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banjoez - Posted - 10/24/2023: 17:05:27
Will pay cash or trade for 1980’s Imperial banjos made by the late Ty Piper. Only interested in his second generation banjos with one piece flanges. This would include the Shennandoah, Shiloh and Chaparral models + Customs. You can message me thru BHO or email me (banjoez@yahoo.com) to discuss and let me know what you have. Thanks.
banjohangout.org/classified/101677
Edited by - banjoez on 12/15/2023 18:36:13
vajgl - Posted - 10/25/2023: 01:55:25
Hi Joe
Al Starr here. I have an Imperial I would trade you. It’s the second generation Shiloh model . What have you got to trade?
I keep the Imperial here in Erie, and I have an Ome Sweetgrass I keep at our Florida home. I’m leaving Friday for Florida so we’d have to meet soon or wait till Spring
8144505590
Al
UTM - Posted - 10/25/2023: 05:03:24
I have a top tension Imperial model named Shaynon. It matches a photo that was posted on BHO many years ago. I can't imagine selling it, but I would enjoy knowing more about it's history if you could help. I've never seen another one like it. I'd be especially interested to know if there are others out there and how many were actually made. It has the typical hefty brash demenor of the Imperials, but really wants to be the life of the party. Thanks for any information you might be willing to share about it.
heavy5 - Posted - 10/25/2023: 05:16:14
My one off Imperial w/ carved resonator in excellent condition . 3k firm , no trades
banjoez - Posted - 10/26/2023: 11:12:39
quote:
Originally posted by DRL777
banjohangout.org/classified/101651
Nice banjo but has the older two piece solid brass tube flange with thick rim and weighs a ton......see my original post.
Edited by - banjoez on 10/26/2023 11:15:44
banjoez - Posted - 12/15/2023: 18:24:52
Bump
UTM - Posted - 12/16/2023: 02:50:27
Hello again. I subscribed to this topic a while back. I'm new to the Forums, but I'm unsure what the latest reply ("bump") might mean.
mike gregory - Posted - 12/16/2023: 04:17:24
It just moves the topic back to the first screen, so more people might notice it.
Leslie R - Posted - 12/16/2023: 05:49:47
When I was attending Texas A&M in the early 80’s, a friend of mine, Rick Hudson, from California, had an Imperial top tension.
It was a good looking, heavy banjo.
Rick could absolutely play it.
It’s the only Imperial banjo I have ever seen.
I can understand why you would want one. Great banjo!
Tractor1 - Posted - 12/16/2023: 05:59:17
yeh Ty Piper was one of very few mastercloners when the imperials came out ---I would love to see some photos inside the rim
UTM - Posted - 12/16/2023: 07:04:23
The top tension that I have, I bought from a professional picker from Nashville. I knew about it for over a year but didn't follow-up right away. He was a super nice guy and sold it to me at what I thought was a very fair price when I mentioned my appreciation of the Imperials.
I only know that it is called a Shaynon because of a photo that I spotted on one the the Forums here. It needed just a little TLC, but once I got it lined-out, I could tell it really liked to party hearty. It is a serious contender for the heavy weight crown; even for an Imperial.
I'll get the resonator off and snap some photos to post here. I'm still hoping that there might be more info out there. Sorry Joe about the high-jacking but hopefully any conversations about the Imperials will help you in your search. Thanks Mike for explaining the "bump" deal.
banjoez - Posted - 12/16/2023: 08:53:13
No problem guys in using this post as a discussion platform for Imperial banjos. My first decent banjo back in the late 70’s was an Imperial Style 0 and then got a Shiloh directly from Ty. He was an interesting guy with a wealth of knowledge and treated me fairly. I was too inexperienced at the time to realize how good his banjos were. Looking to find another out of nostalgia and curiosity. Been decades since I've owned or played one. Not sure how many have survived.
Edited by - banjoez on 12/16/2023 09:02:50
UTM - Posted - 12/16/2023: 17:21:46
Here are the photos of my Shaynon top tension Imperial. I received a PM that gave me quite a bit of additional info. Apparently only 12 were ever built. A sales brochure stated that the Shaynon was the only top tension production banjo being built at that time. It also stated that this model was built specifically as a top tension banjo and not a standard model with top tension hardware added. In one of the photos, you can see that it uses a no-hole tone ring that appears to be a much lower profile ring than his standard rings. Also, the photo of the exterior of the pot assembly shows a non-typical ( to me ) profile on the rim. Out of curiosity, I weighed it and it is a less than svelt 12 pounds. I thought it would be more than that.
banjoez - Posted - 12/16/2023: 18:05:20
quote:
Originally posted by UTM
Here are the photos of my Shaynon top tension Imperial. I received a PM that gave me quite a bit of additional info. Apparently only 12 were ever built. A sales brochure stated that the Shaynon was the only top tension production banjo being built at that time. It also stated that this model was built specifically as a top tension banjo and not a standard model with top tension hardware added. In one of the photos, you can see that it uses a no-hole tone ring that appears to be a much lower profile ring than his standard rings. Also, the photo of the exterior of the pot assembly shows a non-typical ( to me ) profile on the rim. Out of curiosity, I weighed it and it is a less than svelt 12 pounds. I thought it would be more than that.
That actually weighs less than his earlier two piece flange banjos which come in at a whopping 14 lbs without being top tensions!! That's why I'm really only interested in his later one piece flange banjos (like yours). Thanks for the pics!
Edited by - banjoez on 12/16/2023 18:08:22
UTM - Posted - 12/17/2023: 10:46:58
I weighed my 1980 Imperial tube and plate (block rim) style banjo this morning. On my scale it came in at just under 12.5 pounds. I also weighed my 1976 OPF (3 ply rim) Imperial, it came in at 11.75 pounds. I was kind of surprised in a good way.
I might be talked into sell the '76 (Sn 1-0004). The problem with it is that I bought it from a self proclaimed "old Hippie" from Oregon many years ago. The neck and resonator looked like nobody had given a hoot about the banjo for decades. He had the original sales slip dated 1976 and an Imperial catalog from the same period. I didn't get a bargin and then I had Frank Neat replace the busted-up binding, completely refinish the neck and resonator and do a complete set-up. Frank's work turned out beautifully, as always. You can probably sense the value I would place on this very rare bird.
