Looks like my photos did not come through. Here goes again...

A couple of photos of the interesting Page Geared tuners on my Paramount banjo/guitar, showing all the parts that constitute one, and the repaired missing tooth on the brass geared wheel, which had prevented that particular tuner from working. (Antique clock repair skills came in handy here). I find it pretty amazing to look at the complexity of this tuner, compared to the modern tuners we are all used to on guitars that came after.

By the way, in the exploded parts photo, I'm not sure the tiny little part on the right actually belongs in there.  It was not present in any of the three other tuners, which I also disassembled to clean and lubricate them.  I also added a few small brass washers here and there to prevent further wear, as these tuners are quite old, and essentially irreplaceable if they break.  It's nice to keep the instrument fairly original, where at all possible (I have to replace the missing bridge, but that's a part that is expected to wear and be replaced.  The craftsmen at Lange certainly did a great job building these instruments, as several of them seem to have lasted very well over the many decades. 

I find the neck construction on this instrument to be excellent and of a great design (extension of the neck itself going through the inside of the body and secured by a large machine screw under the tailpiece, which brings the heel of the neck perfectly in contact with that forward end of the body).

The neck on my Paramount is absolutely straight, assisted in part by the piece of rosewood or ebony sandwiched between the two maple halves of the neck. The brazilian rosewood fingerboard is generously thick, which speaks to how plentiful that wood was for instrument construction in the early decades of the XXth century.  I love the completely handmade qualities of such a vintage instrument, exemplified by the worker's chisel marks on the heel of the neck, where he fine tuned the fitting to the body.

Note the "\\\\" mark on the back of the neck below the heel, it matches a similar mark on the instrument body, which no doubt was to make sure that the body and neck remained matched up during the later phases of instrument completion.  So there were at least 4 of these instruments manufactured during that week in the Lange shop, in 1922 or 1923.

I am aware of 3 Paramount re-print catalogs: Nov. 1923; Nov. 1926; and 1930 Super Paramount, etc. The Tenor Harps do not appear in the 1923 or 1930 catalogs. They are included in the 1926 catalog and the Tenor Harps page from that catalog is attached.

Thank you for taking the time to share with me the page of the catalog showing the Tenor Harps. If they were not in the 1923 and are not in the 1930, could this reinforce my suspicion that they were a short-lived transition instrument, supplanted by the tenor guitars that came after?
I note the style no 2 is indicated as having Indian Rosewood in the neck, so this may correct indications by others (when selling their instruments) that the necks were fitted with Brazilian Rosewood (fingerboards).
Regards.

I noticed from your photos that the instrument is marked Patent Pending. I believe the attached Wm. L. Lange Patent is the one referred to on the instrument. I only scanned 2 pages of the patent so if you found this patent to be of interest you can find the entire patent (4 pages) in Google Patents.

Thanks John, I'll look up the entire patent as you suggested.
Indeed, on mine is indicated "Patent Pending" at the rear of the body.
I suppose I'm a bit confused by the serial number chart, which for my low number suggests manufacture around 1722-23, whereas this patent is dated 1726.
This makes me wonder when the all-wood models (like mine) initially came out of the Lange company, and how to reconcile that with the serial number on mine.
Any ideas? Thanks.
Robert

I think you are correct that the Paramount Tenor Harp's tenure on the musical instrument scene was short lived. However, I do not think that the Tenor Harp was a transitional instrument that led to the innovation of the tenor guitar. I believe that the Regal Musical Instrument Company of Chicago was one of the earliest (the first?) to manufacture the tenor guitar. Regal introduced its Tenor Guitar on Oct. 8, 1925 at the Illinois Product Exposition in Chicago. The Regal Co. was a veteran guitar manufacturer and most likely saw the value of making a guitar for tenor banjo players at the height of the 1920's banjo boom. Attached is a Dec. 11, 1926 Regal Tenor Guitar advertisement in which Regal claims to have made the original Tenor Guitar.

