"Melofonic" Branded Faux-Resonator
Image Credit: Ebay - Clark's Music

The Complaint

During the boom of American-built guitars sold through mail order catalogs and department stores, there was a desire to build more guitars as cheap as possible. Shortcuts were taken which sometimes resulted in deceptive marketing practices such as the very common "faux-flame" that was painted onto of thousands of budget guitars.

Excerpt from the complaint [1]

The Fretted Instrument Manufacturing Corporation (1935-April 1939) and United Guitar Company (June 1939-?) were targets of a 1941 complaint that that claimed both New Jersey manufacturers were involved in the production and distribution of fake resonator guitars [1]. 

Persons involved from both companies [1]

A resonator, for those who don't know, is a guitar that has a circular hole cut into the top of the instrument to fit a metal cone, which acts like a speaker, and a metal cover to protect the thin cone from damage. There are also a number of structural changes inside the guitar to support this construction but I won't dive too far into those. The popular resonator guitars from the era were the National guitars which were build with all metal bodies and are associated with swamp blues. The FTC report claims that a "true" resonator results is "50 to 80 percent" louder than a regular flat top guitar.

Cutaway Schematic of a True Resonator
Image Credit: Instructables.com

These guitars did not contain metal cones but instead had the metal cover bolted onto a solid wood top with a silver circle painted underneath it to give the illusion of a cone.  The silver paint would only be visible through thin slots in the metal cover making it unapparent to the uninformed consumer that the instrument is simply an imitation. To further the FTC's case against these manufacturers, they had also engaged in advertising claiming that the instruments were indeed true resonating guitars. The complaint outlined that the "purchasing public" would have no way of differentiating between these fake instruments and the true ones.

Incriminating evidence of intentional false advertising [1]

Any knowledgeable player would be able to strum one of these instruments and immediately know that something was amiss but the layperson might not have such experience. A player would note the lack of distinct "twang" in the tone and the volume that a resonator might have while a consumer might not know the difference.

Findings [1]

It later goes on to say that Fretted Instrument Manufacturing Co started using the real resonator design from the Schireson Brothers in 1936 but ceased using it in 1937 due to threats of infringement. The manufacturers, not wanting to lose out on sales, continued to build lookalike instruments without the trademarked cone and sell them as if they were authentic instruments. The report says that "This latter practice was discontinued about the time the complaint herein was issued and has not been resumed."

Both companies were ordered to cease and desist such practices and file a report after 60 days outlining how they complied with the order. The Fretted Instrument Mfg Co was already defunct by that point and it appears the United Guitar Co ceased production of such instruments.

Sources

[1]https://books.google.com/books?id=B8fMOLzDEb4C&pg=PA114&lpg=PA114&dq=%22united+guitar%22+company+catalog&source=bl&ots=gsigMliVPE&sig=ACfU3U2LEsHmKg9fApmISsIq6aqFC5auVg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwijo6moyPvlAhVMcq0KHc-UAPIQ6AEwEHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22united%20guitar%22%20company%20catalog&f=false

Image Credit: Popular Science 1945

About

The Electromuse corporation was in business from the 1940s through the 1950s; exact dates are unknown as I have not yet been able to track down their business filings. The company has very little footprint on the internet and so not much is known about them. They were based in Chicago, Illinois and in 1945 their office was at 63 E. Adams Street. In 1947 they were located at 622 W. Kenzie Street [4].

They manufactured lap steels out of pine and their own pickups to put in them. Their amplifiers were built by the Valco corporation [5].

Eye-Beam Pickup

The "Eye-Beam Electromuse String Pickup" is toted as being the first commercially available electromagnetic pickup on the market but I cannot find anything to back up that claim though it is definitely an early contender. The pickup received it's name because of the I-beam shaped magnet that the coil is wrapped around but I think they look like toasters.

Original box for a Model IBP-R string pickup
Image Credit: Worthpoint from Ebay

Ralphie B, from the Music Electronics Forum deconstructed one of these pickups to rewind it and his posts are an incredible source of information on the lapsteel implementation and construction. His pickup had died due to rust and corrosion which I don't doubt has killed many of these pickups before the pickup "world" learned about properly sealing off the coil.

Ralphie says that the volume potentiometer is 20k Ohms while the tone pot is 150k Ohms and has a .05uF capacitor. His potentiometers are Allen-Bradley branded but I've also seen another Eye-Beam pickup with old Centralab Milwaukee potentiometers on the website of Denny Turner [3]. He did not mention the gauge of wire used on this pickup but did note that "As found, this Eye-Beam was wound with few turns of thin wire".

