Marxophone

A what? This is another instrument from my small collection of catalog-sold hybrid instruments from the '30's and '40's. I found this instrument in an antique store in Moss Landing (right in the middle of the Monterey Bay area) and purchased it for $35. It even came in the original box with some sheet music. The box labeled this instrument as a mando-guitar, because the lead weighted hammers vibrated on the strings when hit like the double-picking sound of a mandolin.

Each hammer, when played with the fingers of the right hand, struck pairs of strings (again like a mandolin), and you could strum chords with the left hand at the same time.

There is actually a famous recording where you can hear this unique instrument. Think back to a little after the "Summer of Love," around 1967 or 1968, and Jim Morrison of the Doors singing, "Show Me the Way to the Next Whiskey Bar." That instrument you hear between each line is the Marxophone.