Hello, Bandmaster Barons.
This is a report on Bandmaster harmonicas.
Bandmaster harmonicas were made by
C. A. Seydel Sohne, in Untersachsenberg,
Saxony (today's Klingenthal), from 1898 to
1946; made by Vermona (German Democratic
Republic-state-owned), 1953-'64; and Seydel
from 1991-circa 2000(?).
The early Seydel Bandmasters (circa 1898-1929)
were made in tremolos, octave harps and single reed
diatonics, in several sizes and a few different keys.
The octave harps had leather valves.
To avoid being bought by Hohner, Klingenthal's largest
harmonica makers merged from 1929 through 1933.
F.A. Rauner, F.A. Bohm, and C.A.Seydel Sohne couldn't
agree on how to run the merger, and dissolved the company
in 1933. It's unknown if Seydel made Bandmaster slide
chromatics in that era, but they certainly made slide harps
starting in the late 1930s, with the Boomerang model
chromatics, made for the Australian market.
Seydel was taken by the GDR without monetary pay in
1946, and merged in the VEB ("state-owned") Klingenthaler
Harmonika Werke's former F.A. Rauner factory, with the
Bohm and Rauner companies.
BANDMASTER GDR
In 1950, The KHW merged with the VEB Vereinigte
Mundharmonikawerke, and in 1953, the VMH changed it's
name to VERMONA. From 1953-'64, Vermona made
harmonicas, including bass harps, 48-chord harmonicas
tremolos, octave harps, single reed diatonics and slide
chromatics.
In 1964, the Vermona company was re-installed into
the KHW, where it existed until 1990, in a few models.
The KHW was sold back to the Seydel family in 1991.
Seydel resumed production of Bandmaster single reed
diatonics until circa 2000(?).
Best Regards
John Broecker, SNB
