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Thread: Banjolin identification help please

  1. #1

    Default Banjolin identification help please

    Hi all, I stumbled across this forum while researching an old banjolin I inherited. I wondered if someone can help identify it.

    Mine has zero markings on it that I can see, and the only pics I have seen similar are from an very ancient ebay ad in australia, the instrument + case look very similar but the desciption has long since disappeared.

    Ive also seen 1 other picture similar to mine on an old UK auction house website, which says it may be a "Down South" model made in England in the 20's - but from what ive read about the Down South that may not be correct.

    It looks like it has had a new plastic velum and bridge, not sure when but ive had it in the loft for +10 years, and it seems to play ok.

    Ignore the strings not on the bridge correctly - a young relative got to plucking it agressively just before I took these photos and I didnt notice.

    Im sure you guys will know more. Thanks!
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  2. #2

    Default Re: Banjolin identification help please


  3. #3
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Banjolin identification help please

    The "waisted" headstock somewhat resembles a Houghton, but the Houghtons I've seen have had the little lion emblem and "British made" on the headstock, and more elaborate tailpieces.
    Allen Hopkins
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  4. #4
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    Default Re: Banjolin identification help please

    Picked up on an interesting post on Houghton M/Bs a couple of weeks ago - https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?thread...ges=74#4068710 - scroll down to the post by “Johnboy” near the bottom.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Banjolin identification help please

    The lion on the George Houghton & Son- or G H & S or Reliance branded instruments which the company used was a development from about 1933 or 1934. About that time, the British Government legislated that any imports must be marked as such and George Houghton introduced that (in heraldic terms) "lion couchant" and the words British Made. In fact, I have one of Reliance's cases, and it came with a British Michigan branded ( from Beare & Son Ltd) Harmony of Chicago made guitar with a 1934 date stamp. The case is embossed with a decorative element and you can see that lion in the decoration. For some reason, I cannot upload the photo but you can see the trademark at this link: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...njo-1774409867

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  7. #6

    Default Re: Banjolin identification help please

    Thanks all, but even with hi-res photos run through various filters there is no sign of anything on the headstock. Must have been sanded off and restained I guess.

  8. #7
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Banjolin identification help please

    Quote Originally Posted by ozzie69 View Post
    Thanks all, but even with hi-res photos run through various filters there is no sign of anything on the headstock. Must have been sanded off and restained I guess.
    Or it might not have been there at all. As NickR points out, Houghton started using the "lion couchant" mark in the 1930's and this one could be earlier. And I suggested Houghton as a possible maker, mainly based on the headstock profile, which is suggestive but hardly determinative. It surely could have been another British maker.

    There are scads of unmarked, sort of nondescript instruments around, very hard to ID and attribute. Instruments were made "for the trade" and un-labeled; dealers and distributors could put their own labels on them, or sell them unmarked. Looking at this one, it's fairly easy to liken it to other British-made mandolin-banjos, but further than that, it's hard to be more specific.

    I've sometimes just Googled "British mandolin-banjo images" and scanned through the results looking for similarities and a more documented example. Dunno what my batting average is, but it's not at the All-Star level.

    You could take the li'l guy apart and see if there's any labeling inside the shell, but I wouldn't bet on it. Factories turned out loads of journeyman-level instruments, without much concern about clear labeling or attribution. Sometimes our curiosity just goes unsatisfied...
    Allen Hopkins
    Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
    Natl Triolian Dobro mando
    Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
    H-O mandolinetto
    Stradolin Vega banjolin
    Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
    Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
    Flatiron 3K OM

  9. #8

    Default Re: Banjolin identification help please

    This is a mid-30s George Houghton banjo mandolin- the headstock just has the lion- and that embossed case would have the lion in that decorative work. Also the lion appeared on a cloth tag inside the case but these rarely ever survive. The instrument is not the same but they were churned out in their thousands and were made with various small differences over the years. This one has the same tuner plates which I think are German but different buttons and other detail differences- headstock shape, dot markers but the core basics are the same.

    https://jakewildwood.blogspot.com/20...-mandolin.html

  10. #9

    Default Re: Banjolin identification help please

    Thank you all. Much appreciated.

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