Anybody out there know anything about them??? Small 12-fret body, black front, natural (birch ply?) back & sides, brass frets, generic 30s National clone cover plate... The two wedge/dots motifs on the upper bout are proper cut-out holes; the cone is the smaller 8" diameter type. And it sounds very nice!
Why don't you bring it along to the Stamford guitar festival next week and ask some of the folks who exhibit old instruments? I'll be bringing the strange woodbody, just to see if anyone has any mmore ideas about it! Stamford's not too far from sunny St Albans is it?
Stella /Harmony 'Domino' Rersonator Guitar 1950 Great looking, good sounding little guitar with a biscuit cone. Black top with natural birch sides and back. Replacement top binding and a few minor patches in the back veneer. Extremely rare.
RJ
« Last Edit: May 30, 2008, 02:18:04 PM by rjtwangs »
Interested in the 1950 dating... Possibly earlier? A lot of the Shireson-type cover plates seem to be found on 30s/40s instruments, and the 12-fret body is a bit of an anachronism. The cone/biscuit/saddle setup is virtually identical to my 1941 National Havana. On the other hand, Stella seemed still be to producing not entirely dissimilar, though more conventionally appointed 12-fret models some years later?
Rjtwangs: mine is actually the ex-Fretdancer guitar, with my sound sample now on their site. So the search for close relatives continues... There appears to be no family relationship with.e.g. Le Domino ukes/guitars or the later electric Domino guitars. Thanks to all of you guys for your much appreciated research!