Folkway Music -- Instrument Gallery

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1930's Kay Kraft Mandola
No Serial Number. Built by Stromberg-Voisinet in the late 1930’s, the Kay Kraft line included guitars, mandolins, and banjos. Over the years we’ve encountered many four and six string guitars, tenor and 5 string banjos, and a number of mandolins. However Mandolas and Mandocellos are quite rare, and this example is the only of its kind that we’ve as yet discovered. The instrument features a long 18.25” scale, arched spruce top and mahogany back. It’s entirely original but for newer Schaller tuning machines and is well set-up. Neck and frets are in good shape, body is crack free and well arched. With a tone somewhere in between a carved and a flat-top instrument this Kay Kraft Mandola offers something pleasantly unique.
With soft case
SOLD

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1930 KeyKord
Tuned like a baritone ukulele and played sort of like an autoharp, the KeyKord was the Depression-era's version of this generation's video game "Guitar Hero". Push the buttons and strum, and thereby become a musician. Ultimately, I think the 1930's version is a bit more cool. Built by the Stromberg-Voisinet company (Kay) and sold by The KeyKord Banjo Company of America, the KeyKord might have caught on if (a) they had invented it 10 years earlier at the height of the ukulele craze, and (b) if the depression didn't happen the same year it was introduced; these were not inexpensive gadgets. They are, today, few and far between; and digging one up in this kind of condition is a rare feat. Apart from an unfortunate (and recent) unrepaired side-crack by the heel of the neck this instrument is in 100% perfect, mint condition. It's just never been used. The original case is in similar shape, and included in the package is an original KeyKord instruction book; again, in excellent shape. The instrument is not currently playable, and ideally the buyer will opt to have us repair the neck-joint / crack issue. But it is about as good a conversation piece as it gets - and whether or not the crack is repaired won't change that!
SOLD

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> Detail 1
> Detail 2

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1940's Martin Style 2-M Uke
No serial number. This Style 2 Martin was likely built in the late 1940’s soon after the close of WWII, at a time when the ukulele was experiencing incredible popularity thanks to all the US servicemen who brought ukes back from Hawaii. With no serial numbers it’s fairly difficult to date Martin ukuleles accurately; we’ve based our estimate on the type of tuners, quality of the finish, type of fingerboard dots, and build quality displayed in this instrument. It’s a wonderful little mahogany soprano, with a very big voice and plenty of warmth. In excellent condition, there are no cracks and very little wear to this instrument. Playability and frets are perfect, and the uke is completely original and unmodified.
With newer hardshell case
US $1250

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1930's Favilla Mandobass
No serial number. The Favilla brothers opened their New York city shop in the 1890’s. Although the company changed locations numerous times over the years, they remained active in fretted instrument building until the 1970’s. At the height of the uke boom of the 1920’s, Favilla Brothers were employing some 50 employees and building many thousands of instruments a year. The mandobass presented here likely dates from sometime between the two World Wars. The original tuners were made in Czechoslovakia, indicating a post 1918 build, while the balance of design elements seems to point to the 1930’s. The numbers 1929 are handwritten in pencil on one of the back braces, and could be indicative of the year of manufacture – but that’s as accurate we can be.
The instrument features a 25” wide body of solid spruce and mahogany. The back is bookmatched, the top is a three-piece bookmatch. The celluloid pickguard is inlaid in the top, and the body is otherwise simply appointed with single-ply bindings and and a lovely sunburst finish. The two-piece mahogany neck has an unbound rosewood fingerboard with pearl dot inlays and a rosewood head veneer with pearl logo. With a scale of 40”, the instrument’s string length measures half way between that of a fretted bass and an upright. Endpins at the tailpiece and on the lower treble bout allow two different playing positions. The bass plays well, and sounds warm and thumpy – it’s a perfect choice for a fretted bassist who’s looking for that upright sound without wanting to learn a new instrument!
Sorry, no shipping.
SOLD

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1984 Grit Laskin Cittern
Serial # 300884. Perhaps better called a 10 string octave mandolin with a high B, this Laskin Cittern is a versatile and enchanting instrument. Five courses of strings tuned G-D-A-E-B allows for a seemingly infinite variety of voicings and hand positions, while its 20" scale length and roomy flat-top body offers warmth, richness, and ample volume. Built for Canadian Folk / Roots band Tanglefoot, the band's logo was engraved on the pearl heel cap. The instrument's intricate inlay features a turn of the century river driver or log jam worker steering a log with a "peavey"; and, even though the instrument is some 25 years old, Laskin's aptitude for artistic inlay work was already very well developed. The cittern is built finely curled maple and quartered spruce, tastefully purfled with alternating maple and rosewood, and bound with rosewood. Ivoroid bound ebony fingerboard, ivory bridge, bone nut, and improvised 10 string Schaller tuners. Structurally, the instrument is in excellent condition, however there is significant crazing in the lacquer finish and the back of the neck has seen much of its lacquer flaked-off. There is some pitting on the first five or so frets, particularly under the E and B strings, but despite this the cittern plays remarkably well.
With original hard shell case
On consignment
SOLD