The pickup looks like a double-rail humbucker- but it isn't. The magnet is alnico, cast into an I-Beam shape about 1" wide; its jagged ends infer the piece was snapped from a longer bar. The i-beam is magnetized "across the bar" (one flange is North, the other South) and the coil is wound "along the bar", between the flanges. (I believe some would call this orientation "wrong", with most of the magnetic flux travelling parallel to the strings.) [1]

The Eye-Beam pickup is slightly weird- basically a blade pickup turned sideways. The core is a piece of steel I-channel (AKA H-channel), magnetized across the bar so one flange is North and the other flange is South; the two "toaster slots" in the cover align with the flanges. [2]

Lapsteel harness
Image Credit: Reverb - Rollingdam

Soundhole 'DeArmond'-style
Image Credit: Reverb - Play It Again Music

I cannot confirm whether these came before DeArmond pickups or after but there are definitely features that are similar. The soundhole mounted Eye-Beam pickups have a unique three-point mounting mechanism and include thumbwheels on either side of the pickup to adjust volume and tone, much like a DeArmond.

Sources

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20191120151151/https://music-electronics-forum.com/showthread.php?t=26723

[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20191120155012/https://music-electronics-forum.com/showthread.php?t=25965

[3] https://web.archive.org/save/http://dennysguitars.homestead.com/Electromuse1p5.html
[4] http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16614coll14/id/59749/
[5] https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/valco_electromuse_a46.html

Vibraphone serial badge
Image Credit: Reverb - King Louie Music

About

Jen-Co Musical Products (JMP) was an Illinois-based manufacturer of musical instruments located in Decatur (just west of Springfield). The company is often mispelled as Jenco Musical Products. The company was founded by owner G. C. Jenkins shortly after the first World War and his son, James B. Jenkins, later became owner. They were located at 1014 East Olive St. in Decatur, IL and their factory occupied 44,000 square feet and had 25 employees in 1959. They were the world's largest producer of mallet-played musical instruments in '59 with glockenspiels being their biggest seller. At the time they had 3,500 dealers in the US and Canada [1]. The company folded sometime prior to 1976 [2].

Guitars

In 1958, they launched their line of solid body guitars under the name of Decar (which I suspect came from the town's name, Decatur). These guitars were built in-house by Jen-Co [1]. Older pot codes may exist depending on when they bought their supply of potentiometers but the line officially launched in '58.

Their guitars follow a similar single cutaway style similar to the Harmony Stratotone or Kay K125 but definitely were not made by either of those manufacturers. This body style is often referred to as the "peanut" shape because of its resemblance to a legume.

Image Credit: Reverb - SS11211

The tuners appear to be generic imports from Japan. Definitely not the Waverly or Kluson tuners that the Chicago manufacturers were known for using. The bridges appear to be custom built as well and resemble nothing else that was being mass produced from that era. The bodies have Formica veneers on the front and back with a faux-wood finish. The pickguards are also apparently Formica. There also does not appear to be a truss rod in any of the guitars so that doesn't bode well for the playability of the instrument.

These guitars can be seen with DeArmond "hershey bar" pickups (common on Harmony instruments) or Kay "pancake" pickups. I've not heard of Kay selling their pickups to other builders so this is curious. The potentiometers are Stackpole.

Image Credit: Reverb - Spacetone Music

I cannot find any reference to these guitars being built after 1959 so it is likely that it was a 1-2 year run which makes these very rare instruments.

Sources

[1] https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=13265401&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjg4NTU5OTc0LCJpYXQiOjE1NzM1NjgzNzUsImV4cCI6MTU3MzY1NDc3NX0.w8Y4OSP2OV1HRQJbRdjgXC4Y_i4rDTqXreF1SC3V68M

[2] https://herald-review.com/news/local/decatur-gadfly-bernard-ephraim-dies-inventor-was-perhaps-best-known/article_85c39622-6d6c-5982-9a93-71f5fa0c5cd2.html

I stumbled across a Reverb listing for a NOS pickguard for a Harmony H-16 Bobkat and the description mentioned that he got this as a sample from his time at the Harmony factory so I reached out to him.

This is my email interview with Kenneth B. who was an employee at the Harmony Musical Instruments factory from 1966-1975 and was gracious enough to entertain my questions.

