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Celebrate Reso-Tone in 2017

From byronmuseuminfo on 1/7/2017 2:50:53 PM

Many of the Reso-Tone Banjos surviving and being played in 2017 are over 50 years old, just like many of their players. These mostly Harmony brand banjos are, after all, a miracle of U.S. design, engineering and manufacture.

Kudos to the original engineers of these instruments -- does anybody know who they are, by name? Are any still alive?

These were intended as value entry, mass market banjos but so many other banjos since then in that category have failed in function, mostly junk and now warped and de-laminated and never having sounded very good to start with. Those pot-metal hoop banjos with their popping-out neck inlays and sold under any brand name imaginable have basically slurred the category. I can't help it, they happen to be asian, and all low priced asian banjos are crap compared to an old Reso-Tone.  They just aren't engineered well. They just didn't get it.

Today if you want a better-than-average sounding starter banjo you can ONLY go to one of these old Reso-Tones. Several very good players have demonstrated recordings that prove the point, particularly if you listen to them blind without knowing what is being played. Fact of the matter is these Harmony banjos have a bit of a unique sound unobtainable in any other design.

What was not very good was the plating and marginal hardware, but never the neck or the hoop - which are incredibly stable.  You may go through one or two changes of head but never warp out of a neck or hoop unless your house was swamped.

Best change up I've found that really makes an improvement in sound is to replace the stamped metal stock tailpiece with a more substantial presto (adjustable).  A "No-Knot" simple tailpiece does nothing for these Harmonys, for whatever reason.

My Harmony long-neck is an amazing thing for the price it took for me to clean it up.  Cant touch any other used long-neck anywhere without spending $300 or more additional, especially to consider that Harmony's tack-board cases seem also to hold up and are available.

1 Comments
	wizofos says: 1/23/2017 4:49:12 PM One of the advantages of these 'entry level' instruments was that they have some sort of metal bar in the neck keeping it stiff and straight. I believe that the bar is steel. My Silvertone long neck was the best $50 I ever spent and yes it came with the cheap tack-board case. Based on the stickers on the case there is some interesting history in there.
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