LittleElvisDan - Posted - 01/25/2009:  09:55:38

NEWBE here!

My father in law passed several years and my wifes mom told us to come get all his guitars. In the pile was a banjo in its original case they thought was worthless. When i opened it up I found it was a "Super Paramount Artist Supreme" in good condition. Doing some reaserach I have found it might be valuable. I don't want to do anything to harm its value so I had some questions.

1) how clean it up? Guitar polish? Frets? etc.
2) how do I safetly take the resonator off to get to the serial numbers?

LittleElvisDan - Posted - 01/25/2009:  09:57:23

How should I store it?
Should I re-string it and store it with the proper tension on the strings?

Bill Rogers - Posted - 01/25/2009:  10:20:39

Clean carefully with Formula 409 and soft cloth. Dry it quickly. Avoid any oils. I don't know about Super Paramounts, but he old Paramounts had a couple of pivoting clips that held the resonator on. Look carefully and it should be clear how to take it off. Not a bad idea to string it up, tune it and make sure the tuners are okay. Is it a tenor (19 frets) or plectrum (22)?

Bill

burlap - Posted - 01/25/2009:  10:52:19

http://www.banjoworld.de/High147.htm

Ronnie - Posted - 01/25/2009:  10:56:26

and another link:
www.banjomuseum.org/paramount.htm

www.bobbythompsonbanjo.com

LittleElvisDan - Posted - 01/25/2009:  10:57:17

burlap, that's the one.

burlap - Posted - 01/25/2009:  11:10:31

Really nice looking banjo. Sorry I don't know what it's worth but I'd be surprised if it wasn't valuable. Definitely worth looking into!

burlap - Posted - 01/25/2009:  11:16:14

I'm sure someone in this banjo community we have here will be able to give you some idea.....there's many experts about. By the way....Welcome to the Hangout!

diarmaid - Posted - 01/25/2009:  15:30:08

lucky find!!! i love paramounts...theres a similar one for sale here http://www.mandoweb.com/13_BanjoTenorPlect.htm for $4500

the super paramounts are in my opinion some of the best sounding banjos ever made...does it have 19 or 22 frets?

personally i wouldnt bother washing it

NYCJazz - Posted - 01/26/2009:  10:36:11

diarmaid

I gotta take a trip out to Staten Island to check that out!

I've never see one of those double resonator models in the flesh!





You may have holes in your shoes, but don''t let the people out front know it. Shine the tops.
-Earl Hines

Barretone - Posted - 01/26/2009:  11:44:20

Wow, watch it with the 409. I'd only use that on metal parts -- and probably not at all. It will ruin the finish on the wood. I took some paint off my 1972 VW bus with that stuff by mistake.

Randy

LittleElvisDan - Posted - 01/26/2009:  12:27:41

I believe 21 frets But then again I am not sure which ones to count.

LittleElvisDan - Posted - 01/26/2009:  12:33:31

All the exterior metal is gold plated so I was told to NOT even try and clean it. Actually George told me to not even attempt to clean any of it.

George Gruhn is in the process of appraisint it. So far he has verified it is a 1932 original in very good shape.

I believe with the serial number being 1800 it to be the first Artist Supreme to bebuilt that year.

diarmaid - Posted - 01/26/2009:  15:05:44

Nathan, might be a good idea to bring along a wrench in case the head isnt tightenend properly...just to see what it should sound like...its like the one Harry Reser played (well one of them anyway!)

im kicking myself that i didnt get a trip to Manolin Brothers when we went to New York a year ago...never made it to where the paramount factory is yet either...ah well im sure ill be back!

LittleElvisDan that banjo is beautiful...might be worth holding onto for a year or 2, till the prices pick up again (i'd keep it to learn on personally!)

Edited by - diarmaid on 01/26/2009 15:09:07

LittleElvisDan - Posted - 01/26/2009:  17:18:12

We plan on keeping it no matter how much its worth. I have been thinking of learning how to play it. Is it a hard instrument to learn on? As a beginner that is..

NYCJazz - Posted - 01/27/2009:  11:32:49

Wonderful!

Tenor isn't hard to learn. Four strings and a fairly short scale make for an easy instrument. Also, the fact that it's tuned in fifths makes it easy to follow chord changes. Shift the chord pattern up one string and it's a 5 chord, Down one string and it's a 4 chord.

Get yourself a book & start learning the chords. This is a good one:

http://www.northernmusician.com/indextenorb.html

Buddy Wachter has lessons on video... that may be a good place to start.

My teacher, Cynthia Sayer, gives lessons over the internet via Skype.

Get records by Harry Reser, Roy Smeck, Elmer Snowden, Eddy Davis for inspiration.

Enjoy! Always glad to see another tenor player on the BHO!




You may have holes in your shoes, but don''t let the people out front know it. Shine the tops.
-Earl Hines

NYCJazz - Posted - 01/27/2009:  11:49:41

diarmaid

Just did a little research into the Paramount factory location...

225 E 24th ST, NYC

http://www.corcoran.com/property/li...ingID=893217

Not bad for under $3M, huh?

You may have holes in your shoes, but don''t let the people out front know it. Shine the tops.
-Earl Hines

diarmaid - Posted - 01/27/2009:  18:18:47

Nathan...dam someone else got in before i could get my checkbook out!!! bargain!!!

NYCJazz - Posted - 01/27/2009:  18:29:10

I would have snapped it up, but it's a dump compared to to my palatial Upper East Side digs.

Besides, I heard the condo board frowns deeply on unscrupulous musician residents!

BTW- my favorite track on that Reser Jumping Jacks cd is "Gonna Get a Girl".

I would teach children music, physics and philosophy; but most importantly music, for in the patterns of music and all the arts are the keys of learning.

~ Plato

Edited by - NYCJazz on 01/27/2009 18:35:28