# General Mandolin Topics > Vintage Instruments >  The Marxophone

## jaycat

I ran into one of these in a local junque emporium, not nearly in as good a shape as the one pictured. The proprietor wants $45 for it. It's not in great tune and I don't think he has the tuning key.



(Mandolin content: according to Wikipedia, "The hammers are mounted on spring steel and produce a mandolin-like sound from repeated bouncing on the strings, hence the name mandolin-guitar-zither sometimes applied to the Marxophone.")

Has anyone ever owned or played one of these? Looks like it might be fun (except for the following caveat "Because the hammers are made of white lead, the instrument sheds small amounts of lead powder. Musicians who actively use this instrument have adopted the practice of coating the hammers in Epoxy glue, which does not affect the sound but stops the wearing away of the hammers (and prevents the poisoning of children, cats and other small creatures)."

Thanks all!
jc.

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## allenhopkins

Go to *fretlesszithers.com* for the best overall possible summary of Marxophones and the other weird and wonderful variants of zither technology built a century ago.  One can wander for hours on this website, continually marveling at the crazy ingenuity that created the ukelin, tremoloa, mandolin-harp, dulceola, etc. etc.

It would _probably_ be tunable with a standard Autoharp tuning wrench, but you might check first.  The price is ball-park for these monstrosities, which are mostly bought now for decor rather than music.

I have a friend who purchased a similar instrument, which I believe was called a "mandolin guitar harp."  It had a series of chords to be strummed with the left hand, and keys that operated spring-loaded hammers to be played with the right hand.  She found it quite difficult to play, since the two hands' action doesn't coordinate at all.  I assume with enough practice one might be able to coax music out of it.

Good luck -- let us know how it works out...

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## jaycat

Allen, thank you for that link. The website is overwhelming to say the least, I've just begun to scratch the surface.

BTW, the Wikipedia entry claims that the Doors had a Marxophone on their version of Alabama Song, and that John Sebastian played it on "She's Still A Mystery to Me." (among many other references in pop music). I'll have to dig those two up and give them another listen.

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## Spruce

> Has anyone ever owned or played one of these?


Yep.  Got a realy mint-y one I got from Paul Shelasky...
_Great_ studio tool...
45 bucks is a bargain if it works...
Tune it with an autoharp wrench...





> The price is ball-park for these monstrosities, which are mostly bought now for decor rather than music.


No, these are actually _very_ useful, as opposed to all those other "monstrosities"...
Check it out on the breakdown:

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jaycat, 

jim simpson

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## jaycat

It's funny how present it is on that song, once you know what to listen for.

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## jaycat

Here's the scrub-faced lads featuring John Sebastian on Marxophone(s), or something quite like them.

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## Spruce

Saw Portland's Black Prairie on Leno last night, and it's the first time I've ever seen a Marxophone on stage...

Jon Neufeld on a John Sullivan archtop guitar--pretty cool.

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## Jim

Saw one at a jam a few months ago, needed tuning. Thought at the time it would be fun to tune up and use in the studio.

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## multidon

Strangely enough Elderly recently acquired several Marx instruments. No Marxophones but several variations on the Marxolin, which is play with a bow somewhat like a bowed psaltery. Elderly wants between 75 and 125 dollars each for these depending on condition. Since it is more elaborate seems like 45 is a great price for the Marxophone. These are collectable because toy collectors are interested in anything made by Marx.

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## jim simpson

So they were from the Marx Toy company? I guess that makes sense. One of the Marx toy factories was located near here in Glendale, WV. I always like the Nutty Mads toys (inspired by Big Daddy Roth's Weird O's).

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