George Houghton & Sons
the Marvel

A Pre-Loved Banjolele from the George Houghton & Sons, (GH&S), factory. This one is "The Marvel" which was the bottom of the range. It was even suggested that the Vellum use was goat skin not calfskin!!

It has a Birch neck that doesn't show the age and a Chrome encased wood body, I don't know how old it is but the factory closed in 1962 so it must be earlier than that. It plays Ok, I have sanded down the bridge to lower the action. It sounds better played gently than hard and with the open back how you hold it against yourself makes a difference too.

I didn't think the tuners on the Banjolele were the original ones and I didn't like them, they seemed to hold the strings too high to go properly over the nut? So I replaced them with a better set but stuck with friction tuners. I have since seen some other GH&S Banjoleles with the same tuners on, oh well I've still got the original set and could put them back on but I still prefer the new ones so I won't for the moment.