un5trung - Posted - 04/19/2012:  04:50:02

Another eBay oddity described as a Mando Cello Banjo Baritone.  25 1/2" scale and an 18 inch diameter, cgda tuning.  No sense of provenance -- where did it come from, who made it, how old is it? Or is it a franken-instrument?  Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it would be nice to know.  Also identified as a bouzouki.  Well, which is it?  And if the seller doesn't know what he is selling can he be trusted.

Looks cool, however --

SFI - Posted - 04/19/2012:  05:07:18

I own 2 vintage (1920ish) Vega Mando-Cello banjos. Both have 14" rims and have similar construction to Vega's Little Wonder line. True Jam Buster instruments.

Bob Smakula

un5trung - Posted - 04/19/2012:  05:17:30

Very interesting!  I'd never heard of this combination before, but given the needs of the mandolin orchestra I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  Have you recorded with either?  I'd love to hear the sound.

​I just checked through what you have for sale and saw this nice Vega mandolin banjo -- absent the internal resonator it looks (to my untrained eye) very much like my Bacon.

smakula.com" src="http://www.smakula.com/images/Banjos/WL93319/93319Ft.jpg" style="width: 213px; height: 400px; " />     

Edited by - un5trung on 04/19/2012 05:26:07

un5trung - Posted - 04/19/2012:  07:34:18

I wrote the seller for clarification of model and make, and this is his response:

Hey there. Thanks. I built this out of spare parts a couple of years ago, mainly as an attention-grabber for the front of my shop. The neck was modified from a damaged early 50s guitar neck, added to a 60s table leg (dowel), and fitted to an 18" bodhran. I've done a few of these over the years, but this is the first with a tuneable head. Cheers. -Scot

That description pretty much takes me out of the running for this item.  If I saw something on the order of what Smakula describes above, why that would be another story.

BobTheGambler - Posted - 04/19/2012:  08:23:18

Wow. I'd love to see a picture of one of these. I'm quite partial to my obnoxious Little Wonder mandolin banjo for playing Ragtime and jugband stuff.

quote:

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Originally posted by SFI

I own 2 vintage (1920ish) Vega Mando-Cello banjos. Both have 14" rims and have similar construction to Vega's Little Wonder line. True Jam Buster instruments.

 

Bob Smakula

 

 

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