October 1st, 2019

Do you play any instruments?
Yes. Believe it or not, I am a sax player. 

How did you find out about the job and how old were you?
I was 24 years of age when I walked through the back door looking for a job since I just graduated from DePaul University of Chicago. It was difficult finding work since I was eligible for the draft and the Vietnam crisis was in full swing. For whatever reason, Harmony was willing to take a chance on me. I was drafted within a year, but returned to continue my job functions at The Harmony Co. after serving 2 years in the military. 

What was your role at Harmony?
I was an assistant to the Vice President of Purchasing and Manufacturing. My main function was Purchasing.

Do you still work with instruments?
No, I am retired. I still play gigs on saxophone though.

What were some of your favorite experiences?
Working with the people at the Company. I found it to be one happy family. Also, I enjoyed meeting and working with the vendors from whom I purchase supplies.

What were some of your least favorite experiences?
The closing of the Company. I attended one of the days of the auction of completed musical instruments, machinery, parts, veneer, etc,, 

 
What was your opinion of the Kay Musical Instrument company?
Kay was our largest competitor. I saw the music industry as a friendly industry since companies would help each other when possible. I even got a request, which we fulfilled, from the Gibson Company for some celluloid the need for pick guards. Just a side note, we did not want to see Kay go out of business because the effect would mean more instruments arriving in this Country from overseas.

I hope I have answered the above questions to your satisfaction. You can ask more questions, but you must remember that it has been over 40 years since I left the Company so I may not have all the answers to your questions.

October 14th, 2019

How long have you been playing the saxophone? What kind of music do you play? Do you have a band?
Playing sax for about 65 years. Play some jazz and R n'R. The band I was part of, just broke up. That's show business.

What did your role entail? What was a typical day like?
My role entailed purchasing items to keep a manufacturing plant afloat, from lumber to toilet paper. I was also involved in testing new vendor items such as an adhesive or sandpaper, new type of coating, etc.

A typical day would be reviewing manufacturing orders against inventory of parts and raw materials.

Did you manage ordering parts, wood, or pickups from suppliers? 

Yes.

I believe I've heard that Kluson had their own catalogs for their tuners but I have only ever seen one on the internet, did they have like a catalog for purchasing their machines?
They did have a catalog. 

The I believe I've heard that Kluson had their own catalogs for their tuners but I have only ever seen one on the internet, did they have like a catalog for purchasing their machines?
Yes. The only parts I purchased from Kluson were banjo parts such as the 5th string tuner plus nuts and bolts which attached the ring which held the head to the banjo shell.

When did Harmony switch away from using Brazilian Rosewood and to Indian Rosewood?
I really can't say.

Did you interact with any of the businesses who purchased Harmony guitars for their own distribution?

Not really. That was handled by the Sales Department.

If so, was there a separate stage in production where guitars were custom branded?
I would not say that there was a separate stage since certain types of guitar went through the same stages. A work order would call out the differences on the instruments and those differences would take place in the same areas of the regular Harmony lines.

Was there an attitude shift into the 70s as more import guitars were pouring in from Japan? I believe that Harmony Opus guitars were some of their last attempts to compete. 
It was a line to compete against the higher priced guitars in the field. Here is a piece of trivia, I came up with the "Opus" name for the new line of guitars.

I plan to pick up on the rest of your questions hopefully later this week. Need to run
now. The Chicago Blackhawks are on the air.

October 18th, 2019

At the auction, did it appear to be mostly businesses or hobbyists that were buying up parts? I can only imagine what happened to all that stock of wood and guitars
Mainly business men.

Did Harmony build some of their own tuning machines and tailpieces in house?
Harmony did not build their own tuning machines. As far as tailpieces go Harmony had dies for a couple and purchased others from the outside.

That surprised me about Gibson looking for pickguard material, did you know why they couldn't keep up with demand?
The supplier could have been backlogged and lead times were long if they were out of stock, which I think was the case that I recall.

Do you have any memorabilia, documents, photos, or catalogs from your time at Harmony? One of my hobbies is digitizing items from daily life that most people overlook because I think it provides great insight into the past.
The only catalog I had is long gone. I have no photos. However, at a Barnes & Nobles I saw in a book containing many guitar manufacturers, a photo of a giant Harmony guitar, largest in the world at that time, exhibited at the NAMM show. Besides from a couple of Christmas gifts from the company, in our house we have an Opus style guitar, a Harmony electric guitar, Roy Smeck model, and a prototype 12 string guitar, only 2 of this model were made, as one of the choices for Fender's "F" series. There was another prototype made which Fender chose for their line. Unfortunately, the one we have does not have the Fender name screened on the headpiece since it was not a production item, only a prototype. At that time, we most likely did not have the artwork for the Fender logo from which to produce a silkscreen.

