Weymann Guitars is an American

manufacturing company Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ...

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...

s. Established in 1864 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Weymann is one of the oldest instrument companies in the country. Originally founded as "H. A. Weymann and Son" by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

immigrant Henry Arnold Weymann (Wegmann), Weymann patented the

mandolute The Weymann Mandolute was one of the products sold under Weymann, the Philadelphia-based brand of Weymann and Sons, established 1864. The 'mandolutes' were actually mandolins with eight strings and tuned exactly the same. The scale length is als ...

and also developed the first "Jumbo" body

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

produced during the turn of the century, nearly two decades before competitors in the instrument industry. Weymann's most notable artists include

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 196 ...

of the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers ( – ) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Country Music", he is best known for his di ...

who is considered the pioneering father of

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

. Since its inception, the company has manufactured classical, acoustic and

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

guitars,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

s, the aforementioned ''mandolute'' and

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

Early history

H. A. Weymann

H. A. Weymann (Wegmann) migrated to America in 1852, arriving in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. H. A. Weymann was naturalized in 1858. In 1864, H.A. Weymann commenced a small business and in 1865, H. A. was reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer as having an annual taxable income of $136. It has been said, H. A. Weymann's early business was in the jewelry & watch retail, along with clocks, harmonicas, sheet music, and small general retail goods. Weymann had 7 children, his first born being Harry William (H. W.) Weymann.

H. W. Weymann

When H.A. Weymann died in 1892, it was Harry who took control of the business, and retained the name business name.

Innovations

When H.A. Weymann died in 1892, his son, Harry William Weymann, took over the business. Harry was motivated and determined to build a music company, opposed to the then current, retail business. Harry set forth a plan to manufacture and wholesale his own musical instrument line and in 1894, the first evidence of Weymann's manufacturing appeared in the S.S. Stewarts Banjo & Guitar Journal. According to an article in the Fretboard Journal, there is evidence of Weymann's employing a talented luthier named Carl C. Holzapfel who had arrived from Germany. In 1899, the Philadelphia S.S. Stewart Banjo factory closed following the death of the company's founder. Harry Weymann purchased a selection of materials and equipment from the factory and hired ex-Stewart workers to further develop his manufacturing business. From late 1899 onward, H. A. Weymann began to receive significant media coverage in the Music Trade Review, along with local news press such as the Philadelphia Inquirer. From 1900 onward, Banjo production would become a large portion of manufacturing. Noteworthy, Weymann banjos from the late 1890s and early 1900s have unique traits also found in S.S. Stewart instruments.

Jerry Garcia

was the guitarist and frontman for the band

who began his career playing a mid-grade Weymann

. To acquire the instrument, Jerry and his wife used their recent wedding

cash In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins. In book-keeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-i ...

and sold all of Jerry's previous instruments to afford the banjo. Jerry and his wife nicknamed the banjo "John" as the instrument had been previously inlaid with the name "John" in its Peghead.

welcomed this unique oddity, as his middle name was also "John". Jerry played "John" up into the 60's where it was replaced with a high-end gold-plated Weymann.

Weymann Museum

In 2017, Weymann announced their plans to develop a private museum, dedicated to the preservation of Weymann estate & factory content. The Weymann collection of instruments and antiquities, span several centuries.

Patents

* ''Mandolute:'' H. W. WEYMANN. APPLICATION FILED JULY 27, 1912. 43,684. Patented Mar 4, 1913. * ''Stringed Musical Instrument:'' H. W. WEYMANN. APPLICATION FILED APR. 14, 1916. 1,215,598. Patented Feb. 13, 1917. * ''Banjo Attachment'': H. W. WEYMANN. APPLICATION FILED JUL 25. 1916. 1,312,882. Patented Aug. 12, 1919. * ''Banjo:'' USPTO Patent: 1,442,756 (expired) * ''Armrest & String Protector:'' USPTO Patent: 1,520,492 (expired) * ''Tuning Peg for Musical Instrument:'' USPTO Patent: 1,544,722 (expired) * ''Tailpiece for Stringed Musical Instrument:'' USPTO Patent: 1,615,514

References

External links

Official website
{{Mandolin family instruments Guitar manufacturing companies of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Philadelphia Manufacturing companies established in 1866 Mandolin makers