Just got my first banjo, it's a Harmony Roy Smeck 5 string with no serial number or anything. Really curious to learn more about it. Can anybody help?
Here's the head.
It appears it was played a lot from the wear on the head. Built in the USA in the sixties as a beginner economy banjo. If you’re playing oldtime banjo it’s all you ever need. I play Clawhammer on a banjo similar to this one with the resonator removed. I use light strings on mine since I want to keep the neck straight. Nothing wrong with them for that purpose. If your shooting for Scruggs three finger bluegrass music it’ll do for learning the rolls and songs but I think you’ll outgrow it and desire more sooner. Iv still got the tension 5th string peg on mine just as your still has. Probably all the parts on it are original. Roy was a professional musician back in the day. You can google his name to learn more about him. He has his name on music books then. He probably got some royalties from companies putting his name on their products. It appears your pot and resonator is made of a Bakelite product of that time period. My pot is a layered wood with a Chrome plated metal tone ring sitting right on top. Goldtone banjo company is making a banjo now with a pot of similar build and Iv heard some setup right sound pretty good for what they are. I say leave it just as is to keep that old mojo look and play away. Enjoy it.
Edited by - RDP on 11/09/2024 20:48:20
quote:
Originally posted by RDPIt appears it was played a lot from the wear on the head. Built in the USA in the sixties as a beginner economy banjo. If you’re playing oldtime banjo it’s all you ever need. I play Clawhammer on a banjo similar to this one with the resonator removed. I use light strings on mine since I want to keep the neck straight. Nothing wrong with them for that purpose. If your shooting for Scruggs three finger bluegrass music it’ll do for learning the rolls and songs but I think you’ll outgrow it and desire more sooner. Iv still got the tension 5th string peg on mine just as your still has. Probably all the parts on it are original. Roy was a professional musician back in the day. You can google his name to learn more about him. He had his name on music books then too. He probably got some royalties from companies putting his name on their products. It appears your pot and resonator is made of a Bakelite product of that time period. My pot is a layered wood with a Chrome plated metal tone ring sitting right on top. Goldtone banjo company is making a banjo now with a pot of similar build as yours and Iv heard some setup right sound pretty good for what they are. I say leave it just as is to keep that old mojo look and play away. Enjoy it.
Edited by - RDP on 11/09/2024 20:50:33
This is a pretty decent beginner/intermediate instrument & could possibly be a vehicle into high art.
Looks like my first 5-string, except mine had dots instead of block inlays on the fingerboard. If yours is like mine, the neck is extremely narrow and the strings very close together. Not a show stopper but if you're planning to play 3-finger it will make you appreciate whatever more modern banjo you play next.
I played my Harmony for about a year before moving on. Lucked out and found a pre-war Gibson and had the rim cut for a tone ring. I took the brass hoop out of the Gibson and stuck it in the Harmony. I can't say it improved the sound, but I felt a lot cooler playing it with that pre-war Gibson ring inside! 50 years later, I still have that banjo, although I can't say I play it much, or ever.
Where are you in Flushing? I grew up on 190th Street near Kissena Park.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPlWImn3nK8
here's the original Roy Smeck: great performer....
My recollection is that this model was considered to be the top-of-the-line Harmony banjo made back in the middle of the 20th century. Properly setup, they're a pretty good instrument for someone just starting.
When I started in the late Sixties, I chose not to buy one of these because the rim and resonator were made of molded plastic. Instead, I started with a Asian manufactured banjo with an aluminum rim. In retrospect, I came to realize that the Harmony would have been a much better choice.
Edited by - RB3 on 11/10/2024 06:22:37
quote:
Originally posted by waystation
Where are you in Flushing? I grew up on 190th Street near Kissena Park.
I don't know whether we ever talked about that, Rich. I grew up on Springfield Blvd. and 51st Ave. I used to ride my bike at the Kessena Park velodrome.
Back to main topic--
I remember reading somewhere that Roy Smeck had more endorsement instruments carrying his name than any other musician ever. He made what's sometimes considered the very first music video, a short sound film from the 1920s (link below). Marcy Marxer once told me that she took a ukulele lesson from him, years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgYJtgVj0Ws
This one might even be late 1950s as that is the early logo.
