The Regal Octofone (or Octophone) was an attempt by the Regal Musical Instruments company to design a unique instrument that could replicate the sounds of 8 other instruments. Those instruments were the tenor guitar, tenor banjo, ukulele, taro patch, tiple, mandolin, mandola and mandocello [1]. I strung mine up and tuned it like an octave mandolin which is one of the more common ways to play these instruments.
The shape is curious, it has two points and looks like a double cut away mandolin
1932 Catalog scan showing the Octofone has been removed after threat of legal action by VintAxe.com who claim to be the copyright owners for this 1932 Continental Music Catalog
The No.25 Octofone has a birch neck, back, and sides finished in a dark lacquer to mimic more expensive woods. It is ladder braced with a dowel rod neck joint. The fretboard is ebonized maple with 3 pearl position dots. The tailpiece is stamped "Bell Brand Patented NMS Co”
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| Popular Mechanics 1928 |
The No.26 Octofone features mahogany instead of birch. These are less common.
These instruments were first released (and patented) in 1928 with the patent approval coming later in 1931 [2]
"PAT.APLD.FOR" stamp on a pre-patent Regal Octophone.
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| Patent scan [2] |
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| Snippet from Certified List of Domestic and Foreign Corporations for the Year 1931 [4] |
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| 1928 newspaper scan [1] |
These instruments appear on Reverb every so often. Approximate value is between $300-800 depending on condition and playability
[3] citation removed because I will not support linking to people who threaten litigation on rights they do not have
[4] https://books.google.com/books?id=PjXrBMF9_J0C&pg=PA1359&lpg=PA1359&dq=%22Frank+Kordick%22&source=bl&ots=yg5vViowa_&sig=ACfU3U1_OHGN-9eSltH5gxIXb9C97s53pA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjbpuC3lNHkAhUHbawKHQECBOsQ6AEwEnoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Frank%20Kordick%22&f=false
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