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Thread: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

  1. #1

    Default Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    As there are still many questions about who made Strad-O-Lin I thought I'd bring some research I have done into the United guitar Co over here as I think it answers a few questions (and probably raises a lot more).

    In my long and confusing quest to untangle the history of Premier guitars I recently read this interesting blog post by S. Nathaniel Adams, In which he references a Federal Trade Commission decision against the Fretted Instrument Manufacturing Co for manufacturing and marketing fake resonators.

    These fake resonators were marketed under a variety of names but a lot seem to have been sold as Melophonics. I think this proves that United built as least some of the Strad-o-Lin mandolins as Melophonic mandolins were sold in catalogs alongside them.

    Michael Wright states that Sorkin bought the Homenick Brothers factory in the 1950s and it came with the Strad-O-Lin trademark. This factory (or at least the contents of it - he says it was all moved to the Multivox factory, which Sorkin had founded to build amplifiers) was where all Sorkin marketed solid body guitars (I’ve seen Marvel, Premier and Strad-o-Lin) were built until they started to source them offshore around 1964. As this factory must've been building something before Sorkin bought it I believe that Homenick contracted their standard grade instruments to United and built their high grade in house.

    The article names four directors of the company as: John Carner, Morris Brooks, Frank Solvino and Frank Maisello and a little digging on each of these reveals some interesting details. It is mentioned in several places online that John Carner bought the Oscar Schmidt guitar division in 1935. I haven’t found a primary source for this but I believe it is from Neil Harpe’s research. He comes up as a director at three companies. Harptone, the Fretted Instrument Co and United guitars. By 1956 the Fretted Inst. Co is no longer listed as a builder of instruments but as an importer and distributor of parts and accessories. They were still going in 1969.

    All of this makes me believe that John Carner bought the luthiery division of the struggling Oscar Schmidt company in 1935 and reestablished it as the Fretted Instrument Co nearby, while the Oscar Schmidt factory continued building autoharps till sometime in the 1960s. In 1939 Carner founded the United Guitar Co and used that name for instrument building while Fretted Instrument Co was used to market parts and accessories.

    Is there any indication of when the first Strad-O-Lins were built? 1935 seems a bit late for the first ones, so I wonder if Homenick were building them themselves till then and then outsourced it when they started selling more than they could produce in house.

    By 1958 United were at a new location (where I believe they remained until they closed) with Frank Colonese listed as president. Frank is mentioned here as one of the original founders of United. Why he wasn’t listed in anything between then and now is unknown to me, as is whether any of the others continued to be involved with the company. United were still going till at least to 1975:

    "UNITED GUITAR CORPORATION.—This firm is located at 278 Johnston Ave., Jersey City, N. J. General manager is Bernard A. Forcillo. Manufacturers of quality guitars, mandolins and ukes." -- The Purchaser's Guide to the Music Industries 1964.

    Which Mandolins United were still building in 1975 I have no idea as I haven't seen anything from the 1960s onwards that I'd think could be attributed to them. This late period is quite mysterious because aside from Harptone guitars - which I'm pretty sure they built - I can't see how they managed to keep going so long, but by then I can't imagine they were producing huge quantities of anything.

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    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    Amazing info. Your research is something like mando-forensics or some kind of eight-string archaeology. Thank you for your work.

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  5. #3

    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    Yes, very interesting and useful to have a concise article with the relevant links in one account.

  6. #4

    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    Here's a date stamp from a Forcillo guitar:

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    and from a Strad-o-Lin mandolin:

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    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    Once Sorkin got the Strad-O-Lin trademark, seems all bets were off as to what (and whose) instruments got that label.

    Here, for example, are a couple Strad-O-Lin trombones, one apparently made by Bohm. The only association I've had with Harptone was as a source of cases, which they seemed to build into the 1970's at least -- although I do remember a "Ringo Starr plays Harptone guitars" ad from that period.

    Linkage between Strad-O-Lin and Favilla has been speculated on from time to time, as well. The above-listed article is persuasive, but not determinative, IMHO.
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  8. #6

    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    Cool to see my research mentioned here! Yeah United is a very mysterious company but they continued at least until 1986. They even sold kit instruments through the Boys Life magazine. Their output of catalog instruments seemed to seriously dip after the 1960s which is why so many folks think they went under along with Kay, Valco, and Harmony

  9. #7

    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    That’s very interesting - have you seen any instruments you think might be from the late period? The internet suggests that Bernard Forcillo may still be alive and could probably put some mysteries to bed. I have made some small effort to contact him but haven’t been successful.

  10. #8

    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    There are some 1959 United mandolins in this Peter Sorkin catalogue from that year which was for sale a while back but was far too expensive to buy in my opinion. Luckily, the seller showed this spread but sadly did not get it opened quite as well as one would have liked.

