Homenick mandolin

[resophonic]

A recent Ebay purchase, I bought this Homenick mandolin for a song (less than $50). Lousy pictures probably kept the price down but it looked like a quality made instrument. I could tell after saving and loading the images into Photo shop, where they could be enlarged, that the purfling was not painted on. When it showed up at my door I was quite pleased indeed, I just stole this thing at the price I paid.

I have looked up the maker name on the internet and as far as I can tell it was produced by the Homenick Bros. working at a New York location in the 40's. They where know as violin makers but apparently produced other instruments as well in small numbers. I have seen a picture of an archtop guitar attributed to that name but that's it, I have found no other examples of Homenick work.

I would appreciate any information or leads on the maker and/or their work that anybody can provide.

Full front pic.

[resophonic]

Body close up. The pick guard is made from Ebony as is the adjustable bridge.

[resophonic]

The circles around the tuner posts are MOP, so is the name. The tuner buttons are Ivoroid and are crumbling.

[resophonic]

Fingerboard detail with MOP dot inlays.

[resophonic]

Nice shaded Maple back.

[resophonic]

Headstock rear, 3 piece maple neck.

[resophonic]

Flip top tailpiece. Large but it looks like a snap to change out strings.

[allenhopkins]

Homenick has been attributed by some as the builder of Strad-O-Lin mandolins. The issue is somewhat complicated by the fact that another New York area builder named Hoverick Bros. existed, and the similarity in the names has caused confusion (at least on my part!).

Your indstrument has a real "Strad-O-Lin" look, with segmented f-holes, albeit of a different shape, pronounced shoulders, and a similarly-shaped headstock. It's quite well-appointed compared to the normal Strad, with a good deal of MOP, real and not painted-on binding, etc. IMHO it looks like a piece of evidence for the Homenick-Strad-O-Lin theory.

[laddy jota]

I love the sound holes in the pick guard.

[resophonic]

Your right about name confusion. I ran across this on the internet; http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/humeniuk.htm

After reading the article, it seams to imply that Pawlo Humeniuk is one of the Homenick Bros., although the article is primarily concerned with Pawlo's virtuosity on the violin and makes little mention of instrument building. A lot of immigrants modified or changed their name to American-ise their name. I am not familiar with Ukrainian but I would venture a guess that Humeniuk would be pronounced Homenick.

Homenick-Strad-O-Lin theory eh? Interesting, gives me another place to start digging anyway. Thanks Allen.

[resophonic]

This link list both makers, Homenick and Hoverick ; http://www.mugwumps.com/AmerInstMkr.html#H.

According to that information, there is about 20 years difference in the listed time of activity between the two makers.

[Jim Garber]

I am sure that Mike E will be chiming in hear soon, since he has a sweet spot in his heart for Strad-O-Lins. That is the very first I have seen of one with the Homenick name on it.

Interesting that there is conjecture that Humeniuk the fiddle is related to the Homenicks. He is a crazy-good Ukrainian fiddler.

[MikeEdgerton]

I don't see this as the rosetta stone of Strad-O-Lin genre mandolins, I think the Favilla has more weight as there are actually Favilla instruments out there that were built for years. In this case we have to assume that the builder built one or two and that was all? I don't buy it. It's a Strad-O-Lin genre mandolin and I don't think the tailpiece is original. I've owned one of these that was almost as ornate with the Marathon name on it. I do love the price though, right there with mine.

[Bruce Clausen]

Thanks, Reso, I'm so sick of "Loar" threads. Great to see a Homenick thread. Your mando looks like a fine one. Here for comparison are some Stradolin shots. I see some resemblance. (But on my Strad, the logo and all the purfling looks like it has been fed as a liquid into grooves around the head and body. Yours looks like real inlay work.)

[Bruce Clausen]

My heads are Schallers by the way. Here's the back of the peghead, showing the three-piece construction.

[Bruce Clausen]

And the fingerboard detail. Enjoy your Homenick! --BC

[resophonic]

Mike, I removed the tailpiece this morning. There is no evidence that it has ever been replaced, there are no additional holes, obvious or filled.

Thanks Bruce, your Strad-O-Lin pictures show quite clearly the compelling similarities to the Homenick. The headstock shape, purfling, 3 piece figured Maple neck, finger board extension and F holes are practically, dead the same.

