The tuners are German made- so it was probably made somewhere in Europe. It's hard to give a date- probably after WW2 and possibly in the Eastern Bloc but I am surmising from those tuners. Tuners like those have circular buttons of celluloid before WW2- the buttons make me think 1950s.
Hello, and welcome to the Café!
I'm not sure why you call it "7 string." It clearly has 8 tuners, and even 8 strings.
Also, it looks like a banjolin (or mandolin-banjo), not a banjolele. Someone is bound to correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe banjoleles are ukuleles with a banjo-type body, and have four nylon strings tuned ukulele-style. The intent is to enable a ukulele player to make banjo sounds with a familiar instrument. By the same token, a guitjo enables a guitar player to make banjo sounds, and a banjolin enables a mandolin player to make banjo sounds. Also, these are metal strings, strung in double courses, with the thickest (ie, lowest) strings on the bottom, whereas ukuleles have their highest string on the bottom.
Anyway ... it looks pretty cool, especially the headstock. I like that swoop - it's almost avant-garde.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
I'm no expert but I have to ask, is this not a banjo-mandolin, or banjolin if you prefer? All the pictures of banjoleles that I see on the internet have four strings, like a ukulele. Your instrument has eight strings, in sets of two, like a mandolin. It sure looks like a banjo-mandolin.
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
I took some time to scan through google images to see if I could find a similar instrument. I found this - the one on the left - and elsewhere a closeup of the headstock. It's not an exact match, and it looks like a bigger body. But you could continue in this way and see if you have luck. I've been having a bit of fun with this, but I've been procrastinating on some chores, and really must get to them.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
Well, now! One learns so much around here from so many different directions. I did not know that. And now knowing it, I vow never to so misuse the term again. Uh huh, yeah, right! (There's a whole long tangent we could go into, concerning commonly-used terms which are actually brand names and trademarks, such as zipper, bubblewrap, and dumpster, but let's not. ) Sometimes ease of saying and/or writing and especially being understand are more important concerns than 100% correctness. Whatever that may be.
And IMO you're not being pedantic, nor even persnickety, but precise. I 'preciate it.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
Thanx to journeybear for the research! Appears what you have, looks quite a bit like a "Melody Major" mandolin-banjo; if so, it was made by Geo. Houghton & Sons in the UK. I've looked at a couple of examples on Google, and those don't have the same flange plate or tailpiece as yours, so I'm hesitant to offer a firm ID. Definitely looks European or English made, though all the Houghton instruments I've looked up have been fairly clearly marked, and yours isn't. Perhaps it could have had one of those "Melody Major" badges on the headstock, which became detached.
Here's one that was recently auctioned. Don't get excited and think yours is worth $3,900, though; the one Bonhams sold came from Eric Clapton's collection, hence the ridiculously inflated auction price. As far as I know, Clapton never recorded with it...
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
Also regarding price, that auction is a benefit fundraiser.
The Melody Majors I've seen (only a few, admittedly) have a distinct tailpiece, not the generic clamshell type here. But that headstock ... I wonder if the mfr made some instruments for different companies, which then put their logo on it, as well as other appurtenances. I understand this was common with bowlbacks; could that be the case here?
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
Bonhams got the date on that banjo mandolin somewhat wrong- it has a lion on the headstock which George Houghton began to use in the mid-30s It's an instrument that you would be lucky to make £100 in a sale but it has that special cachet of being from Eric Clapton's collection. The last instruments that George Houghton- or his son made, were in conjunction with John Dallas and they were sold under the Dallas brand in the early 60s. I think this instrument has a very "German" looking tailpiece as well as the tuners. George Houghton did use German made tuners on his 1930s banjo mandolins but they had a very different tailpiece style.
It’s incredible how much instruments on e owned by famous musicians can make. A, now retired, luthier friend of mine once made a steel bodied resonator ukulele for George Harrison. Apart from wondering what happened to it after his death, he always claimed that he regretted cashing the cheque.
But to get back to my comment #4, above, is this instrument a ukulele mandolin or a banjo mandolin? The OP calls him or herself a "newbie" so this is very important information to know.
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
The presence of 8 (4 pairs) steel strings makes it a “banjo-mandolin” or a “mandolin-banjo” or even a “banjolin” if that floats your boat; however, they’re better known in these parts as “an instrument of the devil”!
Thanks for highlighting My typo clearly it's a 8 string instrument I'll refrain from calling it the incorrect name as well cheers .
Thanks for the info I'll do some research
Okay, while we're being precise with names here, mine has been converted from 8 strings to 4. (you can still see the filled holes where the other tuners were removed, and it's been fitted with a new nut and bridge). Is it still a banjo mandolin, or is it now something else?
I call it a resto mod.
(And oh, by the way, she is offended at being called an "instrument of the devil" )
It's still a banjo mandolin. If precision drives you, perhaps calling it a "single string banjo mandolin" (or banjolin) will suit you.
When I was having tuning issues with my EM-150 electric mandolin and went single string to solve the problem, I still called it an electric mandolin. Every now and then I'd get asked if it was a ukulele - still get that with my Ryder solid body, which is indeed built as a single string - as people tend to associate instruments with four single string with ukuleles.
Around these here parts, any hunk of junk consisting of a fretboard stuck onto a drum often gets referred to in dismissive terms - usually in fairly good humor and more or less with tongue in cheek. Don't take it personally. Tell her that, too. To tell the truth, when I was new here I thought it strange, unkind, and un-called-for, and had to ask. I've learned to play along. I think some people actually mean it, but most people don't, and are just having a bit of fun. After all, mandolins and b****s spend a lot of time together in some circles, especially in bluegrass, where their fates seem inextricably intertwined.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
Ha ha, I don't really care about a precise name. I'm just prodding at the linguists among us
I fully realize it's all in good fun
When I arranged to buy it (without first informing my DH) I asked the seller if he thought I could just say I left my car unlocked and someone put it in there.
He felt that was legit
If it’s one (few) of a kind - which a 4 string banjo/mandolin may well be - you’re fully within your rights to call it exactly what you want.
Whether yours falls into the “instrument of the devil category” will depend on the noise it produces; i.e. does it just make a noise or is it a full “unholy noise”.
I was once tempted to buy a vintage Vega but the string alignment between the tuners and the nut was so bad that tuning one string made another go out of tune. It was quite a good price but it stayed in the shop.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
Of course!
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
I picked one up when I was in a jug band, and fearless leader wanted to bring that sound into our arsenal. He called it "the happy sound," which it kind of was. It was utterly impossible to play anything bluesy on it. It was great on upbeat, bouncy numbers and ragtime tunes; slower, slinkier stuff required the mandolin. I didn't know about this "devil's instrument" designation, nor any other dismissive designation of denigration. But I did say it was "utterly devoid of subtlety."
This was a Vega Little Wonder with a plastic head. It never needed amplification. Somehow I found a vintage one with a smaller head made of skin - much quieter, even sweeter, bless its heart - and traded for it. Sadly, when that head broke and my luthier said it needed more work, especially to fix its slightly warped neck - which would have cost twice what my buy-in had been - I left it at his shop and said I'd think about it. I was no longer in the band, so I wasn't terribly motivated. That was 25 years ago or more .
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
Hmmm. I think I'll go with "A happy sound utterly devoid of subtlety" vs. "unholy sound".
Now, if I can only convince my husband.....
I wonder if your instrument was left with attachment issues due to abandonment?
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