"Taylor of Liverpool" Born in Retford, Nottinghamshire, to a father who was a sadle and harness maker he initially became a Gun Smith and in 1881 aged 23 he was living in Leeds Yorkshire. The 1891 census shows Walter Taylor at 142 Kirkdale Road, Liverpool, banjo maker and twenty years later with his wife and son as 'assistants in business' Examples of his innovative metal working as well as wood working skills, clearly learned in the Gun Smith trade are evident in his unique instruments. Research courtesy of John Bolton Images of the interesting fretless Taylor banjo courtesy of Richard Evans Imagest of another courtesy of Vic Wilcox both with all metal pots next maker Walter Taylor 1858 -

In 1881 Thomas William Fowle is recorded as an Instrument Maker in Pheasant Road, Rocherster, Kent and zither banjos by him have occasionally come onto the market. 10 years later he had moved to 143 King Street and he moved again to 4 King Street Rochester in 1911 when he was widowed. An Edward J Fowle, possibly a relation was both a musician and teacher working out of 11 Union Street, in nearby Chatham, Kent in 1891. TW Fowle c1846-c1920 next maker

... of 344 Broome Street, New York, N.Y. advertised thenselves as “Manufacturer of High Grade Musical Instruments.” including “Puntolillo’s Famous Banjos”. The were granted a patent on designs for a Tone Chamber in the early 1920's ( June 2nd 1920 ). See Majestic Guitars for more information on this maker Pictures courtesy of Anthony Marchitelli Gaetano Fransisco Puntolillo 1880 .. next maker

In the June issue of “The Cadenza” it notes that EN Guckert, of Toledo, Ohio is the owner of the Union Music Co, “ a concern which manufacturers the ‘Duplex” banjos and publishes chord books for stringed instruments. Guckert wrote and published a chord book in 1919 and 2 years later this was followed by a tenor-banjo chord method, but it is doubtful when he actually manufactured instruments. Duplex Do you have a banjo by this maker? can you supply us some images? next maker

... of New York City was a banjo-making associate of Charles Morrell around about the 1860’s. Together they went to California during the boom times after the gold rush of 1849. Jan 2014: The attached pictures are from a banjo which is currently under investigation further information to come. Pictures courtesy of Bill Emery Thomas W Bree next maker

From about 1850 the Dobson brothers in America had as much to do with the keeping up of interest in the banjo as anyone. .. except perhaps SS Stewart. As performers, teachers and instrument makers their names became household words wherever the instrument was played even touring the UK in the 1860s. Charles Edgar Dobson was the inventor of the “closed back” banjo based on a design by Henry, which was awarded first prize at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. The instrument can justifiably be claimed as the forerunner of the closed back zither banjo invented by Temlett and perfected by Cammeyer . It should be noted that Temlett’s close back banjo patent application was never granted. Charles E Dobson 1839 to 1910 next maker

During the dance-band boom of the early 1920s Hawkes & Co. of London marketed banjos bearing their name, these instruments were made for them by J.G. Abbott & Co. In 1930 the firm was incorporated with Boosey & Co. to become Boosey & Hawkes Ltd. Hawkes & Co. Do you have a pre 1940's banjo by this maker? can you supply us some images? next maker

