1933 Paramount Guitar Style D

In the 1930s, the banjo was fading as a force in popular music and many companies were making guitars with banjo necks in an attempt to keep sales up. This particular instrument is perhaps the weirdest one to emerge from that period. Paramount, one of the leading banjo builders of the time, came up with the idea of making a guitar with a banjo-like resonator and hired Martin to build them. The idea was to make an instrument that had the punch and power of a banjo and the mellower tone of the guitar. Their efforts were basically successful and this guitar/banjo hybrid is simultaneously loud and sweet. Sadly, the world was not very interested in such a thing and Martin only made about 30 of them for Paramount.  More details »



See examples of the Paramount Guitar Style D's ancestor, the Tenor Banjo »