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  12. #9

    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    Another detail I've found is an advert in this 1935 Russian Mutual Aid Magazine.

    It is annoyingly truncated and the picture that accompanied it won't show for copyright reasons but the text preview shows as:

    Братья Гоменюк Фабрика лучших мандолин марки STRAD - O - LIN Принимаем заказы для профессионалов , артистов , музыкантов и учителей . Цены умеренные .

    which google translates as:

    "Brothers Gomenyuk Factory of the best STRAD - O - LIN mandolins We accept orders for professionals, artists, musicians and teachers . Prices are moderate."

    Gomenyuk (Гоменюк) is another rendering of Homenick. The top of the advert shows this which I believe is the phone number, and is in the right area for their address at 213 East 19th Street.

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    S. Nathanial Adams managed to interview Bernard Forcillo
    which is very interesting but the mandolin discussion is brief.
    Last edited by cerebarat; Aug-20-2022 at 10:35am.

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    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    Very, interesting, I wonder if this information further helps to crack the mystery now.

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  16. #11

    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    There has been quite a lot has been written about United / Sorkin guitars recently:

    https://www.vintageguitar.com/38097/...r-corporation/

    https://www.vintageguitar.com/39594/...-stood-part-2/

    https://www.premierguitar.com/pro-ad...r-e-723-guitar

    but basically nothing about their mandolins or other instruments (they seem to have been quite a prominent maker of baritone ukuleles), and a lot of what has been written doesn't yet line up with each other.

    For example, in the Peter Kohman article it has an advert for Code from 1962, but Bernard Forcillo says they were created in the 1970s to import instruments from Japan. It seems like United were using Japanese hardware much earlier than most rivals (and adverts for the fretted instrument co from the 50s suggest they may have already had some involvement in it then), so there are logical paths but more research is needed to say anything definitive.

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    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    Though I don't think it will help much, there is an active Facebook Group for Harptone Guitars. I owned one and they were very helpful. Wonderful "Guild-like" guitars with no following. Hope springs eternal that someone has proof as to who made Stradolin mandolins but first, we must find The Loch Ness Monster.

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    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    Had a Premier Bantam electric guitar and like above it was a very nice, Guild style guitar with no following.

    If I remember correctly, when I took it apart to check things out, found a Made in Japan stamp on the stairstep tailpice.
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    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Platt View Post
    Had a Premier Bantam electric guitar and like above it was a very nice, Guild style guitar with no following.

    If I remember correctly, when I took it apart to check things out, found a Made in Japan stamp on the stairstep tailpiece.
    Though it may not have always been this way, Sorkin probably would have done just about ANYTHING to make a sale, unlike Gibson or Martin where keeping a certain standard of quality was important. I don't think quality was as important to Sorkin as sales. Would Sorkin put a Japanese stairstep tailpiece on his guitars, if it made it more competitively priced while making an extra dollar profit? Why not? They ended up selling Japanese guitars before going out of business. Though, I also wonder if your Japanese stairstep tailpiece may have been changed years later (did you buy your Premier Bantam guitar new)?

  21. #15

    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    The name Sorkin caught my ear. I am far from an expert on Beatles electric guitars, but I remember somewhere in an article stating John Lennon modified his Rickenbacker 325 by adding a Bigsby and a Sorkin bowtie bridge. I don't know if that is the same Sorkin we are talking about here?

    I just did a quick search and it appears that it is also nicknamed the "dogbone" bridge, FWIW.

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    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    Peter Sorkin of Peter Sorkin Music Company was a New York-based retailer/wholesaler who bought Stradolin and owned Multivox and Premier (a guitar and amplifier brand). I don't know his situation with Bigsby but if it would help sell it he would have imported, built or done just about whatever it took, to make a sale. So, I'm not surprised to see his name on that bridge.

  24. #17

    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Platt View Post
    Had a Premier Bantam electric guitar and like above it was a very nice, Guild style guitar with no following.

    If I remember correctly, when I took it apart to check things out, found a Made in Japan stamp on the stairstep tailpice.
    That is the later revision on the stairstep tailpiece, - my earlier one (about 1956) only has a number marking on it and is presumably made in USA. The later one is built from two parts and riveted together and is probably about the first bespoke made Japanese part for an American electric guitar. They used this style tailpiece from some time around 1963 to the mid 1970s.

    Sorkin were one of the first ever customers of Roland in America and it seems like the United group companies had already established links with Japan in the 1950s (the below from 1956):

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    In the interview with S Nathaniel Adams Bernard Forcillo mentions that they started sourcing tuners for their instruments from Japan. The first United built Premier I am aware of for this is from around 1963. Is there a transition to Japanese tuners on strad mandolins around then?