In 1897 Messrs Rettburg and Lange took over the factory and banjo making plant of JH Buckbee and established a factory at 383 Second Avenue, New York City. By 1903 they had moved to 115-121 East 13th Street and from this address in 1908 they announced the production of their “Orpheum” range of banjos. Three years later they were able to announce that increasing business had made then seek even larger premises at 225-227 East 24th Street. In January 1915 they advertised their “Brass Band Orpheum” – an new banjo with 29 frets (to high G) . The neck on this instrument was joined to the hoop at the 20th fret with a fret board extension over the velum carrying the extra 9 frets. July 1918 saw the debut of the “Orpheum Plectrum banjo” and a new 5 string with a long fifth string tuned to an octave below the third string (this banjo was similar to the Vega banjo Brent Hayes had played for some years). It was in August 1920 that the company was granted a US patent for its new “Paramount” banjo and this new instrument (designed by William L Lange) made its first appearance in 1921. In 1922 William took over sole control of the company and changed the title to Wm L Lange. In September of that year he announced (as “successor to Rettberg & Lange) six styles of the “Paramount” banjos. “Paramount” banjos became world famous and were much sought after by all the leading dance-band players. The five spacious floors at East 24th Street accommodated over 250 workers making banjos and included its own plating shop. It was during this period that Wm D Bowen tested all banjos leaving the factory. In November 1922 Lange made what was said to be the World’s largest banjo. It was for the Paul Whiteman orchestra and is said to have cost $500. The instrument weighed 35 pounds and was five feet long. The hoop was 24” in diameter and the neck 3 feet long and was playable! In the early part of 1925 the Lange factory bought out a cheaper model instrument with the name of “Langstile” and this incorporated a resonator made of metal and mahogany. Such was the demand for this cheaper instrument that it was produced at a second factory located in Brooklyn where instruments (notably the “Challenger” and the “Artcraft” range) were also made for other manufacturers and retailers to sell. All manufacturing ceased in 1939. The Challenger Melody King and the Challenger Victory were both manufacctured by William Lange the builder of Paramounts, Orpheums, Langstiles, Langecraft, Broadcraft and many more for various stores. The Melody King model was a bottom end professional level model which sold for $135 in the late 20's, $5 more than a Paramount A. Langstile Tenor models, sometimes with a Supertone name were made for Sears by Lange. Images courtesy of Vincent Hadus W M Lange next maker

During the period 1860 to 1890 reference is found in American Publications to a Mr Landers of Spring Street in New York as being “well and favourably known as a banjo maker” but nothing further is known about this maker or the instruments he made. Landers Do you have a pre 1940's banjo by this maker? can you supply us some images? next maker

Arthur Tilley 1847 to 1921 next maker Arthur Tilley's family were dairy farmers and horse dealers in Surbiton, Surrey. He was introduced to the banjo in early boyhood by a friend bringing one to his home on a wet evening. The two boys amused themselves with the crude 7-string instrument in a harness room and as the banjo could not be taken away because of the pouring rain, Tilley had it in his possession until the next time his companion visted them. In the meantime he taught himself the three chords in C and, in addition, had picked up enough to make his friend jealous and take the instrument away in high dudgeon. Having been bitten by the "banjo bug" and having no chance to buy an instrument, the young Tilley set to and made one. His interest in the banjo gradually increased and after hearing Huntley & Lee (of the Haverly Minstrels) play at a private recital in 1881, he discarded his 7-string home-made "tub" banjo and made himself a more modern five-string model which was the start of his venture into commercial banjo making. The census of that year has him as a "painter, musician & vocalist" He established a workshop for making banjos and in 1884 was granted a patent for a banjo with a flange to take the tension brackets instead of the conventional shoes, preceding Temlett by four years in this connection. At first Tilley banjos had only 16 frets (more than sufficient at the time) but when he became a recitalist at various concerts and exhibitions, in which he played solos of his own composition "in keys considered impossible on the banjo," he found the need for the full complement of frets and fitted them to all his instruments. He was awarded a First Prize Medal for his banjos at the Inventions Exhibition, Kensington, in 1885, and a year later he organised a group of six players who toured the whole of England and did much to advertise his banjos. Tilley was one of the first in England to use a plectrum on the banjo. With Jack Thomas, Dick Edmunds and Arthur Creswick and calling themselves "The Riverside Quartet." they used to go on the river in a boat on summer evenings and play waltzes composed by Tilley in single-note four-part harmony which was most effective. Later they appeared at concerts professionally and packed whatever hall they appeared in. This success led to Jack Thomas starting "The Stavordales" (q.v.). In 1889 Arthur Tilley started to make zither-banjos and in that year filed a patent for a zither-banjo in which the lower half of the hoop was made of wood and the upper half ("being called a bezel or cap") was of metal. By 1894 his entire output was zither-banjos and it was said he exported to every corner of the world. In 1892 he had an accident with a lathe when a drill struck his eye and permanently impaired his sight, but Tilley zither-banjos continued to be made in their hundreds until the outbreak of World War I, while he was still living in Surbiton ( the 1911 census shows him incorrectly bourn in 1850) Shortage of materials at the time appears to have forced him to give up the manufacture, for in 1918 he was working in an aeroplane factory. His instruments were always well made and have always been highly prized. Images courtesy of Keith Knight

