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Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/406976
hielandman - Posted - 01/20/2026: 11:40:57
Hello All,
I've just posted a banjo for sale in the classifieds, as and old five string(Buckbee?). There are pictures there, if anyone has any definite ideas of what it might be, please let me know! Thanks,
Don
Joel Hooks - Posted - 01/20/2026: 13:07:41
It is complicated. For many years there was a fairly confident and common "it is a Buckbee" declaration for any unmarked (and vaguely of NY style) banjo. For some reason this was not really questioned.
Albert Baur, a fairly reliable source, wrote on the subject of "factory banjos". According to Baur, MANY people were building or assembling banjos which were basically identical. While the Buckbee factory was the "largest" it certainly was not the only one. To complicate matters, people were also buying parts and banjos in various degree of completeness and assembling or finishing them. Basically, any joiner with a workbench and tools could easily turn out these banjos with their skills.
Recently, Kyle VanMeter made a study of many of these unmarked and similar banjos, and he noticed that they had distinct and different toolmarkings. There were a few different methods of fabricating the rims including using a chasing hammer.
A modern day comparison could be made to Gibson copy banjos. Many, many shops and single makers have made and are making these. They all use parts from just a few suppliers. They all use similar wood (if not neck blanks from one supplier). They all try hard to mimic the same style of finish, inlay, and shape.
And while the name on the peghead might be different (or often "Gibson") the instruments are basically identical.
To your banjo, the most accurate description would be "unmarked NY pattern banjo, late 1870s-1900".
Unless it is marked with "JHB" or "Tremont".
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