![]() ![]() Born in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1900, Smeck gained notoriety in the 1920s on the vaudeville circuit as well as on radio. This Vita-Uke is a bit worn in but a very good player, complete with the even rarer original heavy chipboard case. From the Fall 2014 issue of Ukulele BY MARCY MARXER A visionary player on the ukulele, guitar, tenor banjo, and lap-steel guitar, the vaudeville performer Roy Smeck certainly earned his nickname Wizard of the Strings. There are a couple of well-sealed back cracks, quite solid but visibly touched-up. This arrangement comes courtesy of another Ukulele sensation: Ukulelezaza. The back shows some scuffs and scrapes as well, and the bridge has been visibly reglued. An enchanting melody from ukulele virtuoso Roy Smeck. Also a fine guitarist and banjo player, Smeck later in life became a music teacher based in New York City. Nice original condition overall with no alterations but some average wear, most visibly into the top finish from strumming near the fingerboard down over the "seal" f-holes. Nicknamed 'the Wizard of the Strings,' Roy Smeck (1900-1994) was one of Americas top ukulele performers in the 1920s and 30s, a vaudeville player who amazed audiences with his flashy technique on records, onstage, and in films. From that great American guitar company, Harmony, with the imprimatur of the great Roy Smeck, the Eddie van Halen/Steve Vai of his day, albeit with ukuleles. (5.7 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. ![]() This is a very good-sounding instrument notwithstanding its rather eccentric design, and a good-playing example. This is still a fairly rare instrument while the Vita-Uke proved popular, not that many have survived in good playable condition. The headstock decal reads "Roy Smeck" "Vita-Uke" over a small Harmony "H" in a diamond. It measures approximately 20-1/2' long by 6-1/2' wide and 2-1/2' deep. It is a 4 string with a mahogany body and plastic fretboard. The Vita-Uke was by far the most popular, sold well into the 1930's after the rest of the line had passed into history. 1950s Roy Smeck Ukulele made by the Harmony Co in Chicago USA. The series encompassed a guitar, tenor guitar, plectrum guitar, mandolin, and ukulele all of similar eccentric design with a distinctive body outline and seal-shaped f-holes, for reasons lost to history! They all feature fancy flamed mahogany bodies with spruce tops, and the guitars had the patented Harmony Aero-Bridge, shaped vaguely like an airplane. The 1928 Roy Smeck-endorsed "Vita" line was one of Harmony's most whimsical creations, but were also fairly high-grade instruments, and the endorsement was a major promotional coup for the company. 1929, made in Chicago, natural lacquer finish, mahogany body and neck, spruce top, rosewood fingerboard, original black chipboard case. Harmony Roy Smeck Vita-Uke Model Ukulele, c. ![]()
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