By the way, you've now seen all three surviving Weymann harp guitars (one labeled, two "attributed to").

After a couple years (of nagging; Kerry's always overloaded), the initial repairs were done and I was able to see the (almost-finished) restoration.  Kerry had repaired the multiple cracks, done the bridge, neck resets, finish touch up, etc., and while apart, also beefed up the neck block, soundhole reinforcement, ladder bracing and bridge plate - as we wanted to make sure this would play while staying in one piece.

Let's take a quick look (sorry, the solid Brazilian rosewood back and sides still did not photograph well enough):

The one problem with expert guitar builders working on some of these vintage instruments is convincing them to "do a crappy job."  It's anathema to them.  But that's what this one required.  We had long talks about how far to take the inlay repair.  Missing pieces were not the real issue, nor consistency (the job required a certain sloppiness to match the original).  She explained that the symmetry would need to be the key goal, as that would be the giveaway.  I'm sure it drove Kathy crazy, but in the end, it looks nicely blended in and "historical." 

The fingerboard inlay now looked about as bright as it may have when new (the fingerboards being of course unfinished)...

...but the beautiful headstock inlay – all but invisible under the thick dark, colored, aged shellac – was now bothering me.  The lovely 3-piece Brazilian rosewood veneer also had a lot of finish issues, wear and discoloration.

So I decided to take it to French polish whiz, Richard Reynoso, a classical guitar builder, and occasional restorer for me (who had conveniently moved to much closer Hollywood since I had last seen him).

Again, it pained him to have to do a less-than-perfect job.  But we were forced with the reality of the very obviously worn and repaired and blemished spruce top as our "model."  Of course, his job was was still way too gorgeous, and we had to hit it with pumice to dull and scratch it enough for my liking.

Hey, I could finally string it up!

Though Kerry made sure it could handle full steel strings, I tried silk & bronze on the neck, and extra-light phosphor bronze (tensioned roughly to the equivalent s&b) for the 12 subs, tuned like the original Gibson (Eb on down, chromatically).

It sounds wonderful, but not fantastic.  The sub-basses are perfectly cavernous, but the high neck strings (as so often on these ladder-braced harp guitars) are a bit weak.  As it turned out, Kerry probably went a bit farther than necessary to strengthen the top.  It would have been great to hear it at least once with all-original construction (just before implosion!).  As the top isn't moving much, I'll probably beef up the strings a bit and see what happens.

Incidentally, dimensions on this are: Body: 21.5" x 18.5" wide x 4.75" deep; 25" scale; 43" overall length.

...and, that's about it.  Seriously, very little information has been written on this Philadelphia manufacturer.  The Music Trade Review Archives are probably worth searching more in-depth (the hits consist largely of a repeating ad).  In the March 20, 1920 issue, there's a nice profile that names those involved at the end.

Today the Philadelphia pioneer in small musical instruments and musical merchandise is the firm of H. A. Weymann & Son.  Harry W. Weymann is at present the head of this firm, and for thirty-six years he has been actively engaged in promoting the manufacture and sale of musical instruments, and prior to that time—from 1864—his father, Henry A. Weymann, conducted the business, which he had established.  Harry W. Weymann says: "We have always advocated the higher grade of musical instruments, and I have made several important inventions in recent years, including the Weymann-Keystone State mandolute, the tone amplifier for banjos, etc., and the neck adjuster, which is used exclusively on the Weymann-Keystone State mandolins and banjos. "These instruments have gained a reputation among the professional players and are handled by all the leading houses from the Pacific to the Atlantic Coast. There are many specialties for which the Weymann firm are having a very large demand, such as the Keystone State strings for all instruments, and the Three-Star violins. "Our sales of musical instruments more than doubled during 1919 over any previous year in the history of the house. We attribute this demand to many causes—the music that was introduced into the soldiers' camp life being one of the many. While our factory force has been greatly increased recently, and with the introduction of improved machinery we have been able to greatly increase our production, yet the demand during the past year has been far greater than the output.  "It has always been the policy of the Weymann house during the more than half a century of its existence never to try and compete with other manufacturers making cheaper goods, our prime object being at all times to maintain a high standard of quality and gain a reputation for making the highest class musical instruments possible. That this policy has won out is conclusive proof through the great success this house has achieved.  Associated with Mr. Weymann in the business is his brother, Albert C. Weymann; his two sons, H. Power Weymann and Herbert W. Weymann, and his sister, Mrs. E. C. Mullen.

A 1913 issue mentions yet another Weymann, William, "who is in charge of the factory."

Their claim to fame are their banjos, mainly the highly decorated tenors of the '20s and '30s (all rare, with a nice archive here).  Of their even rarer guitars, Frank Ford once wrote "Weymann was one of the great banjo producers in Philadelphia...although they did venture into guitars, mandolins and ukes. All Weymann instruments were characterized by exceptionally fine woodworking, fit and finish."  Three Weymann catalogs at Vintage Axe (1928, 1931 and 1937) show a few standard 6 string guitars, an F-hole “Hawiian” with extension nut, the "Jimmy Rodgers" model, and finally archtops, along with their more common mandolins called "mandolutes."  No harp guitars, although that's expected at this late date.

So when were the harp guitars made?  The general workmanship, combined with the friction tuners and inclusion of a full twelve sub-basses points to early (1900's), yet if the inlay matches later Weymann (or Stewart or Ludwig) banjos, that points to the 'twenties.  I found just a couple clues in The Music Trade Review:

From the Oct 11, 1913 issue, 

Harry W. Weymann, in charge of the small goods department of the house, as well as the manufacturing end, notes that business has kept up remarkably well. They are making a special window display during the past week on the Weymann mandolutes, taking in all the sizes used in the quartet, also the new four-ply curly maple wood rim Weymann mandolutes, the twelve-string contra base (sic) Weymann guitars and the Keystone State mandolutes, all of their exclusive manufacture.

And from Dec 20, 1913: 

"The house has just placed on the market an extra large contra bass guitar with twelve strings, and which retails at $60."

Sadly, this doesn't help us at all, as the two known "models" have 13 strings and 18 strings (the two MTR articles are almost certainly referring to a 6-sub-bass harp guitar).  Neither does the 1913 text suggest that this was the first, or just another new harp (contra-bass) guitar.

My double neck is on the right

So there you have it.  An unbelievably ornate harp guitar "attributed to" H. A. Weymann & Son, nicely restored and resurrected.  Whether I find my "smoking gun" provenance or not, I'm pretty convinced...and just honored to be its current custodian!