1924 TB Banjo - Gibson - The Real Deal - (Cantonment) - Opportunity for sale in Pensacola, FL
For sale! Here is what I can tell you: If the instrument came with the springs and ball bearings - they are likely on/in this instrument. Instrument History: My father Gearld Downey recieved this instrument in 1955 when it was shipped from my grandmother in Iowa to my father in California after the passing of G. L. Downey who appears to be the second owner/player. It has been preserved in an air conditioned home since that time and not played since the 40's or 50's - except for me tinkering around and attempting to play this year. I inherited the instrument about 10 years ago - kept the instrument in a constant air conditioned home. Prior to 1955 - The instrument was owned and played by G. L. Downey. First owner was Bob Robinson - 1927 - from what I can tell on the inside of the drum. Here is what I know about the physical instrument Head to Toe:1925 TB-4-Looking at the serial number lists I could find on the internet - I don't see another instrument TB-4 in 1925. There are some TB-3's. -Violin style pegboard with the Mastertone Mother of Pearl on the pegboard - specific to 1925 - 1st year of manufacture of Mastertone. -Comet tuners for the strings-Mahogony neck-Fingerboard appears to be Brazillian Rosewood - I'm not sure. The mother of pearl inlays in fingerboard are the Hearts and flowers design - obvously hand laid mother of pearl -. The Hearts and flowers down the fingerboard are indicitive of the Style - 4 = the higher end Banjo of 1925. There are 19 frets - typical of the tenor - hence the Tenor Banjo " TB" Nick named " Toy Banjo" Thus we have TB-4 - Apparently the tenor design was built for more sound output to penetrate larger audiences. -The Resonator is Mahogony - there are some minor scratches and the laquer shows minor cracking from age - it is not shiny new. The Back of the resonator has the two concentric rings = two white lines flanking each black pinstripe ring. -The bridge over the arch top drum is produced by Grover - don't know if this is the original or possibly replaced. -The flange is two piece and produced by Presto. The Presto flange is scratched on the bottom - but remains in good condition for play. -The Drum appears to be the original skin in great condition - with wear from play. Arch Top style. -The Resonator ring is 60 holes, and as far as I can tell - all the ball bearings and springs are intact. - Arch Top-The Instrument appears to be nickle coated as obvious at the bottom instrument guard which shows what looks like a brass base metal. -The Stamped wood body has Seriel number 8103-17-It does have the inscriptions of previous players signatures. I assume these were the owners - all pre-war. The last two owners - my dad and myself = we did not play nor sign the drum. BEST OF ALL - The sound is beautiful. It is crisp and energetic. I am by no means an expert of the banjo. But I do have classical violin music training from 20 years ago. This instrument sounds great. CALL: xyz-XX(phone)-xyz X-22-xyzxyz ( tao avoid Spam Calls)Location: Cantonment Still available at ListedBuy!
|
|
 |