jmmcdona - Posted - 02/05/2011:  14:32:11

---

I have a quick question for all of you Vega experts. Were all of the Pete Seeger models the SS-5 or were there others?

pastorharry - Posted - 02/05/2011:  14:48:06

---

3 models made by the original Vega company..
1. The PS-5 (Pete Seeger model-tubaphone, star in peghead.)banjohangout.org/classified/6222
2. The SS-5(folklore model-a cheaper version-no tonering, paddlehead-cheap tuners.)elderly.com/vintage/items/60U-2307.htm
3. The excel ,or Xcel model (like the Pete Seeger with blond finish and 5th string tuner moved one fret closer to the pot). frets.com/fretspages/museum/Ba...xcel.html

---

Edited by - pastorharry on 02/05/2011 15:03:02

INFP47 - Posted - 02/05/2011:  16:43:19

---

Although I've never seen any record of it in a 60's catalog, a buddy of mine has a longneck Vega with a pot labeled "Folk Ranger" which should have been on the standard neck. The pot and neck are the same as on the Folklore . Maybe Vega played "mix and match" on the labels the day his was made.

Tim

pastorharry - Posted - 02/05/2011:  17:29:07

---

"Maybe Vega played "mix and match" on the labels the day his was made."

Vega played "mix and match" with just about everything from time to time!In the 60's they were scrambling to fill long neck orders and there were some very intresting pot and neck marriages taking place.Also they made quite a few mistakes on the coveted yellow labels.

mikehalloran - Posted - 02/05/2011:  18:53:47

---

At least one SS-5 was made with the 5th string peg at the 9th fret like the Xcel.

The PS-5 could also be ordered with the Xcel features (blonde neck, Grover Rotomatics, Kroll geared 5th peg) but with the 5th peg in the standard 8th fret position. Pete Seeger and John Stewart played them. I have one, also.

mikehalloran - Posted - 02/05/2011:  19:09:39

---

jmmcdona - Posted - 02/06/2011:  09:05:55

---

Thank you. That answered my question. I've fallen in love with my Gibson RB-175, but it is promised to another so I am starting to look for a replacement. Sounds more romantic than it is. I'd like to try a Seeger, but they seem to vary wildly in price from $600 -- 3400 and I was wondering why.

---

Edited by - jmmcdona on 02/06/2011 09:07:16

Mike Casey - Posted - 02/06/2011:  13:26:47

---

I have seen a couple of Pete Seeger Vegas with the aluminum rod system neck attachment. I also have heard but never seen that they made some with the dowel stick neck attachment system? Which would be better sound wise?

drjack - Posted - 02/06/2011:  13:47:06

---

I believe that Vega switch from wooden dowel to coordinator rods in early 1962. Sound wise I prefer wooden dowels
Jack

john bange - Posted - 02/07/2011:  13:35:54

---

Bernunzio has a Martin/Vega ps5 at what seems like a fair price

Mike Casey - Posted - 02/07/2011:  15:59:06

---

There is a 1963 Vega Pete Seeger (Tubaphone tone ring) for sale on ebay... under Vega banjos. They want 4k for it.

john bange - Posted - 02/07/2011:  16:05:42

---

bernunzio.com/products/1016022
I don't know if the Martin built Vega's are as good or as valuable

vega long neck - Posted - 02/08/2011:  12:27:10

---

When I get home to my collection of banjo trivia) I post the web address for the "unofficial" history of the Seeger model. Its everal pages long and goes throygh all the permutations as Vega went up and down and changed owners. Very interesting.
The dowel rod must have gone away in 62 or 63 because my banjo is either a 62 or a 63 depending whether yo believe the seriel number or Vega (to the original owner). Supposedly a Boston Vega from the earlier 60s is a good buy and sort of stair stepped downwards for awhile after moving. I've heard the martin Vegas were a real hit or miss for a period. I have no first hand knowledge of that, just heard it and read it.

vega long neck - Posted - 02/12/2011:  12:48:45

---

Well, four days later here's the info I was looking for. According to the opening paragraph it is a selection of notes Pete Curry was collecting to write a book about the Seeger banjo and first appeared as a post on Ken Laing's 'Musicians Rendezvous' board in 2002. It's still available on the internet by googling Seeger model Vega or pretty much anything close that includes Seeger, longneck, Vega, banjo, etc. The full address on the bottom of my copy is: lazyka.com/linernotes/O...Seeger.htm

Nice information and fun to read

mikehalloran - Posted - 02/13/2011:  09:29:50

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by john bange

bernunzio.com/products/1016022
I don't know if the Martin built Vega's are as good or as valuable

---

Vega re-designed the headstock and Tubaphone ring (barbell slots) PS-5 in the late '60s and the Martin built Vegas are of the same design. Some early Martins were actually built by Vega. The only way to tell the difference is to look inside the pot. If there are Allen screws to adjust the neck ange, the banjo was made by Vega - no Allen screws, Martin made it. All used Vega metal parts and Grover or Waverly tailpieces. The tuning pegs were Elton or ODE Planets or Grover Rotomatics. The 5th pegs were usually Grover Perm-A-Tension pegs or Kroll geared.

> I've heard the martin Vegas were a real hit or miss for a period. I have no first hand knowledge of that, just heard it and read it.<

Well, your information is incorrect. Frankly, the Martin made banjos are better built as the necks are properly fit to the heel. Doesn't seem to matter - the re-designed PS-5, both Vega and Martin, seem to top out at $2,000 because they don't look the same as the famous Seeger banjos built between 1957-1967. In this case, being better built does not translate to more valuable.

IMO, the Deering is even better. Even then, I wouldn't trade one for my early '60s blondie.

mikehalloran - Posted - 02/13/2011:  09:41:17

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by vega long neck

Well, four days later here's the info I was looking for. According to the opening paragraph it is a selection of notes Pete Curry was collecting to write a book about the Seeger banjo and first appeared as a post on Ken Laing's 'Musicians Rendezvous' board in 2002. It's still available on the internet by googling Seeger model Vega or pretty much anything close that includes Seeger, longneck, Vega, banjo, etc. The full address on the bottom of my copy is: lazyka.com/linernotes/O...Seeger.htm

Nice information and fun to read

---

There are many inaccuracies on that site, none of them major. The "unique" arm rest he describes was standard issue Elton. There were three common tailpieces, two Grover and one Waverly but my favorite is this:

"[Note: I am aware that Martin did some experimenting with the Vega tone rings--such as changing the round sound holes to "dog-bone" shaped sound holes. I have no knowledge of Vega making any such changes.--PC]"

Well, all those changes were made by Vega. Thanks to the BHO, many well-documented examples have surfaced that predate the sale to Martin.

Too often, he went by Vega catalogs, not by the instruments themselves as the following:

"The early Vega Tubaphone rims were made of 7-ply maple. I have no data on rims of the earliest Pete Seeger models. But according to the 1960 catalog, the rim at that time was 5-ply. Between 1967 and 1968, the rim was changed again, to 10-ply."

My early coordinator rod PS-5 is a 7-ply rim. I have seen 10-ply but have never seen the 5-ply the catalog mentioned.