These banjos have thin (nut diameter) necks and a metal rod instead of a truss rod. The metal rod works well, I have yet to see a Harmony banjo with a warped neck.
This one has the 30 hook (as opposed to 15 hook) rim.
I do not like the placement of the 5th string tuner more at the fourth fret than the fifth fret.
The resonator can rattle on these. People then tighten the 10-32 nut in the middle of the back of the resonator. This puts extra force on the dowel rod inside which can pull the neck into the wrong angle. Better to stick pieces of felt on the four rectangular rim rests with dots on the inside of the resonator to control looseness/rattle.
The tuners are basic, but if removed and washed out with naptha and then relubricated (before reinstalling) they can often be made functional.
If I remember correctly, these banjos use a 10 7/8" banjo head with a high collar.
Nice functional banjo with a few quirks.
quote:
Originally posted by Ira Gitlinquote:
Originally posted by waystation
Where are you in Flushing? I grew up on 190th Street near Kissena Park.I don't know whether we ever talked about that, Rich. I grew up on Springfield Blvd. and 51st Ave. I used to ride my bike at the Kessena Park velodrome.
Funny thing about that. I grew up less than two miles from you, just on the other side of Hollis Court Boulevard between 50th and 53rd Avenue. The avenue grid converged east of there and 51st and 52nd disappeared. In Queens two miles was basically a different city.
I grew up riding at the Kissena Velodrome too.
Edited by - waystation on 11/10/2024 12:30:59
As a footnote, Roy played slide guitar on all of those old Looney Tunes recordings. Anyone that’s ever watched a Bugs Bunny cartoon has had that sound embedded into their brain as the opening sound.
quote:
Originally posted by cevantAs a footnote, Roy played slide guitar on all of those old Looney Tunes recordings. Anyone that’s ever watched a Bugs Bunny cartoon has had that sound embedded into their brain as the opening sound.
I don't know about the toons themselves, but the big glissando in the opening theme was played by Freddie Tavares, an important figure in the early history of Fender guitars and amps.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Tavares
I've got one of these. Surprisingly playable (though not great) given its basic construction and bakelite pot. I wouldn't worry about string gauge. I believe that they have a steel stiffener in the neck.
quote:
Originally posted by Ira Gitlinquote:
Originally posted by cevantAs a footnote, Roy played slide guitar on all of those old Looney Tunes recordings. Anyone that’s ever watched a Bugs Bunny cartoon has had that sound embedded into their brain as the opening sound.
I don't know about the toons themselves, but the big glissando in the opening theme was played by Freddie Tavares, an important figure in the early history of Fender guitars and amps.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Tavares
Ah, okay... I stand corrected... thanks for the information.
quote:
Originally posted by waystationquote:
Originally posted by Ira Gitlinquote:
Originally posted by waystation
Where are you in Flushing? I grew up on 190th Street near Kissena Park.I don't know whether we ever talked about that, Rich. I grew up on Springfield Blvd. and 51st Ave. I used to ride my bike at the Kessena Park velodrome.
Funny thing about that. I grew up less than two miles from you, just on the other side of Hollis Court Boulevard between 50th and 53rd Avenue. The avenue grid converged east of there and 51st and 52nd disappeared. In Queens two miles was basically a different city.
I grew up riding at the Kissena Velodrome too.
That was my first banjo, acquired as a Christmas present from my parents in 1968. There weren't a lot of banjos around my area at that time. I already had a good Harmony guitar, and while I had originally chosen another model that one came after a lot of waiting and I took it. It sounded decent and played well, but I never felt professional with the plastic rim and resonator. Nevertheless, I played it for 25 years, finally getting a better banjo when I became my band's banjo player. I sold it and never looked back, but it served me well for a long time.
One of my earliest banjo books, if I can remember right from more than five dozen years ago, was a book of chords, showing the diagram, and next to it, a photo of a hand fingering the chord.
Might have actually been Roy's hand, but, by now, who knows for certain?
Other than him and Eddy Peabody, back THEN, I had never heard the name of any other banjo player.
