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Thread: Harmony Shutt style mandolin, maybe?

  1. #1

    Default Harmony Shutt style mandolin, maybe?

    Hello all,

    New member, long time browsers and mandolin player. I was at an antique store yesterday and picked up what I believe to be a Harmony Shutt style mandolin. However, it's missing the (never had it) inlay on the peghead. Beyond that it seems to match up to the limited examples I found online. I was wondering if anyone can confirm this and perhaps provide a rough time frame when it was made? I just restrung it and the action is pretty high. I don't think it has the original bridge but I'm not certain. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Thank you,
    Sam

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  2. #2

    Default Re: Harmony Shutt style mandolin, maybe?

    It appears to be one and Sears, Roebuck sold these as the Supertone Viol in the mid to late 1920s.

    https://jakewildwood.blogspot.com/20...tyle-viol.html

    https://jakewildwood.blogspot.com/20...le-carved.html

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  4. #3

    Default Re: Harmony Shutt style mandolin, maybe?

    Thanks!

  5. #4

    Default Re: Harmony Shutt style mandolin, maybe?

    I did not look that closely but the bridge in the old ad does look like it might be the same as the one you have- you could try blowing up the image a bit.

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  7. #5
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    Default Re: Harmony Shutt style mandolin, maybe?

    The pickguard, specially shaped to accommodate the f-hole, is amazing!

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  9. #6

    Default Re: Harmony Shutt style mandolin, maybe?

    It's possible, hard to see in the pictures. The bridge I have is very simple but way too high.

  10. #7

    Default Re: Harmony Shutt style mandolin, maybe?

    This one appears to be Harmony branded and has strip tuners that are not enclosed- unlike yours- I can see the plate and the tuners in one photo. The tuners date this mandolin to around 1930 or so.

    https://reverb.com/item/1468035-pre-...-viol-mandolin

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  12. #8
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Harmony Shutt style mandolin, maybe?

    Quote Originally Posted by rickbella View Post
    The pickguard, specially shaped to accommodate the f-hole, is amazing!
    I love that pickguard!
    "To be obsessed with the destination is to remove the focus from where you are." Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar

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  14. #9
    Registered User Gregg Miner's Avatar
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    Default Re: Harmony Shutt style mandolin, maybe?

    I believe it's almost certainly a Harmony built instrument on the Harmony/Schultz patent D45968. That clever "out-to-beat-Gibson" finger rest is the Albert Shutt giveaway. The latest development in all this (I haven't updated my article yet and am not allowed to say how I know). is that, while Shutt and his small staff built their own Shutt-patented design instruments, many (most?) may have actually been built by Harmony, just like this one. Going further out on a limb, it may be that the finish (Jet black or "Shutt gray") may be a clue as to the source. Shutt-o-mania can be found here, for those new to this fascinating forgotten builder: https://www.harpguitars.net/history/shutt/shutt.htm

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  16. #10
    NY Naturalist BradKlein's Avatar
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    Default Re: Harmony Shutt style mandolin, maybe?

    The instrument listed below sold 7 years ago, and looks to be an extremely fine example. This model and its history is much better understood now. (and prices have adjusted accordingly) This one includes the very rare hardshell case as well.

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    It also includes a bridge design which, while very elegant, is unlike any I've seen on any Shutt associated instruments. It's presumably a replacement.

    The bridge on the original poster's instrument is either original or an exact reproduction. Almost certainly the former. That bridge can be lowered, but first check the state of the neck (no truss rod or Gibson-like reinforcement), and the neck set (the tapered dovetail was not fit with nearly the care of higher priced instruments).


    Quote Originally Posted by NickR View Post
    This one appears to be Harmony branded and has strip tuners that are not enclosed- unlike yours- I can see the plate and the tuners in one photo. The tuners date this mandolin to around 1930 or so.

    https://reverb.com/item/1468035-pre-...-viol-mandolin
    BradKlein
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  18. #11

    Default Re: Harmony Shutt style mandolin, maybe?

    I posted some photos of the mandolin and case (as seen above) over at the Vintage Musical Instrument Cases Facebook page as original hard cases for Shutt style mandolins are very rare- to say the least. Steve Kirtley, who is of course, a member here reckoned the case had a number of features that made it hard to positively identify the maker. It has a rivet in the compartment lid but not the G & S diamond motif- but an oval shape which he said he had seen before but could not tie down to a specific maker. The mandolin has a Harmony label inside and my guess was circa 1930- which predates the Harmony date code stamp system- while the strip tuners were not used on the Supertone Viol- the tuners were recessed behind a plate. It has worm under tuners but you see these into the 1930s as the bigger makers probably had large stocks of tuners and these were of a type you see that Harmony used on their top end flat top guitars at this time. Over at the page, someone has posted an even more elegantly appointed Harmony made Shutt mandolin. I would hope he does not mind me adding it here for posterity.

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  20. #12

    Default Re: Harmony Shutt style mandolin, maybe?

    The mandolin did have a neck reset at some point as there's evidence of a respray around the neck joint only. I'm actually wondering if they under compensated for the reset which is why the action was so high, or did they get the reset right, replaced the bridge but never fitted it to the mandolin.

  21. #13

    Default Re: Harmony Shutt style mandolin, maybe?

    Just to update everyone on this. I cleaned up the mandolin, restrung it and adjusted the bridge as best as possible. It plays and sounds great, but the action is still a little high for my liking. However, I can't go much lower as a few frets are pretty worn and I can't justify the price to refret, plus the fingerboard does have cracks in it. For now, I'm going to string it up with either 9's or 10's (I have 11's on it as that's what I use on my other two mandolins) and see if that helps with the playability. It sounds amazing, a very rich, mellow, deep tone.

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  23. #14

    Default Re: Harmony Shutt style mandolin, maybe?

    For various reasons, I prefer superlight strings on my mandolins. I appreciate some may want heavier strings to get certain tones but where the mandolin is old and lightly built, then superlight is my preferred option. I would imagine this mandolin is pretty lightly constructed but you may be able to lower the bridge a little by sanding down the saddle a bit with sandpaper on the top and moving it side to side where the bridge sits. I suggest you do that if you restring it with lighter strings as you need to remove the strings. I did that recently on an old Regal mandolin and it improved its playability no end.

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