesh, what the players all had in common was that they were playing there own material in a way that came naturally for there finger/hand size, arm length which created the humid goo goo voodoo mojo that we strive for on whatever guitar they could afford.

This tricone may not be a National, but for 1/4 - 1/5 the price, it's damn close. Mirror chrome finish, brass body, full and loud sound, sustain, etc... I have owned this guitar for about 6 months now, and I have been very happy with it. The very first thing you should do though is put on the heaviest strings you're comfortable playing with, because it will improve sustain, tone, dynamics, etc. I have always wanted a National, and I still do, but this guitar will get you very close without mortgageing your house. Very warm and full sound, lots of sustain, and loud! I thought I might have to change the cones for Nationals or Quatermans or something, but the stock cones are great! You won't be dissapointed.