c.1925 "California Style" Banjo Ukulele

May 10, 2009

c.1925 "California Style" Banjo Ukulele

Update 2012: This banjo uke was made by Harmony in Chicago.

While browsing through the Atwoods' Sears catalog reprint from 1927, I stumbled on what to call this type of banjo-uke. It has an inline rim, with the tension hoop using screw-into-wood adjustment rather than the external hook style adjustment, and I've always called them "inline rim" style. However, all the ones of this type in the period Sears catalog are called a "California style" banjo-uke. I assume this is because of the earlier California-built ukes of this type that vie for the Keech banjo-uke fame as the "first banjulele."

At any rate, it's made mostly out of solid mahogany, with dyed maple/maple/dyed maple lamination on the neck and pot for strength. The stripe down the neck gives a nice touch as does the Dias-inspired headstock. It's all original save bridge, strings, and new Grover pegs.

Headstock.

Fretboard cleaned up nicely save for some lighter patches where the alligatored top part of the finish was pulled up when I removed some fabric (probably from an old canvas case) that had been heat-pressed into it, probably in a hot attic.

The bridge is the remains of an old 5-string Grover bridge that had been previously cut down on an altogether different banjo. I cut it down even more and spaced it for uke strings.

Side view. This uke has a nice plunky old-timey sound and is quite loud.

Here you can see some of the heat-cracking on the rim. I've stabilized it and reglued the lamination somewhat to keep it from moving around. While I was regluing the neck I also took off the backplate resonator and added some vintage felt spacers to bring it away from the rim a little bit (and thus increasing volume and projection). Previously all the sound came out of a hole in the back which, of course, would generally rest on your shirt.

Back.

Nicely grained mahogany in the one-piece shaped (gentle cone) resonator.

Headstock back.

Heel. There's a small gap even though it's glued as the rim has changed shape over time. Previously this neck was only screwed to it, but a joint like that is at best unsafe. Now it's nice and solid and set at an angle that will keep.