jacktraylor - Posted - 12/24/2010:  18:45:59

I know there is a site or rather several sites that will date a Vega by its serial number. My question is," Is there a source that will identify the model that bears that serial number?" An example being my banjo has a serial number of 42272 which indicates a 1921 production date and I am wondering if that same number will tell me to which model it was assigned and if so where might I find this information?
Thank you for your time,
jack

The Old Timer - Posted - 12/24/2010:  19:15:02

You'll be much better off posting photos of it here, plenty of good clear detailed ones, and the folks here will tell you what it is. I don't know of a site reverse linking serial #s and model names.

jacktraylor - Posted - 12/24/2010:  19:22:59

I know that my banjo is a Regent but I was curious to know if there was a source like the reverse phone directory.
Again thank you for your time
Be at peace,
Jack

mainejohn - Posted - 12/25/2010:  06:07:18

You might check with Mike Holmes at mugwumps.com. He has been compiling a list over the years as he receives the information in bits and pieces, but I believe it's far from complete.

BrittDLD1 - Posted - 12/25/2010:  08:22:03

Fairbanks and Vega banjo numbers are consecutive, and have no DIRECT
relationship to the model, or production date. (They are NOT a 'coded'
format.)

However, current thinking (thanks to Hank Schwartz) is that 999
numbers were assigned per year -- from the start, in 1880. So there
are gaps at the high end of each thousand series -- since Fairbanks
never made more that 1000 banjos year.

Hank has a key to the '999' series on his website, and it does seem
to hold true for the Fairbanks & Cole banjos -- and for the The Fairbanks
Co. banjos, up until 1904.

(Although, there was apparently a large 'jump' in the serial series in 1894,
for some reason. The Fairbanks Co. did change hands around that time --
when AC Fairbanks headed for my 'home town' of North Tonawanda, NY,
to make wooden bicycle rims... )

The Fairbanks records were destroyed in the Feb 1904 fire. After the fire,
Vega bought the rights to Fairbanks, and hired Fairbanks' Manager, David
L. Day to continue managing the line of Vega-made "Fairbanks" banjos.
But, when Vega took over -- they continued the serial series COMPLETELY
consecutively -- with no gaps from year to year.

home.comcast.net/~fairbankspag...bers.html

The Fairbanks serial number sequence was also continued, when they
re-branded the banjos "Vega" around 1920.

So... the original Fairbanks serial number series continued into the Vegas of
the 1960s (above #100,xxx). In the early-'60s a printer's error on the serial
labels dropped a digit -- and screwed-up the consecutiveness of the numbers.

Mike Holmes' Mugwumps site tracks Fairbanks serials by the approximate
'highest-known-number'. And the Vega series by estimates based on "known"
orders, purchases, and receipts. (The Vega order and shipping records have not
turned up, either.)

mugwumps.com/acf_date.htm

Best-
Ed Britt

Edited by - BrittDLD1 on 12/25/2010 08:28:41