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  26. #18

    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff Mando View Post
    The name Sorkin caught my ear. I am far from an expert on Beatles electric guitars, but I remember somewhere in an article stating John Lennon modified his Rickenbacker 325 by adding a Bigsby and a Sorkin bowtie bridge. I don't know if that is the same Sorkin we are talking about here?

    I just did a quick search and it appears that it is also nicknamed the "dogbone" bridge, FWIW.
    I discussed this on here in one of my old posts so I'll quote that:

    My Premier Scroll guitar has metal inlays that look about the same size (in relation to a Strad mandolin with metal inlays):

    That was made by Premier themselves after they bought the Homenick mandolin factory. I believe that they are made from aluminum.

    I’ve often wondered what the origin of the Sorkin Bigsby bridge is. The name is in common usage but I’ve never seen anywhere explain why. My total conjecture is that Sorkin were (a/the) East Coast distributor for Bigsby. Maybe the aluminum inlay is a sign they made the bridges in house? I’d have to look again at his guitars, but I don’t think he ever actually used that design on his own guitars. The ones I’ve just looked at either had a rosewood baseplate or the posts go into the body.

    I believe the slightly odd shape of a Sorkin bridge was designed to cover the stud hole left by replacing a wraparound tailpiece, but that only applied to Gibson. Almost all guitars at the time were floating and tailpiece designs (except Fender who used the bigsby saddle in their own design baseplate), so maybe bigsby didn’t see a need to make their own bridges. There was a relationship between Sorkin and Gibson (TOM bridges were an option on Premier archtops - the guy who sold me mine said he’d taken it off and sold it separately).

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    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    Quote Originally Posted by your_diamond View Post
    Though it may not have always been this way, Sorkin probably would have done just about ANYTHING to make a sale, unlike Gibson or Martin where keeping a certain standard of quality was important. I don't think quality was as important to Sorkin as sales. Would Sorkin put a Japanese stairstep tailpiece on his guitars, if it made it more competitively priced while making an extra dollar profit? Why not? They ended up selling Japanese guitars before going out of business. Though, I also wonder if your Japanese stairstep tailpiece may have been changed years later (did you buy your Premier Bantam guitar new)?
    No, I didn't buy it new. Purchased it in about 1986 or so. Give or take a year or three.

    The tailpiece on it is the same shown in the above articles and was the standard tailpice on those guitars. It had not been changed. Whether they all were made overseas or just certain runs, I don't know.
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    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    I found Joseph Saltzman's obituary in the MUSIC TRADES dated MAY 1996 that sheds some light on Sorkin and their Japan connection... Joseph Saltzman, a veteran of the music industry and founder of Entertainment Music Marketing Corporation, died on March 31 after a long battle with cancer. He was 79 years old. Born in Galveston, Texas, his family moved to Philadelphia when he was a child. In the middle of the Depression, economic privation was everywhere and at 17, Saltzman was forced to go to work to help support his family. His Uncle, Lou Sorkin, operated a small music store on 7th Street in Philadelphia, and he joined the company as a stock clerk in 1932, launching a 62-year career in the music business. Three years later, Sorkin shifted from music retail to wholesale and moved Sorkin Music to a small location near Union Square in New York City, then the center of the music industry. Saltzman made the move with his uncle and worked his way up through the ranks of management. By the early fifties, he was the head buyer at Sorkin Music and was traveling extensively in Europe and Asia. Among the products he helped introduce into the U.S. were the Hofner "Beatle" Bass; the Ace-Tone Rhythm Ace, the industry's first programmable rhythm machine, developed by Ikutaroo Kakehashi who later founded Roland Corp.; and Premier Amplifier, the company that invented the "piggyback" amp. In the 70s, Sorkin was the first U.S. distributor for Roland electronic products. Gracious, and unfailingly polite, Saltzman was devoted to the music industry and had numerous friends throughout the world. "He was the kind of person that, when he spoke to you, he made you feel special, no matter who you were," said Saltzman's son Mark, who is president of EMMC (Mark, might be worth talking to).

    I haven't found a Music Trades Obituary for Peter Sorkin. You don't suppose he's living the Vida Loce at the Aventura in Boca Grande, do ya! Nah, he'd be over 100.

    I should probably say something nice about Sorkin, right about now. The music business is a tough business. When it's good, it's real good, when it's bad, you might as well be selling ice to Eskamoes. It's not Sorkins fault there are so many laminated Stradolins because that's what people wanted. If it wasn't for Sorkin and all the laminated SOL's, we may not have known about the lovely Pre-War solid Stradolins, at all. Peter Sorkin moved Sorkin Music to New York in 1935, coincidentally that is the earliest date of the 10+ solid SOL's that I have owned, though they must have been making then before that date.