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1920's Martin Style 2 Uke
No serial number. A very appealing early Style 2, with bar frets and mechanical friction pegs. Mahogany body with ivoroid triple-bound top and single-bound back, 12 fret Brazilian rosewood fingerboard and micro-dot inlays. In excellent condition but for a pair of very small and very tight repaired hairline back cracks. Completely original and well set up, this attractive instrument is a load of fun to play and has a very fine tone.
With period home-made felt case.
SOLD

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1967 Harmony Monterey Octave Mandolin
Procrastination takes on a whole new meaning here at Folkway... Sometimes we just don't feel like working on a valuable vintage guitar. It's at those times that some hapless old Harmony goes under the knife and gets turned into an Octave Mandolin! This one did last Saturday, and you'll likely be glad it did! It's tough to make a bad sounding octave mando, and these old archtop harmonys are great candidates for conversion. You can string this one up as an octave mando, an Irish bouzouki, mandocello, or whatever else you fancy that uses 8 strings and a guitar scale length. Nice fretwork and action, new bone nut, clamshell tailpiece, adjustable ebony bridge, and a pair of banjo tuners for those extra two strings. Solid spruce top, laminate maple back and sides. A few repaired cracks, but structurally very sound.
SOLD

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1934 Gibson TG-50E
FON 798. For a short period in 1934 and early 1935 the TG-50 and related L-50 models featured a 14-3/4" wide L-00 sized body with a braced flat back, and a carved top with a round sound hole. By late 1935, the Gibson catalog pictures these instruments with the larger and more common 16" body. Also in 1935 Gibson introduced its first production electrics - the Electric Hawaiian - a lap slide guitar fitted with the earliest version of what we today commonly call the Charlie Christian pickup. A year later, this pickup was fitted in a pair of newly introduced slide models, and by late 1936 the first Gibson Electric Spanish, the ES-150, was offered, complete with a variant of the same pickup. Gibson employed this pickup on its EH and ES series electrics until 1940, when it was retired in favor of the metal-covered, smaller magnet units which would forbear the venerable P-90. The pickup fitted into the TG-50 pictured here was known as the ES-96. This unit, and a simpler version of it (the ES-75) were listed in the 1936 Gibson Catalog on the same page as the new ES-150. It sold for a whopping $35, while the TG-50 sold at $50 (imagine buying a pickup worth 70% of your guitar's value today!). It is identical in construction and dimensions to the earliest EH-100 pickups, with large and heavy bar magnets, slip-over bobbin, and lowish DC resistance; but is fitted in a circular nickel-plated disk which also features a smartly configured volume control. When we acquired this instrument, the pickup wire dangled loosely from the tail-piece; we removed the 15 feet of original cord and hard-wired an output jack in the tail-piece (no modification to the tailpiece, but we did widen the hole in the endblock to accommodate the 1/4" jack). We also mounted an 1/8" quick-connect jack to the pickup for easier removal. This pickup can be removed for shipping, or for installation in another instrument; it can be used in a 6 string acoustic as well.
The TG-50 is a beautiful guitar, with carved Red spruce top, braced flat maple back and sides, cream bindings. Ebony fingerboard and adjustable bridge. It is fitted with Grover # 79 geared pegs, pearl Gibson headstock logo, bone nut, truss-rod and nickel-silver tailpiece. It originally was fitted with an elevated pickguard, but its removal would have been necessary for the use of the soundhole pickup. The guitar is crack free and in excellent condition but for some pick wear near the sound hole and the usual assortment of dings and scratches. It is well set-up and very playable. This Gibson, complete with its period pickup and original red-line hard shell case is beautiful - and very useable vintage package.
With original hard shell case
SOLD

