KeyKord Model Tenor Banjo, made by Stromberg-Voisinet, c. 1929, made in Chicago, natural lacquer finish, laminated mahogany resonator and rim, maple neck.
"Somebody paid a lot of money to avoid learning how to play the thing" is the classic KeyKord quote! This series of instruments out of Chicago with elaborate chord-fingering machinery mounted above the fingerboard was the "next big thing" briefly in the late 1920's.
The idea was instead of fingering chords, the player pressed a little illustrated tab with the chord symbol on it, strummed, and voila! The banjo played the chord for you! While the idea would be revived more than once (as by Maccaferri in the 1950's), these remain an amusing novelty; after all, the "Guitar Hero"-style games are really the modern equivalent!
The tenor banjo was the most elaborate of the series, with a full 21 chord tabs, a pearloid headstock, decorated resonator, and tabbed Grover tuners. This one displays well but is not fully functional. An interesting piece of 1920's musical ingenuity and Americana.
Overall length is 32 in. (81.3 cm.), 11 in. (27.9 cm.) diameter head, and 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 20 in. (508 mm.).
Good cosmetic condition, but has suffered some collapse to the flange/resonator. Key mechanism appears intact, but not fully functional. A nice display piece, but not currently playable. Original Artifact. Unrestored Condition.