If Homenick Bros. where making Strad-O-Lins, was the Homenick named model an effort to separate the higher quality instrument from the stock offerings? Much like Lyon and Healy using the Washburn label for top of the line instruments? If so, I would then ask, why I can't find any other examples?

Does anyone know what Pawlo Humeniuk's middle name was? If it starts with a J, that would certainly have me wondering if the name Homenick really was an American adaptation of the name Humeniuk.

[Jim Garber]

No doubt you found this article where there is this quote:

Myron Surmach remembers that Humeniuk was a skilled instrument maker and repairer, and an early undated catalogue of violins from the Homenick Brothers Violin Shop (printed bilingually in Ukrainian and Polish) bears this out.

[resophonic]

Yes Jim, the link is in one of my previous posts, thanks.

[allenhopkins]

If Homenick Bros. where making Strad-O-Lins, was the Homenick named model an effort to separate the higher quality instrument from the stock offerings? Much like Lyon and Healy using the Washburn label for top of the line instruments? If so, I would then ask, why I can't find any other examples?

Couple possible explanations. Could be that rather than building Strad-O-Lins, the Homenick firm could have copied one, giving it better details, etc., and putting their name on it. Why they might want to do this, well, your guess's as good as mine.

More likely is what you said: it could have been a "custom" instrument, made for a specific customer, for a trade show, or just to "show what they could do." I have a Gibson "A/N Custom," a very fancied-up version of the basic Army-Navy or later Flatiron "pancake" design. It's signed by Steve Carlson and dated 1987, and supposedly made for a Gibson dealer, Louie Catello in New Hampshire. I don't believe Gibson put a "pancake" model in their recent catalogs, under their own nameplate, even after they purchased Flatiron.

Clearly there aren't many Homenick mandolins around (I've never seen another). There are lots of Strad-O-Lins, with variations in construction, ornamentation, finish, logo design, etc. Mike is right that Homenick may have only made one or two of the Homenick-labeled instruments. And I'm not claiming that this "proves" that Homenick built Strad-O-Lins, just that it's suggestive of some level of association.

[resophonic]

If I'm not mistaken Homenick Bros. where primarily builders of viol family instruments. I have found several examples of violins offered for sale, but precious little else. I did turn up a collectors site that claims to have a Homenick archtop guitar here; http://www.topshelfmusic.com/jimfisch/index.html

[Steve Ostrander]

Man, those soundholes are so exagerated, they look like "S" holes!

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm not surprised there are no other holes, a Waverly would probably line up with it. Who knows, if they custom ordered it they probably got whatever they wanted on it. I don't see why the Homenick model isn't seen like any of the other off labeled Strad-O-Lin genre mandolins (Weymann and Sons, Orpheum, etc.) Homenick would have had to have a large enough production facility to build them all. There would be some record somewhere. I've read where one person dropped that name as the builder and nobody has ever found anything to support it but it continues on. Favilla did have a production facility and a labeled mandolin that matches up with the older models and was built (apparently) years later and identified by a member of the Favilla family as the model they had been building since the 20's. It's apparent that whomever built the Strad-O-Lins built them for anyone that ordered them and built them with different levels of trim.

[resophonic]

I just found this bit of information on the web here; http://www.newworldrecords.org/linernotes/80283.pdf

It translates Pawlo Humeniuk's name as Paul Homenick, Humeniuk and Homenick are one in the same. Their catalog advertised mandolins as well, as stated in the following quote.

"The greatest musician of Ukrainian origin in this country was the skilled and versatile fiddler Pawlo Humeniuk, whose first name also appeared as Pawel– (in Polish)or Paul, and whose last name appeared as Humeniak (in Polish)or Homenick. He was born in Galicia in 1884 and began playing the violin when he was six. Around 1902 he emigrated to this country, where he studied with a Professor Makhnovetsky, a graduate of the conservatory of St. Petersburg. With his brother, Humeniuk became a violin maker and repairman, and a Homenick Brothers catalogue from the twenties, in both Polish and Ukrainian, advertises a line of mandolins as well."

[MikeEdgerton]

Anyone have the catalog? I'm betting bowlbacks.