plunka5 - Posted - 11/10/2009:  07:06:13

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I was looking at the pics of Porter Church's granada five-string banjo and while I was looking at the rear of the peghead I didn't notice any line where the peghead had its "earwood" glued to the peghead to complete the shape. I tried to search the forum threads for any related post regarding my question. Were there any pre-war banjos from Gibson in their "golden years" that had a one piece neck/peghead with no "earwood" glued to the peghead. The rear of Porter Church's granada showed no signs of the earwood pieces being glued to the back of the peghead. Was a veneer piece used to cover the repair to the peghead when the tuner holes were plugged?

pics from Steve Huber's banjotown website:

http://www.huberbanjos.com/blog/?p=91

BPorter - Posted - 11/10/2009:  08:12:33

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Never seen a pre-war Granada that didn't have veneer glued to the back of the peghead to hide the "earwood" as you call it.

BPorter

uncle.fogey - Posted - 11/10/2009:  08:52:28

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I think they always had veneer. Some of them had oval and fan-shaped parquetry on the back, too.

A man wouldn't need many plastic heads in a lifetime.

plunka5 - Posted - 11/10/2009:  09:36:31

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Hi guys, and thanks for the replies. I was looking on Greg Earnest's website and found this picture of the "Douglas Ewald" PB-Granada serial #558-3 and if you look near the tuners...you'll see the line on either side of the rear of the peghead where the "ears" were glued-on to widen the peghead before its final shape...and the "Porter Church" Granada doesn't seem to have these lines...so that's why I asked if there were some pre-war Gibsons that were made with a one-piece blank with no added-on wood for the peghead shape. Look at the pic below:


Rear of the "Douglas Ewald" peghead from Greg Earnest's website

uncle.fogey - Posted - 11/10/2009:  13:40:29

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That serial number doesn't make any sense - the first number should have 4 digits. When was this supposedly made? I'd doubt its authenticity by the lack of veneer right off the bat if I was appraising it.

A man wouldn't need many plastic heads in a lifetime.

justryin2play - Posted - 11/10/2009:  13:49:22

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quote:

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Originally posted by uncle.fogey

That serial number doesn't make any sense - the first number should have 4 digits. When was this supposedly made? I'd doubt its authenticity by the lack of veneer right off the bat if I was appraising it.

A man wouldn't need many plastic heads in a lifetime.

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I was thinking some the FON #'s went 3 digits after 1937, am I mistaken ?

silvioferretti - Posted - 11/10/2009:  13:49:57

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Actually that s.n. defines that PB-Granada as a 1936 model, but Joe Spann might want to chime in here. The absence of the back veneer on the peghead is actually kinda strange, but that neck is obviously original. Or so it seems to me...

"If you're gonna have a vice, try to find one that will keep you outta jail and maybe alive a little longer" - Alvin Youngblood Hart.

Silvio Ferretti http://www.scorpionmusic.com
http://www.redwinemusic.net

plunka5 - Posted - 11/10/2009:  14:16:42

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Thanks Silvio and uncle.fogey! I wasn't aware that most pre-war Granadas had a veneer to cover the rear of the peghead. Greg Earnest pointed that out as well on his MOST excellent website: www.earnestbanjo.com . The following pic is from his website and shows the rear of TB-Granada #9557-9 which also has the export stamp on the rear of the peghead. Thanks guys, learn something on this site every time I visit!!!

Rear of #9557-9 TB-Granada




Which brings me to the second part of my original question...were there any pre-war Gibson banjos in the double-cut or fiddle style pegheads made with a one-piece neck blank, and was the reason for not doing so because of warpage?

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Edited by - plunka5 on 11/10/2009 15:08:50

Bill Rogers - Posted - 11/10/2009:  16:38:50

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The reason for the "ears" was cost. You could get more non-ear blanks out of a billet, and that was worthwhile to a cost-conscious company. It was easy enough to find scraps for the "ears." Notice who the grain typically doesn't match on the "ears" and the peghead proper.

Bill

plunka5 - Posted - 11/10/2009:  17:03:19

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Thanks Bill, did not know for sure.

silvioferretti - Posted - 11/11/2009:  00:32:47

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Michael, I don't understand your question: "were there any pre-war Gibson banjos in the double-cut or fiddle style pegheads made with a one-piece neck blank, and was the reason for not doing so because of warpage?"

AFAIK all Gibson banjo necks have always been made from a one-piece blank (plus ears), quarter-sawn (vertical grain, that is), and in the '20s and '30 they had wood that was so old and dry that they had very few problems with warpage, if any. Other builders did use multi-piece blanks for stability purposes, but I think they did so because originally they built necks without a truss rod, so warpage could have been a problem. Re peghead ears, warpage is rarely an issue with pegheads...

"If you're gonna have a vice, try to find one that will keep you outta jail and maybe alive a little longer" - Alvin Youngblood Hart.

Silvio Ferretti http://www.scorpionmusic.com
http://www.redwinemusic.net

2many5s - Posted - 11/11/2009:  20:43:46

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Bill is correct. More necks could be made from less wood. If you save that ear width in two or three neck billets (by cutting the blank straight, then gluing the ears on, then shaping) you get another piece wide enough for another neck.

I would bet that all of them (pw Gibson necks) had ears and the upper level models had a thin veneer on the back to cover them. On the front, they were covered (of course) by the pear wood peghead veneer.

Most neck makers will do that for you nowadays, if you ask. I know Frank Neat will. Also, when making custom modern repro necks, I doubt the economy of blanks is as a critical as in the Great Depression (First one).