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hughstrawn - Posted - 09/13/2016: 05:44:35
This skin head was on my SSStewart 2o circa 1890s. Can anyone name the 'maker' based on the logo. I can't make out the name but seems to start with the letter K. Thanks to the 'experts' on this.
hugh
jbalch - Posted - 09/13/2016: 06:46:21
The shape is similar to this old Leedy logo. Leedy used the name: "Hard White" Could the fist letter be "H"? The last letter looks like an "E" ... just a guess.
I've been collecting images of banjo head logos here: banjohangout.org/myhangout/pho...umid=8638
Edited by - jbalch on 09/13/2016 06:54:31
hughstrawn - Posted - 09/13/2016: 07:06:07
John, I'll try a blow up view to see if that helps. A little blurry but seems to be a K to me and I agree with the E at the end.
hugh
Edited by - hughstrawn on 09/13/2016 07:07:20
jbalch - Posted - 09/13/2016: 08:58:25
I think it says" KLEERTONE" or KLEARTONE"
according to Mugwumps.com, "Kleartone" was a J.J. Kalashan brandname from the 1920's
see here: banjohangout.org/archive/263357
Edited by - jbalch on 09/13/2016 09:03:26
jbalch - Posted - 09/13/2016: 10:26:31
hughstrawn - Posted - 09/13/2016: 12:59:26
Thanks John. Is obviously not the original head for this banjo. It now rests on my 10" Chuck Lee Custom and I'm enjoying the sound/tone a lot.
thanx again.....hugh
cbcarlisle - Posted - 09/13/2016: 18:13:04
John, I printed this logo out and tried sketching - using the K & E as guides - and there doesn't seem to be enough room for Kleertone. Anything shorter?
hughstrawn - Posted - 09/14/2016: 04:43:18
Oh Oh.....the plot thickens............
jbalch - Posted - 09/14/2016: 19:20:36
No other ideas on my part.
But if you google images of the KlearTone brand, there are several different fonts & shapes used. Until someone suggests a better alternative, I still think it is probably the best candidate.
Regardless... As Hugh suggested the head is not "original" to the 1890s SS Stewart. It is most likely a replacement from the 1920s or 30s (or a little later). Still it is pretty amazing that a natural hide has lasted 80-90 years and remains useable.
hughstrawn - Posted - 09/16/2016: 04:25:12
quote:
Originally posted by jbalch
No other ideas on my part.
But if you google images of the KlearTone brand, there are several different fonts & shapes used. Until someone suggests a better alternative, I still think it is probably the best candidate.
Agreed John. My sketching shows that KLEARTONE/KlearTone could fit--seems I now can see an N before the last E. I can't get google to give me any images of their logo design--about all it gives me are advertisements and other irrelevant stuff.
ZEPP - Posted - 09/16/2016: 05:49:42
Having zero knowledge of these thiings, I would have to say it's not only KLEARTONE, but the same logo as on the string packs--In Hugh's lighter close-up, one can clearly (no pun intended) see the extension of the cross of the "T" and the beginning--at least--of the line extending from the foot of the "K":
Cheers,
ZEPP
hughstrawn - Posted - 09/17/2016: 05:13:42
Good eye! Thanks for the additional piece of 'evidence' Zepp. I'd noticed the foot on the K but didn't extend it, and missed the T line.
