Built in the Hawaii in the heyday of the hawaiian lap steel craze, this little girl was restored in our workshop some 5 years ago and is a treat to play.
Sadly her previous owner is down sizing and moving overseas.
So we are very lucky that this vintage example is staying in Australia.
Made by the Richter guitar co. of Chicago, this little baby is one of the most beautiful sounding parlors that we’ve restored. Vintage tone with exceptional volume, coupled with incredible playability. Everything has been done here. Re built and re braced. Amazing mid range punch whilst keeping the highs and lows in the mix
The Banjo mandolin or “banjolin” was designed with the vaudevillian beer halls of the late 19th through early-mid 20th century in mind. With no Electric amplification, volume and projection were the key. I suppose you could say that “in your face” is another way to describe it. With that in mind, I present to you this “large bowl” professional Banjolin is just that. It’s a headache inducing, ear splitting piece of mid range punch. Wanna cut through in your folk ensemble? Wanna get sacked from your Folk ensemble? Wanna annoy your neighbours? Wanna get evicted?…. Well this is for you.
The First Hawaiian Conservatory of Music was a marketing tool of the Oscar Schmidt Company of New York, started around 1919 and continued until the late 1930’s. They would sell a guitar and 12 months of correspondence guitar lessons for a nominal down payment and monthly repayments. They would advertise these courses in Popular Mechanics and other magazines of the period.
The guitars they supplied with this course are now widely regarded, along with the Oscar Schmidt Stellas, as the cream of old blues guitars. These rarely come up for sale in the US, and never in Australia. Artists keep these guitars when they get a hold of them. This guitar was used extensively in studio work in Alabama until we managed to get our hands on it!
This little girl is a cannon!!!!!..it’s LOUD! And woody and everything besides, the perfect thing to out do those pesky banjo players. As you can see, she still has her original case and the original scratch plate albeit slightly shrunk. We are presently making a replica to compliment the overall vibe.
To see our current instruments, consider a visit to the shop. We also post all new arrivals on our Facebook page, and select items for sale on our Reverb Store.