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Banjo

Migma

Migma is a musical instrument makers cooperative based in Markneukirchen who have been selling bowed, fretted instruments, and wind instruments (plus accessories and components) since 1943. It became part of the Musima corporation under East German communist rule -  although many of its instrument makers continued to work from their own small workshops. Although Musima was closed in the 1990s, Migma is still operates as a collective of Markneukirchen instrument makers.

Source: Migma catalog 1956

Source: Migma website (18 May 2018)

Stadlmair

Henry Stadlmair Company Inc. was a New York distributor of musical instruments from 1923 to around 1928. In the 1870s Henry Stadlmair began working with C Bruno and Sons, by 1914 he had risen to the rank of Vice President and General Manager. He left Bruno & Sons and formed his own distribution company in 1923. Stadlmair's ukulele, guitar, tiple and banjo brands included: Miami, Avalon, Ace and Triple X. he was also the east coast distributor of Weissenborn. Stadlmair's company appears to have ceased trading in the late 1920s possibly as a consequence of the Wall Street Crash. Henry died in 1940, but was survived by his son Harry who also worked in music distribution for Bruno and Sons.

Tempo

Tempo was a brand name of Merson of New York City, who advertised the first Tempo archtop electric guitar in 1948 with a matching Tempo amplifier. Merson was taken over by (or merged with) Unicord in the 1960s but continued to distribute Tempo guitars, amplifiers and other instruments including ukuleles and banjos. The Tempo brand appears to have been discontinued by 1975.

Source: Tempo catalog 1964

Source: Univox et al Merson/Unicord. Michael Wright. Vintage Guitar Magazine

Melody

Melody Guitars was founded in 1961 in Potenza Picena near Recanati in Italy. The early 1960s Melody guitars were similar to the  Crucianelli, Welson and Bartolini instruments of the era - but they didn't use a zero-fret  like those other makers. From 1965 to 1972 Eko took a major stake in Melody and during that period the company made Eko branded instruments. From 1972 until its final demise in 1988 Melody once again made their own branded instruments.

Source: Fetish Guitars - Melody (31 March 2018)

Pilgrim

Paul Tebbutt founded Pilgrim Guitars in the 1970s in Leicestershire, UK as a small scale producer of acoustic guitars. Production stopped n the mid 1980s. In 2009 JHS and Paul Tebbutt joined forces to bring the Pilgrim brand name back to the market. The range now includes Pilgrim banjos, G banjos, tenors, ukulele banjos, bluegrass models, resonator and long neck models. There are also Pilgrim Mandolin, Mandolas and acoustic guitars.

Source: JHS Pilgrim website (1 March 2018)

Maya

Maya was a Japanese made electric, acoustic and bass guitar brand. There were also Maja mandolins and banjos and the brand was active from the 1970s to 1980s. Trademark records show that the Maya brand name was owned by guitar wholesaler Rokkomann Inc of Kobe from 1976 to 1997 (who also own the Asturias brand), but it is unclear which factory made these guitars for Rokkomann.

Source: Maya catalogs 1970s to 1980

Source: Rokkomann Inc website (1 March 2018)

Maxitone

Maxitone was a house brand of Bruno & Sons. Bruno used the Maxitone brand on banjos and ukuleles in the 1920s and Maxitone electric, acoustic and bass guitars were made in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s. The Australian Cooke Brothers Pty. Ltd. company distributed CBL Maxitone guitars in Australia, but this is unrelated to Bruno & Sons.

Tonk Bros

Tonk Brothers was a Chicago based musical instrument wholesaler, established in 1893 by Charles J. Tonk (1856-1918). When the last of the Tonk family left the business in 1913, when it was taken over by Paul Moenning. In 1928 Lyon & Healy sold their Washburn brand name to JR Stewart and their wholesale distribution business to Tonk Bros. As a result JR Stewart made Washburn instruments for exclusive distribution by Tonk Bros. When JR stewart went bankrupt in 1930 Tonk Bros bought the Stewart factory as well as the Washburn, Stewart and Le Domino brand names from JR Stewart, but soon sold the Stewart and Le Domino names to Regal.

Matsumoku

Matsumoku was founded as a family owned wood-working company (Matsumoto Mokko) in 1951 by Mr. Tsukada in Matsumoto, Japan. Soon the company was contracted to make sewing machine cabinets by Singer and became part owned by that company. Matsumoku also made wooden cabinets for amplifiers and other audio and television equipment. By the mid 1950s Matsumoku lost much of the sewing machine cabinet business and so looked for new manufacturing opportunities by hiring luthiers and eventually starting guitar and violin making in 1963. Matsumoku initially concentrated on high quality archtop guitars. The company made instruments under contract for other brands - although its name started appearing on neck plates & sound hole labels from the late 1970s onwards.

Marveltone

Marveltone was a brand name of Targ & Dinner a wholesale instrument distributer from Chicago, used from 1926 until the early 1990s. Up to the 1960s Marveltone acoustic guitars would have been made by the big Chicago factories such as Kay, Harmony and Regal, whereas later Marveltones would have been made in Japan or Korea.

Source: Guitar Stories: The Histories of Cool Guitars. Michael Wright. 2000. Hal Leonard,

Source: Marveltone catalog 1960

Source: Targ and Dinner catalog 1950

Mastertone

Mastertone was a Gibson brand used for banjos, acoustic guitars and electric guitars. The brand was first used in 1923 when Gibson introduced a new line of banjos - these used a new design with a hollow metal tone ring which had holes on the inner and outer sides. The tone ring was rested on ball bearings which raised it up off the rim. Gibson also used the Mastertone brand for some acoustic and electric lap steel guitars.

Source: Gibson's Mastertone Banjos. George Gruhn & Walter Carter. Vintage Guitar Magazine. June, 2009.

Matao

Matao was a house brand of Music West Inc a chain of music store franchises from Washington to Nevada. Matao instruments included acoustic, electric and bass guitars, banjos and madolins as well as effects pedals. The instruments were made in Japan or Korea from the late 1960s until the early 1980s.

Masetti

Masetti was founded in 1900 by brothers Romolo and Primo Masetti in Modena, Italy as a plucked instrument manufacturer specialising in guitars. By the 1930s Primo's sons Renzo and Walter had joined the company. Walter's son Roberto joined in 1951 and by 1980 he was running the workshop after all the other family members had retired. In 1999, after nearly 100 years in business, the Masetti workshop was closed.

Source: Fetish Guitars (14 February 2018)

Madeira

Madeira was a Guild brand name used for imported acoustic, electric and bass guitars as well as banjos & mandolins in the 1970s and 1980s. Madeira instrumnets were made in Japan and later in Korea by Samick.

Source: Madeira catalog 1988

Luxor

Luxor was the house banjo and ukulele brand of musical instrument distributors Horenstein & Sons of New York in the 1920s. They were not manufacturers themselves but distributed Luxor branded instruments (most likely made by JR Stewart , Globe Musical , Stromberg-Voisinet and Kay) to the music trade. San Jose was Horenstein's guitar and mandolin brand.

See also: Luxor guitars.

Source: History of the American Guitar: 1833 to the Present Day. Tony Bacon. 2001

Source: Lardy's Ukulele database (23 January 2018)

Lyle

Lyle acoustic and electric guitars were made in Japan in the 1970s and distributed in the USA by L.D. Heater Music Company (Seattle) and Musical Instrument Corporation of America (Syossett, NY)

Source: Lyle guitar catalogs 1970 to 1975

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