Roy Smeck

Endorsed by Smeck. It can be seen with him in this photograph.

Endorsed by Smeck. It can be seen with him in this photograph.

Endorsed by Smeck and used on a 1927 promotional tour for the instrument, as relayed by this November 23, 2016 Ukulele article.

Smeck’s growing celebrity yielded unexpected dividends. After a performance in Chicago, he was approached by Jay Krause, president of the Harmony Company—at the time, the largest manufacturer of string instruments in America. Krause asked Smeck to endorse a new line of instruments, based on the success of his Vitaphone films and recordings. Smeck agreed, but when Warners refused to let them use the Vitaphone name, Harmony came up with a clever workaround. The new instruments were called the Vita-guitar, Vita-tenor guitar, Vita-mandolin, and the instrument that introduced the series, the Vita-Uke.

First sold in June 1927, the Roy Smeck Vita-Uke had an unusual lute-like shape that was sized somewhere between a soprano and a concert ukulele. Selling initially for around $12 (about $165 in 2016), the Vita-Uke’s sides and back were crafted from gorgeous flame-figured Cuban mahogany, with a top made of close-grained spruce, all finished in hand-rubbed lacquer. Its oddest feature was twin soundholes that Harmony described as being “cut in the shape of seals, which we have found aid materially in producing the [uke’s] unusual volume and quality of tone.” Despite Harmony’s claims that Smeck had designed the Vita instruments himself, Smeck later said he didn’t: “They would show me the models that they wanted to use my name on, and I would show them the kind of [playing] action that I liked.”

To promote sales of his new Vita-Uke, Smeck embarked on a national tour in the summer and fall of 1927. Appearing in towns and cities across the Midwest and South, he performed in theaters, as well as informally at local music stores. One newspaper said of him, “He can make the ukulele sound like a whole band.” To boost sales, Harmony arranged public ukulele contests, which were held when Smeck appeared. By the end of the tour, sales of Vita-Ukes had increased dramatically and Smeck was the highest paid instrumentalist in vaudeville.

In this Youtube video you can see Roy playing his early 30´s Martin Style 1 Uke. He uses this same instrument in almost every video.

In this Youtube video Roy Smeck can be seen using a Gibson L 5. This guitar had a truss cover engraved with his name, and metal tuner buttons ornamentally engraved with the letter S.

In this Youtube video Roy can be seen playing a Gibson Roy Smeck Stage De Luxe, a hawaiian-style guitar that was intended to be played on the lap, but this one was converted to spanish mode. He found this one at a music store and he is surprised by the price, from $50 in 1930 to $700 in the 80s. This footage is from the documentary Roy Smeck: The Wizard Of The Strings (1983).