Resonator banjo-ukulele
Alternate name(s)
- Resonator ukulele-banjo
- Resonator banjo-uke
- Resonator banjulele
- Resonator banjolele
Date1922-1926 ca.
Place MadeChicago, Illinois, United States, North America
ModelLyon & Healy No. 4469
Serial No.none
SignednoneMarkingsRubber-stamped in black ink on bridge toward tailpiece: GROVER [illeg.]
Written in pencil on bridge toward fingerboard: 40
DescriptionSee banjo-ukulele with similar alternating light and dark wood rim, NMM 10,665.
This banjo ukulele appears to be identical in every feature to one offered in the 1925 Lyon & Healy Counter Sales Book, catalog no. 4469. However, a very similar, though not identical, instrument appears in the 1925 Wurlitzer catalog as No. 759. This instrument has a slightly different head design, with a shield-shaped upper edge rather than the figure-8 head. In that catalog, the materials described are Oregon cedar, mahogany, and magnolia inlay. It is not clear who manufactured the instrument.
NMM 10,665 has a groove on the inside of the rim that appears to be without a function. In NMM 3320 this groove accommodates six brackets of the Rocco A. Carlucci tension hoop patent (U. S. Patent No. 1,409,078, awarded March 7, 1922). It is possible that this instrument was designed to have either type of tension hoop, or that the Carlucci patent took advantage of a groove that was already part of the manufacturing process for this type of instrument.
Neck: three-piece Oregon cedar-mahogany-Oregon cedar
Peghead: figure-8 with pointed upper edge; no veneer
Fingerboard: integral with neck; seventeen nickel-silver frets; white plastic dots inlaid behind 5th and 7th frets
Heel cap: none
Rim: alternating 29 mm-wide pieces of Oregon cedar and mahogany, the grain running perpendicular to the head; light wood inlay along top edge of rim, possibly magnolia; groove on inside diameter at midpoint into which tension hoop fits
Head: calf-skin
Tension hoop: nickel-plated steel with six brackets set into groove in rim, with screws to increase tension
Back: arched maple with pith flecks; two f-holes; affixed to rim with eight nickel-plated steel dome-headed screws
Nut: rosewood
Tuners: nickel-plated steel pegs with tension screws and black bakelite heads
Bridge: Grover bridge with black composite transverse support, U. S. Pat. N. 769,649, Sept. 6, 1904.
Tailpiece: nickel-plated steel sheet metal affixed to body with small steel screw
Finish: clear varnish
DimensionsTotal instrument length: 525 mm; 20-5/8 inches
Vibrating string length: 340 mm; 14-3/8 inches
Fingerboard length: 217 mm; 9-35/64 inches
Fingerboard width at nut: 32 mm; 1-1/4 inches
Fingerboard width at body: 43 mm; 1-11/16 inches
Head diameter: 138 mm; 6-7/16 inches
Rim depth: 53 mm; 2-3/16 inches
ProvenancePlayed by donor in her Junior/Senior High School years, ca. 1926-1928.
Credit LineGift of Peggy DeVilbiss Davison, 1983
Object number03320
On View
Not on view
1922-1930 ca.