I thought of another highlight which I should have mentioned earlier which is astounding, I think. Harmony was producing about 2500 banjos per year. When the movie "Deliverance" which contained the song "Dueling Banjos" was released, it created a craze for banjos. We had one heck of a time trying to get enough parts to build banjos. Harmony went from building 2500 per year to 2500 per week near the end of the run. It was hectic, but it was fun. What a ride!

October 28th, 2019

Dueling Banjos is actually what inspired me to try and pick up the banjo, I didn't stick to it as well as I could've haha. That is astounding that banjos picked up to that degree especially so late in Harmony's lifespan. Have you heard of the newest iteration of the Harmony brand? Hand built guitars from Kalamazoo, MI that resemble some of the classics from back in the day. Here is their website, https://www.harmony.co/. Have you also heard of Baxendale conversions? Their business model consists of obtaining old Harmony and Kay guitars, converting them to X-bracing, rebuilding them, and selling them as a "greener" alternative to purchasing a new instrument. Plus you get the authenticity of having an instrument built from old wood which people seem to prize.
Thanks for bringing the above to my attention. Since I am not a guitar player nor any longer in the industry I do not keep up or hear much of the news on the Harmony name. However I did check a little bit of the Harmony website and it was quite obvious that these were not "original" Harmony's nor are exact duplicates. The pickups were a dead giveaway. Their warranty is for 2 years. The "real" Harmony company warranted their instruments for a lifetime. They were very confident about the quality of their instruments.


I thought it was pretty great that you came up with the Opus name, how did you pitch that? Were they looking for a name for a new line of instruments?
The president (Mandel Kapland) at one of our staff meetings requested that we summit names for this new line of guitars. I handed a list of names and the name Opus was chosen. He jumped on that one almost immediately.


How and why did Harmony get a hold of Gibson pickups like the wide-range humbucker and the P-13 for some of the semi-hollow models? Especially since most Harmony instruments used DeArmond as their pickup supplier.
Sorry, but that was before my time. I have no idea. 


Do you understand the meaning of the stamps inside Harmony instruments? I know there is always a model stamp like 1234H5678 where H5678 is the model and 1234 is something unrelated like a batch number.
You hit the nail on the head with this one: model number followed by the work order number. In this way the instrument could be traced all the way back to its final assembly, date, lot, etc. 

 Then there is F-67 which means the instrument was built in Fall of 1967 if I recall correctly. I've also seen letters follow the number too but I can't figure out what they mean. So like F-67 AB or something or that nature, I might have a picture somewhere of what I'm talking about.
Where did you see this type of number? I know there was a number inside the "back" of the instrument. I don't recall what the designation "F-67" means but the letters, such a the "AB", which would be at the end on the inside back are the initials  of the person who did the final inspection of the instrument.


Have you had any contact with any former employees since the company shut down?
Yes. Unfortunately, I lost contact with Mr. Edward Wozniak who was the chief designer and you could also say chief engineer for many years at the Harmony Company. As a matter-of-fact, he is pictured with the large Harmony guitar I have mentioned, in one of the guitar history type books I saw at a "Barnes and Nobles" book store. He knew more about the Harmony instruments than anyone in the company. I tried to keep in touch with a couple of others whom I have seen periodically.  

PS. I have enjoyed sharing these Harmony experiences with you and glad to hear someone is still interested in what was the largest musical stringed manufacturer in the world. Hope you get plenty of enjoyment out of your Harmony "Rocket".  I will see what I can do about getting photos of the 2 Harmony instruments I presently own along with a photo of a mounting plate with 2 mounted DeArmond pickups from the H.N. Rowe Company.


October 30th, 2019

Regarding tuners, I've seen this style of tuning machine on many, many instruments from Kay and Harmony. They aren't Klusons and you mentioned that Harmony didn't make them in house, do you know where they came from? The only other tuner manufacturer from that era that I know of is Waverly out of New York
Waverly was the manufacturer that sold most of the tuners used by the Harmony Company.

Here is another bit of trivia. when Regal was going out of business, Harmony bought the Regal name. If I remember correctly, the acoustics that we briefly made for Fender used the Regal name.