aaronckeim
Well-known member
Just cleaning house around here and finally put together this sweet little banjo:
Up for sale, a 1920's Vega/Fairbanks banjo mandolin pot with a new five string neck.
The neck is mahogany and similar to the kit necks that are available from the saga company. 26 inch scale. 1 1/8 nut width with nice rosewood fingerboard. 17 frets and a frailing scoop. Truss rod works. Gotoh tuners in the headstock and a 5 Star 5th string tuner. Well set up and easy to play. I used the original dowel stick and one new bolt to carefully attach it to the old rim.
The rim is a 1920's Vega/Fairbanks banjo mandolin pot with a serial number in the 47xxx range. At 10 3/8 diameter, it is small and lightweight. The rim was missing it's original brass tone ring, so I rolled a new one and popped it in. Nice calfskin head with plenty of room to tighten more. 22 original hooks and nuts. New No Knot tailpiece. New bridge. New 2 ply mahogany flat resonator. The original tension hoop has some old holes and solder under the tailpiece from when it was a banjo mandolin. There is a crack in the outside veneer of the pot near the tailpiece, but is glued up and does not go through the pot. It is only surface.
How does it sound? The smaller rim, brass tone ring, small resonator and lightweight mahogany neck combine to make a poppy and zingy old time tone with nice sustain. Great for frailing, old time finger picking, song accompaniment and for any time a smaller, lighter banjo is needed.
Up for sale, a 1920's Vega/Fairbanks banjo mandolin pot with a new five string neck.
The neck is mahogany and similar to the kit necks that are available from the saga company. 26 inch scale. 1 1/8 nut width with nice rosewood fingerboard. 17 frets and a frailing scoop. Truss rod works. Gotoh tuners in the headstock and a 5 Star 5th string tuner. Well set up and easy to play. I used the original dowel stick and one new bolt to carefully attach it to the old rim.
The rim is a 1920's Vega/Fairbanks banjo mandolin pot with a serial number in the 47xxx range. At 10 3/8 diameter, it is small and lightweight. The rim was missing it's original brass tone ring, so I rolled a new one and popped it in. Nice calfskin head with plenty of room to tighten more. 22 original hooks and nuts. New No Knot tailpiece. New bridge. New 2 ply mahogany flat resonator. The original tension hoop has some old holes and solder under the tailpiece from when it was a banjo mandolin. There is a crack in the outside veneer of the pot near the tailpiece, but is glued up and does not go through the pot. It is only surface.
How does it sound? The smaller rim, brass tone ring, small resonator and lightweight mahogany neck combine to make a poppy and zingy old time tone with nice sustain. Great for frailing, old time finger picking, song accompaniment and for any time a smaller, lighter banjo is needed.