John,
Thank you for the information about Regal introducing its tenor guitar in 1925.
Given that fact, and although the Paramount Tenor Harp all-wood banjo and the Regal may well have been designed independently, I would think that there likely would have been a massive uptake of buyers to the "tenor guitar" (by Regal or other companies emulating their product), which may well have spelled the end for Lange's clever instrument.

Many players would, of course, have been long familiar with 6 string guitars by Martin, Washburn, etc., made since the late 18th century. So I feel it would have been a reasonably easy sell for a music shop wanting to fulfill a customer's need for a trendy tenor string instrument, by pointing them to the new "tenor guitars". Especially, obviously, for players drawn into the popular at the time tenor style of playing, after having played regular guitars for some time and being more comfortable with that body style, than switching over to a banjo.

So I could see how the market for an all wood Paramount tenor instrument would have waned in the few years following Regal's guitar (and the many other brands that followed that one).

Maybe this explains why there don't seem to be very plentiful numbers of all-wood "Banjo Harp" models out there in the vintage marketplace, and why it seemed to occupy but a small place in the entire catalogue of Paramount tenor banjos in the 20's, if it was even mentioned in those catalogues at all (by 1930 it seemed to have disappeared from the product line).

Anyway, it's just a theory, and I'm obviously not the first to come up with it.

As I said earlier, the low serial number on mine (102 or more probably 702) suggests, according to the serial number chart on this forum, that my all-wood Tenor Harp was made
a few years before Lange applied for a patent on some of its features (in 1926). Maybe the patent application was an attempt on his part to protect at least some of his design elements from the onslaught of tenor guitar competitors at that time (ie. post 1925).

Thanks for enabling my thinking and speculating about my Paramount!

Now you need to add a “Tenor Rope “ to your collection.

Weymann listed something similar in their 1927 catalog, so apparently it was a thing.

I'll need to lookup "Tenor Rope" lol

Stevo, those 1927 Weymann "Banjola"s look quite interesting, and possibly/probably influenced by Lange's Paramount Tenor Harp all-wood model. Might in part explain why Lange was pursuing a patent in 1926, to ward off imitating companies.

The two Weymanns are also interesting in that they each have a sound hole in the wood top (unlike the Lange), but one of them, in addition to the soundhole, retains the many soundholes in the periphery of the resonator/sound reflector below. So one suspects that they would have sounded a bit different, not sure if the one with only a top sound hole would have sounded thinner?

It sounds like a fascinating time for plucked stringed instruments in the early decades of the nineteenth century. If you were a simple country or blues music player, I suppose you'd go for the flatop guitars from Washburn, Martin, etc. And if you were into "jazz" or other styles, especially with an ensemble, you'd go for a tenor banjo to have a punchy sound to cut through the horns and other instruments in the orchestra. And then there were all these transitory or "hybrid" instruments trying to differentiate themselves from the pack and start a new product line.

From what I recall reading elsewhere, tenor guitars ended up displacing the tenor banjo (for jazz ensembles) and later the archtop 6 string guitar became the reigning instrument, before and after amplification. But the 1920's seemed to have been a particularly competitive and creative period, with many interesting instruments created and vying for a corner of the marketplace.

Robert

I enjoyed better understanding the history of my Paramount. Today I put more suitable strings on there (10 14 24 36) and it plays MUCH nicer, so I'm very glad. I tune it GDAE like my other tenor instruments. The previous strings on there were just too light to be pleasant to play (9 12 22 28), it almost felt like playing an acoustic guitar with electric guitar strings...
So now I look forward on building my personal history with this interesting and attractive tenor banjo.
Thanks to all for your insights and historical information.
Regards,
Robert

Another quick tidbit of information: the case that came with the instrument was evidently the original one, and was made by GEIB & SCHAEFER CO (later just GEIB), and has a stamp on the back to that effect, with the brand name "KantKrack". Here is a post on UMGF by Steve Kirtley, which says that the KantKrack came out in 1924, which fits with the age of my Paramount based on information discussed above in this thread.