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  32. #21

    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    Quote Originally Posted by your_diamond View Post
    I should probably say something nice about Sorkin, right about now. The music business is a tough business. When it's good, it's real good, when it's bad, you might as well be selling ice to Eskamoes. It's not Sorkins fault there are so many laminated Stradolins because that's what people wanted. If it wasn't for Sorkin and all the laminated SOL's, we may not have known about the lovely Pre-War solid Stradolins, at all. Peter Sorkin moved Sorkin Music to New York in 1935, coincidentally that is the earliest date of the 10+ solid SOL's that I have owned, though they must have been making then before that date.
    The earliest date evidenced date I have seen for a Strad is 1932 in this thread by Graham Mcdonald.

    He includes a catalog page from 1933 with it:

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    The detail that stands out (aside from the part about Homenick) is the surround on the tuners. I have only ever seen this on one Strad family mandolin which is one from this thread:

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    Where there is a pearl surround. As it's such a rare feature and only documented in the earliest known catalog image, it would seem that this is a sign of an early instrument. The Ebony pickguard is something else mentioned in the catalog and is a feature of that mandolin. (I have a vague memory that a piereced ebony pickguard is mentioned in another catalog somewhere) and again is probably a sign that an instrument is early and so probably from before 1935.

    As I mentioned above, the Forcillo date stamp is identical to the one used for Strad-o-Lins. United didn't exist until 1935 (then as the Fretted instrument Co.) and I'm not aware of an instrument with a stamp for a date before that, so I believe the stamp indicates that United built that instrument. This is not to say that all Strads were built by United, or even that if it lacks the stamp that it definitely wasn't made by them.

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    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    I personally think the chance that these were built by Homenick is pretty much zero. I do believe they knew the company that was building them and did some pretty rudimentary inlay on the few that have showed up. We've had at least one where Homenick sold the mandolin with upgrades and the receipt was there. That doesn't strike me as a wholesale operation. This one is a little nicer than the rest but that headstock, other than the inlay is common. When I asked Tom Favilla about the Favilla branded Strad-O-Lin genre mandolins he said it was a model they had been building since the 20's. I can't even take that as gospel because he said they never made any with anyone else's name on it. Tom entered the business in 1957 well after the Strad-O-Lins probably stopped being built there. I think they were built by multiple companies that had the capacity and everything I've seen about Homenick doesn't show me the capacity required. Favilla had it, United had it, and I suspect at least one of the Chicago builders built them. I spent way too much time trying to figure out who built these years back. I don't think there's ever going to be proof of a definitive answer but I just don't buy a few branded Homenick as proof of anything. We have several branded Favilla in the Strad-O-Lin social group.
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    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    Mark Saltzman who bought the Strad-o-Lin name from the Homenick Brothers said they primarily built acoustic mandolins in the factory that Sorkin bought from them. If they didn't make the mandolins with their name on them which mandolins did they build?

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  36. #24
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    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    There are decades of production in the years before that took place. They may have owned the name at the time it was purchased, that doesn't mean they built them for decades before that. It isn't the Rosetta Stone, sorry.
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  37. #25

    Default Re: Strad-O-Lin, United and Homenick Bros

    What kind of definitive proof would be required? A dated photo showing workers? Workers outside a factory? Dated letterhead? A mandolin with a label showing the address? A sales receipt showing address and a date?

    Two thoughts:

    Even a company as well known as Gibson, which you would think would have plenty of documentation as to its history -- seems to have a lot of gaps in its story, IMHO. FON number info, for example....

    Same with Fender, the history keeps getting rewritten, as we speak. Supposedly, Leo repaired radios in the 40's, then decided to make a lapsteel guitar, then somewhere in the late 40's, around the time of Broadcaster (or Esquire prototype...) the date seems to get blurred. Experts will say 1949 or 1950. In the 70's Robbie Robertson was interviewed in a guitar magazine where he stated his Broadcaster had a 1948 date! (of course, the early necks had the date written in pencil, which would be easy to change, if someone had reason to -- like trying to sell Robbie Robertson the earliest known Fender, perhaps?) So, even a company with so much literature and photo/film documentation can't seem to agree on a date. Or, does it really matter?

    It strikes me as totally plausible, the lack of proof, especially when talking about a smaller company. Fortunately, Strad-O-Lin's seem to still be plentiful almost 90 years after what we think was the earliest possible date, probably helped along with eBay and other online sources. Just a guess, maybe a larger company made a lower cost instrument to increase sales during the Great Depression?

    Anyway, like so many things in life, the "mystery" adds to the allure, IMHO

    How could the truth do anything but take away from that?

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