Author：American Automusic Company

Category：Entertainment

Year：20th century

Size：Length:63.3 x Width:67.4 x Height:211.8 (cm)

Place of Orgin：New York, USA

Accession Number：0002732

Introduction：If you ran a bar or restaurant in the early 20th century America and wanted to create an atmosphere that would attract customers, you only had a few options — hire a band, which would cost too much; use a music box, which would be too quiet, or use a player piano, which would still take up too much space. All of these concerns inspired Charles B. Kendall to invent this mechanical banjo. It dealt with all of these issues, and when Kendall invented the instrument, he also came up with a novel marketing idea. He applied for more than 30 patents for the new instrument and provided an affordable way for agents to lease out the instrument, making it very practical and profitable.

This mechanical banjo uses a motorized pneumatic system, which gives power to the picking device that plucks the strings, much like an actual banjo picker. The device is simple and effective in its control of the picking, making it play even faster than the most accomplished banjo picker. A paper music roll controls the pneumatic system. Every hole on the paper roll determines every pluck and press of the strings to change pitches.

Inserting coins is all that is needed to start the instrument. It adopts unmanned operation, therefore is simple to use and keeps the rate of malfunction quite low. Due to its stability and the clear, pleasant music that it produces, the Encore mechanical banjo still remains popular for all ages even today.