"The company was originally Geib & Schaefer Company (G&S Co.), founded in 1899. Mr. Shaefer died in 1916 and eventually in 1937 they decided to shorten the company name to Geib, Inc. The KantKrack case was introduced in 1924, so your case would date between 1924 and 1936. There's every reason to think it is original to your 1930 National guitar. KantKrack was a patented process where cases were made from layers of burlap and canvas, along with rosin, starch, etc. all baked in heated metal molds. It was sort of a high-tech case of its day. They are fairly light but reasonably strong. They seem to be a bit more flexible than a wood shell case. Geib also made some Durabilt brand cases using this process. And there were other Durabilt cases with traditional wooden shells. These KantKrack cases were discontinued about World War Two."

It's not “Tenor Rope “, but 'Tenortrope'. This was a similar idea, but with a metal spider resonator cone in a circular wood body, produced by the Dobro company. Cliff Edwards (Ukulele Ike, the voice of Jiminy Cricket) was said to have been involved.

Paramount also produced some guitar bodies for Martin round about that time - essentially a backless Martin (Style 0 size I think) with a banjo-style resonator replacing the back.

Definitely a time of transition.

My reading about tenor guitars all says that tenor banjos fell out of fashion in jazz bands, as they transitioned from New Orleans style to Swing. Banjos were out, guitars were the new and sexy instrument. But what about those displaced banjo players? Tenor guitars gave them the new look and sound, but without having to learn two extra strings and a new tuning.

My Gibson tenor TG0 is 1931, and they only built tenors from 1929 to 1933 and again in the 50s and 60s. So I think the original fashion change was fairly short lived, mid 20s-mid 30s. By the second half of the 1930s guitars were doing things in jazz bands that a tenor guitar couldn't do (such as tight chord voicings and close-coupled chord melody) so I guess the ex-tenor banjoists retired or learnt six strings.

Thanks Chris for confirming and expanding on some of my thinking about the evolution of banjos and guitars during that very transitionary period of the 20s 30s and 40s. Fascinating imaginary exercice to step into a music shop in the 20s or 30s and see what was available to the purchaser of a guitar or banjo... Lots of makers and models vying for the customer's money, whether amateur or professional. And the music styles were changing too.

That's a beautiful instrument. Thanks for sharing that. I'd like to own a proper wood top one day.
Is there any possible way for you to detect how thick the top is? Do you have a photo of the inside of the body so we can see what kind of bracing, if any, is on the top? I'm asking for a friend...

The Tenor banjo was definitely on its return. I luckily own a Selmer Eddy Freeman tenor, and this is a really nice attempt on the guitar sound for 4 string players. The trick Eddy Freeman did was the same neck length and body size as a normal guitar, but he used the re-entrant tuning. With different string gauges, but maintaining the CGDA, only with the D and the A one octave lower (and thicker strings of course). This gives a very good guitar sound, which I love. The only problem is single string playing, as from the G to the D, the D is one octave lower than on Tenor banjo.
The invention was professionally sabled down in the UK, and most of the Eddy Freemans are converted to 6 strings (by replacing the neck).

Thanks folks. This wood-top Paramount has become a dear instrument to me, after cleaning it and sorting out a few issues. According to the seller the case likely hadn't been opened and the instrument not played, in over 70 years. But in making music again, it is starting to earn its name as a tenor harp. Very sweet sounding and interesting harmonics.
It's impossible for me to accurately determine the thickness of the top without taking it apart, and I won't. Ditto for the bracing, but the patent drawing in an earlier post suggests two braces across the width of the top, one underneath the location of the bridge. I would estimate the top to be of a similar thickness as some of the other components, something around 3/16". It is slightly domed and has not cracked over 100 years.  These instruments were very well made in Lange's shop, and this one has certainly stood the test of time!

