This blog is dedicated to the sublime instruments called nose flutes and which produce the most divine sound ever. We have chosen to discard all the native models from S. Pacific and Asia, for they need fingering to be played. We'll concentrate on "buccal cavity driven" nose flutes : the well patented and trademarked metal or plastic ones, plus, by a condemnable indulgence, some wooden craft or home-made productions.

Jan 16, 2014

A pack of early Grover-Trophy Humanatones

I found a pack of 12 red humanatones, probably dating of the late 60's. They were still made of injected polystyrene, and not yet moulded polypropylene, as they are nowadays. They are made of a translucent material (in fact they are the exact model shown here)



But these nose flutes are already "Trophy USA" branded (not "Gretsch" anymore, and not "Trophy Music Co." yet). They belong to the first series of Grover-Trophy Humanatones. On the back side, they mention the patent number, but no "Made in USA" as they have been doing since.

(Left: the 60's model, Right: current one):

Look and feel the different qualities of plastic :



and hear it: first the polypropylene falling on my desk, then the polystyrene :


In the bag, there were also a dozen of user manuals:


What is interesting there, is that the user manual is very similar to another red Humanatone I have, which is... a Gretsch one, with a "Trophy Music" user manual — meaning it was a transitional model (made by Gretsch, but sold by Grover) – and thus, the 12-pack is very likely from the first productions by Trophy, as stated above.

(Left: the Gretsch user manual, Right: the Trophy one):

The only differences lay in:
- the font used for the title and address lines
- the change of "take care to have the MOUTH WELL OPEN" for "
keep the MOUTH WELL OPEN"

On the nose flute side, both late Gretsch and early Trophy are identical, both in polystyrene (the Gretsch is not translucent), same font for the patent number mention, no "Made in USA"... And the only difference lays on the duct cover with a "Gretsch" mention on one hand, and "Trophy USA" on the other.





2 comments:

  1. Ergonomically the worst noseflute ever.

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    Replies
    1. Certainly! But an important actor in nose flute history! Greetings

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