Hankster2 - Posted - 12/21/2011:  15:09:25

I have two Vega conversion banjos that I am thinking about selling as a pair since they are both from 1926... my question is, do you all think that selling them together is a good idea and anybody want to estimate a value. I figure I have about $1200 in each of them. Here are the details:

Tubaphone 10 1/2" pot started out as a Vegaphone tenor. I had Gary Schattl put an "A" scale neck on it.



Whyte Laydie Style R (11 13/16 head) with a Bart Reiter neck from about 1990.

Both made in 1926!







Hank

bluegrassju

banjohangout.org/archive/197860

BaldPaul - Posted - 12/21/2011:  15:26:40

Can you show us the backs please? I'm of no help on value, I just wanna look at the purty pitchers! I bet these move fast for ya.

tdennis - Posted - 12/21/2011:  15:36:52

I see no reason to sell them together.  I would think that very few people want to buy, or could afford  two banjos at once.   ( It seems that you would only be creating a difficult sale for yourself).   Do you have the original tenor or plectrum necks ?

Edited by - tdennis on 12/21/2011 15:42:47

The Old Timer - Posted - 12/21/2011:  16:50:56

I think the big pot Whyte Laydie will sell much faster than an A scale Tu Ba Phone. Don't link the two together to sell them, or they might not sell.

BTuno - Posted - 12/21/2011:  16:51:22

I have one of each as well, and priced well, they will sell; probably separately is best.   But must say that's the first time I've seen 'Holy Grail' used

for such instruments.   For 5 string, open back banjos, usually the term is reserved for 'Pre-fire" Whyte Laydie No.7, Tubaphone Deluxe, or Bacon Chubby Dragon banjos.  

Good Luck with your sale!   

mikehalloran - Posted - 12/21/2011:  17:13:34

A "holy grail" Tubaphone or WL has the correct 27" scale on a 10 15/16" pot if made after 1909 (before that, Fairbanks was not consistent). HG is used on a Style 7 or 9, generally although a really nice Flowerpot Style 3 or Gryphon Style 2 if earlier than mid 1910 when the metal plate was discontinued.

The correct scale for the 10 1/2" pot is 26". The correct scale for a 11 13/16" pot is 28" - nobody makes repro necks in that scale as that was designed to get maximum power from gut strings.

10 1/2" Tubaphones are quite rare (only the earliest) but that is not what you have. There is no such thing as a 10.5" Vegaphone - or anything else by 1923 when it was introduced*. I suspect that you are measuring below the bracket band which is the wrong place to measure. Inside the stretcher hoop should be 11" making the pot 10 15/16", the correct measurement for all Vegaphones. Measuring correctly will help sell your banjo.

*There was one run of 10.5" Imperial Electric plectrums released in 1924 designed to use up NOS Electric/WL tone rings, stretcher bands and other old parts. Other than those, the 10.5" Vega pot was gone by the mid '20s.

Edited by - mikehalloran on 12/21/2011 17:22:39

tdennis - Posted - 12/21/2011:  17:15:11

They're not exactly "Holy Grails"  if  they're  " Frankensteins".  (I believe the term "Holy Grails " has something to do w/  purity, authenticity  & originality). 

Hankster2 - Posted - 12/23/2011:  18:12:32

Thanks for the input, especially the details about measuring the pot size. Sorry about the attention grabbing title for the post.

Hank