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   Front detail   Back detail   Headstock detail
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1937 Kalamazoo KTG-11
FON 223. The KG-11 and KTG-11 were the base-model Kalamazoo offerings during the late 1930's. Both the 6 string KG-11 and and 4 string KTG-11 featured the slightly squashed looking 17.5" body, and basic trim. Like all of Gibson's Kalamazoo branded guitars the KTG-11 is ladder-braced and without truss-rod, but nicely built. This tenor features a mahogany and spruce body with bound and sunburst-finished top, unbound back and bound soundhole. It is 100% original including bridge and end pins, ebony nut and bone saddle, firestripe pickguard, Brazilian rosewood lacquered bridge, and friction banjo tuners. Not much for ornamentation, the Kalamazoo has a silk-screened logo and firestripe pickguard, but not much else to fancy it up. All that being said, I'd rather have tone than looks, and this guitar has lots of it. Big and open, with a very surprising bass response and trebles in balance, we have set the guitar up in a low E-B-F#-C# tuning with heavier strings, and it sings. Great action and frets, this guitar is ready to play and need no further restoration. No cracks or issues other than one minor brace repair. Set-up in shop.
With original (beat) chip-board case
SOLD

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1928 Harmony Tiple G
Played like a ukulele, but with ten strings arranged in courses of two and three strings, the Tiple might just offer you the different sound you've been looking for to bring to the next jam session. This one is a late 1920's harmony model, in working order. Its body is constructed of Birch (back and sides) and Spruce (top). The top and soundhole has 4-ply celluloid binding, and the back has a single-ply white binding. It has a birch neck and ebonized maple fingerboard with brass frets and pearl dots at frets 5, 7, 10, and 12. The body measures 8-3/4" at its widest point, and is 3-1/2" deep. The scale length is just shy of 17". The instrument has been around the block a few times and looks the part; but is in playable condition and sounds quite pleasant. The bridge has had some work done to it, the neck has been reset, and various cracks have been repaired. It works, and it's a pretty fun thing.
On consignment with case
SOLD

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1968 Vox Continental Organ
Introduced in 1962 and made famous by Ray Manzarek of the Doors, Alan Price of The Animals, and The Dave Clarke Five, the Vox Continental offered quality organ tone in a much more portable package thanks to its transistor technology. While most early solid-state organs sounded thin and lifeless, the Vox Continental stood out from the pack in that it actually did a good job at emulating a true organ's tone. And it looked good doing it. With it's reversed-color keys, chrome-plated Z stand, and red and grey color scheme, the organ appealed to the hip of the day (and still does, it seems!). It has six sliders - the first three emulate the 16 foot, 8' and 4' pipes of a conventional church organ (dial these in to your tonal preference); the last two are sine and more reed-like sawtooth wave forms. The fourth slider is a combination of the first three and the fifth (sine wave) sliders. There are many sonic options to coax from this keyboard - all of them cool. It's in good working order, but it's been well used - there are various rips and tear in the tolex covering, the VOX logo plate is missing from the front, and a few of the sliders are missing their pulls. The AC cord is non-original, and one of the stand's cross members is long gone. This is an Italian built Vox.
SOLD

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Case Closed

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1920's Martin Style 1K Uke
This one sings! That sweet loud voice of a very lightly built koa instrument just can't be beat. All-koa body and bridge, Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with original bar frets, mahogany neck, Brazilian top and back binding, white and black wood top purfling, ebony nut and saddle, replaced tuners. This one would be a lot more money had it not lost a chunk out of the top by the soundhole. It is otherwise in highly desirable condition.
No case.
SOLD

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1930's Michigan Banjo-Uke
Michigan branded instruments were likely built in Chicago by Regal during the middle part of the 1900's. They were modestly priced student-grade instruments made available through catalog stores across the country. There really isn't any other known history about this brand though, so I'm afraid that's as far down this road as I can take you. The banjo-uke pictured here has a 7-3/4" skin head, and 13" scale length. It's built of birch and finished in a slight sunburst lacquer. We've cleaned off all the dust and set it up, but its original tuners are a little temperamental... we'd suggest replacing them if you plan to use the instrument regularly. Which you should do if you buy it, because it sounds great.
SOLD

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1950's Gibson Vibra-Rest
Gibson offered these in the 1950's as add-on vibrato units. Though simple in design, it works quite well. It's as new in its original box.
SOLD

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1960's Martin Style 51 Baritone Ukulele
WOW! This uke is beautiful! It is in excellent condition and is 100% original. It is a one owner instrument, and has been treated very well throughout it's life. It was bought new in 1961 or '62. No Cracks or abuse, but has a little bit of case-wear to its finish on the treble side. Warm and loud, its a great sounding instrument that's easy to play (tuned DGBE). Tortoise-bound, ivory saddle, original bridge pins, nut and tuners, Brazilian rosewood bridge and fingerboard.
Original soft/hard case included.
SOLD

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