Arthur O Windsor 1858 to 1938 As a young man, Arthur Octavius Windsor acquired a thorough knowledge of wood and metal working and by 1887 had a small factory in Birmingham for the making of coffin 'furniture'. He played the banjo as a hobby and when the instrument started to become universally played he made some instruments after his own design. He had his own bench in a corner of his factory where he fashioned the instruments that carried his name as maker. His banjos proved popular and in three years he had set up an instrument factory in Newhall Street and was employing a staff of twenty-five, all making banjos. Very soon his range of instruments included most of the fretted instruments. He made the first mandolin-banjo with a back built up of separate segments and in 1893 took out a patent to use the same method for the backs of zither-banjos, although he continued to use one-piece backs on his cheaper models. At school, Arthur had been called 'Castle' and he adopted the silhouette of Windsor Castle as a trade mark and called his premises in Newhall Street 'Castle Works'. (In addition to the 94 Newhall Street factory, he had sawmills and a wood-working plant in Mott Street). In the early days, Windsor tested every instrument before it left the factory. In March 1892 he teamed up with Arthur J.Taylor, a prominent Birmingham teacher ( who taught Olly Oakley ) and player of the banjo and the firm of Windsor & Taylor came into being. ( Oakley was working in Taylor's shop at this time so this employment came to an abrupt end and Oakley went to work for Joseph Riley where he sold Windsor & Taylor banjos ) Taylor had begun to teach the banjo in 1881 and had first met Windsor in 1885 whilst trying to find a good banjo of English make to sell to-his pupils. They-did business together for some time before entering into a deed of partnership. It was at this time the firm started to make open-back banjos. In January, Windsor & Taylor organised the Birmingham B.M. & G. Orchestra which gave its first public concert in March of that year. These concerts became regular affairs (at which the leading soloists of the day appeared) and the orchestra also visited such places as Coventry, Leamington, Liverpool, London etc. Windsor and Taylor entered the publishing field and this, coupled with the public appearances of A.O.Windsor and A.J.Taylor (both of whom were first-class banjo soloists), did much to publicise the instruments they made and a studio was set aside for him in the factory to enable him tocarry onwith his teaching activities. The fact that Oakley changed to zither banjo and was playing a 'Windsor' did much to boost sales. Unlike other manufactures of the day, every part of the instruments made by Windsor & Taylor were fashioned in the Newhall Street factory, including all the metal parts used. The latter were always 'non-standard' so that a replacement could only be purchased from them. 1896 the firm published a 50-page booklet How a Zither-Banjo is Made. Given away free of charge it helped sell the instruments which were already a household name. In 1901, Taylor left the firm and then the title became Arthur O. Windsor. He had a stand at the British Industries Fair, White City, London, which was most impressive and did much to make the Windsor products known to overseas buyers. In 1928 Windsor brought out his famous 'hollow arm' zither-banjo with its revolutionary resonator-type back. Windsor made instruments for other firms and would copy any design or model. They also supplied many of their cheaper stock instruments branded with the retailer's name as maker. The firms range of banjos, zither-banjos, banjolins and mandolin-banjos was wide because, they offered a large discount on catalogue prices, their lower-priced instruments became known in the trade as 'pawnshop banjos'. These instruments could always be found in pawnshops throughout the country where they would be offered for sale for as much as 50%, below the catalogue price. The firm ceased to exist in December 1940, two years after Windsor had died, when the factory was destroyed in an air raid. Up to that time Windsor was probably the largest maker of fretted instruments ever known in this country. The output of the Newhall Street factory in Birmingham must have been into many thousands of instruments each year. next maker

In 1960 the Ode Company, Mariposa Avenue, Boulder, Colorado was founded by Charles Ogsbury, a young engineering student of Colorado. It announced its entry into the banjo making field with a range of 5-string and long necked banjos ranging in price from $72-$86. These instruments quickly gained favour with folk and bluegrass enthusiasts and before long a far greater range of instruments, including plectrum-banjos, was being produced. When the firm moved to Boulder, Colorado in 1964 they also used the name “Muse” and identical instruments were sold under both brand names, Ode being given style letters and Muse style numbers. i.e. “Ode style B” and “muse style 5” were the same banjo at the same price of $295. The main difference being that Ode was purchased direct from the manufacturer and Muse supplied only through dealers. In October 1966 it was announced that the Baldwin Piano and Organ Company of Cincinnati, Ohio had bought the Ode Company and all instruments produced in the Boulder factory would be marketed under the Baldwin name through its guitar division and Charles Ogsbury was retained as a consultant. Images courtesy of Gruhn Guitars Ode & Ome next maker