Just for possible interest attached is Mike Pingitore posing with Paramount Tenor Harp and Paramount Style F Tenor Banjo in Musical Merchandise magazine Feb. 1927

Hi folks,
I have a Weymann Style 60, which is purportedly louder than the Paramount Tenor Harps. I can't attest to that, as I haven't heard a Paramount. My Weymann is not as loud as any of my tenor banjos, but it is "woodier and mellower".

Profchris writes:
"Paramount also produced some guitar bodies for Martin round about that time - essentially a backless Martin (Style 0 size I think) with a banjo-style resonator replacing the back."
ALMOST !- It was Martin that made the style L resonator guitar for Paramount, in both tenor and six string forms. See photo below: originally, it had no soundhole but someone added one in between 1931 when it was built and when I acquired it a few years ago.  It has two resonating chambers, built much like the Weymann.  

I think these are all very interesting instruments, born in a time when LOUD was being prioritized (hence all of the attempts at using resonators: cones in the case of national and then dobro, vibrating chambers, for others) and when the popularity of the guitar was rising over that of the banjo (as misguided as it seems to all of us!).

quote:

---

Originally posted by rstl99

I enjoyed better understanding the history of my Paramount. Today I put more suitable strings on there (10 14 24 36) and it plays MUCH nicer, so I'm very glad. I tune it GDAE like my other tenor instruments. The previous strings on there were just too light to be pleasant to play (9 12 22 28), it almost felt like playing an acoustic guitar with electric guitar strings...
 

The lighter-gauge strings probably work just right for tenor tuning - I originally had my Weymann tuned GDAE like an octave mandolin, then lightened the strings in order to tune higher, in  CGDA , as it was designed.  It's pretty happy there.

---

By the way, here's a link to page on Lowell Levenger (AKA Banana) 's web site that shows many of the wood-topped round instruments that he's had over the years. including Paramounts, the Weymann I now own, Dobro/Cliff Edwards Tenortropes, etc.  He's probably seen as many as anyone, I'd bet.   He also had round bodied, wood topped mandolins from Tieri, Paramount, Iucci, and DeWick, all from the mid-to-late 20's.

https://www.vintageinstruments.com/museum/roundwoodtnrsfulpage.html

We (David Grisman, Danny Barnes, and me) used three different ones on our recent album "Tenor Madness". Visit acousticdisc.com/product/tyler...download/ to learn more about the project.

Thanks Michael for all the information and personal insights. Since COVID, and even before, I find myself playing alone most of the time, haven't quite found the gumption to seek out other players with similar interests (mine are rather eclectic you could say, covering many styles, like a "jack of all trades master of none".

So, for me, relative "loudness" of my instruments is not a consideration at all, as I don't have to "compete" with other players (say, in a bluegrass ensemble) all playing at full volume. Most of my playing is rather on the soft side of the loudness scale, as really I'm just playing for me.

Also, when I first acquired my tenor guitar (Chinese made Gold Tone that's not too bad) it was fitted with strings tuned to CGDA, which I found a chore being rather new to 4 string instruments tuned in fifths, always trying to translate in my head the chord shapes, neck position, and chord tunings that I had become somewhat familiar in my GDAE tuned instruments. So I got appropriate strings and tuned it to GDAE as well, and have not looked back. Some day it may be nice to have a CGDA tuned instrument for some variety, if I fool around with some multi-track recordings for amusement.

I have owned a typical 5 string banjo for years, not used in quite a while, and much prefer the "woodier and mellower" sound of my Paramount, for my "repertoire" and style of playing.

I also did a bit of "restoration" on the original case mine came with, so it is now more functional and better looking, which is good. Both the case and the banjo show their age proudly, and I like that. But the Paramount still plays sweetly after all these years, and hopefully will continue to provide me enjoyment for many years.

Regards