noseflute.org: Humanatone - Part III : the Gretsch metal era

Dec 22, 2011

Humanatone - Part III : the Gretsch metal era

Sequel of the posts :
Humanatone - part I : the metallic era
Humanatone - part II : the Gretsch plastic era

One of the rarest industrial nose flute to be seeked by the collector is undoubtedly the japanese Humanatone. It surely was a Gretsch Mfg Co. instrument, according to the packaging design and the fact the owner of the brand was Gretsch, but it was produced in Japan and there is no mention of another brand that « Humanatone ». It probably dates from the 50s and/or the 60s.

The instrument is a Humanatone made in plated tin, with a shape quite similar to the american plastic one, but with some light differences, partly due to the way of producing it.
The packaging used the exact graphic chart of its american cousin, but was simply inserted on a card, and not packed in a box.

The instrument in itself is absolutely gorgeous. It is made of nickel or chrome plated tin. The way it was produced is interesting. Two plates had been stamped and cut, corresponding to the shield on one hand, and the nose cap and duct cover on the other. Then both pieces were soldered together, and nickel/chrome plated. What's interesting is the way the instrument is cut in 2 parts : with the antique nose flutes, the nose cap was part of the shield plate. Here, the nose cap is the continuation of the air duct cover.

The japanese Humanatone is deprived of "true tremolo" hole, and has a shape lightly different from the plastic 50s model and, for sure, from the current plastic production by Trophy Music Co., notably by a smaller mouth hole.