Featured Any Banjo Players here? - Vintage/Antique harmony Steel Banjo - Made in Japan?

Discussion in 'Antique Discussion' started by journeymagazine, Oct 24, 2020.

  1. journeymagazine

    journeymagazine Well-Known Member

    I found this old banjo at a local thrift store yesterday. It's made by Harmony & I'm guessing it's from the 60's?
    Inside the resonator there is a circular mark that looks like it's in Japanese - can anyone tell me what it says? I googled harmony banjo made in Japan & found 1 listing that said theirs was too, but Wikipedia & other sites on harmony make it seem like they were all made in Chicago?
    I thought maybe it was a resonator from a different banjo because it wasn't attached when I bought (held on by screws) & is missing 1 small wood block w/a screw hole - but the holes line up perfectly on the banjo and the resonator.
    Any info would be appreciated.

    MUSIC BANJO HARMONY STEEL BANJO 1BAAZZ.JPG MUSIC BANJO HARMONY STEEL BANJO 2AAZZ.JPG MUSIC BANJO HARMONY STEEL BANJO 3AAZZ.JPG MUSIC BANJO HARMONY STEEL BANJO 4AAZZ.JPG MUSIC BANJO HARMONY STEEL BANJO 5AAZZ.JPG MUSIC BANJO HARMONY STEEL BANJO 6AAZZ.JPG MUSIC BANJO HARMONY STEEL BANJO 6AAAZZ.JPG MUSIC BANJO HARMONY STEEL BANJO 7AA BACK RESONATORZZ.JPG MUSIC BANJO HARMONY STEEL BANJO 7BAA BACK RESONATORZZ.JPG
     
  2. journeymagazine

    journeymagazine Well-Known Member

    The back of resonator & stamp

    MUSIC BANJO HARMONY STEEL BANJO 8AAZZ.JPG MUSIC BANJO HARMONY STEEL BANJO 8BAAZZ.JPG
     
    pearlsnblume and sabre123 like this.
  3. wiscbirddog

    wiscbirddog Well-Known Member

    It is missing the 3/4 length fifth string.
     
  4. Bakersgma

    Bakersgma Well-Known Member

    @all_fakes is more likely to know than anyone else I can think of.
     
  5. journeymagazine

    journeymagazine Well-Known Member

    I saw that, but I just flip them as I find them unless it's something really special; but thank you
     
  6. journeymagazine

    journeymagazine Well-Known Member

    Anybody know where this is from?
     
  7. all_fakes

    all_fakes Well-Known Member

    I don't have any specific knowledge of this banjo, or Harmony banjos in general, though I do play the banjo, and have two or three. Harmony was originally a US maker, but in their later years they had some instruments made overseas. But several possibilities:1) The resonator does look like it has original attachments to the rim, rather than being later home-made attachments. 2) and possibly most likely: banjos are much more "mechanical" devices than most musical instruments; one would never think of swapping necks on a couple guitars, unless one happened to be a skilled luthier; but with banjos, it is similar to replacing a carburetor; you just need a couple of wrenches. It is fairly common for banjo players to take a neck they like and attach it to an unrelated drum, or body.
    The neck looks to be circa 1960s or 70s; the cast rim looks earlier, maybe 50s. It could be the cast body is from an older 4-string banjo, as trading necks is a common way to convert 4-string banjos to 5-strings.
    So, my vote goes to it being a marriage; but you could certainly search the internet for photos of older harmony banjos to see what can be found.
    To get you started; H5845 is a correct harmony banjo number, and refers to a Korean-made instrument of the 1970s; see below; but I haven't found a picture to compare:

    "Harmony H5845 5-String Banjo: This is a 1970's Harmony 5-string banjo made in Korea. The resonator is a beautiful Rosewood with binding on the edges and decorative rings on the back. The neck is made of Mahogany with binding on both sides. The Rosewood fretboard has Pearl block inlays."(from https://thea.com/Vintage-Pre-1980-Harmony-Banjo/)

    Hard to tell without a photo, whether yours is original or a marriage; but it looks to me like a marriage, rather than original. But look for a good photo of an original Harmony H5845, and we'd know for sure.
     
    Figtree3 likes this.
  8. journeymagazine

    journeymagazine Well-Known Member

    Thank you all_fakes - I sold it over the week-end (paid $69 & sold it for $140 so it was a fair deal all around); I knew it wasn't a upper stratosphere banjo so it was easy to accept the offer!
     
    Figtree3, all_fakes and komokwa like this.
  9. all_fakes

    all_fakes Well-Known Member

    Great!
     
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