clfieds - Posted - 05/21/2026:  15:07:18

Hi all,
I acquired a late 1920’s Paramount Style A tenor banjo. I’m searching to find the original Page “8” shaped tuners for this banjo. I have read that there are two styles. Also searching for the proper tailpiece for this model which I believe as a “Paramount Lange Tailpiece” I have tried to find even decent pictures but those seem also scarce. I have been a 5-string bluegrass player most of my life, so I know more about those banjos than the tenors- any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

trapdoor2 - Posted - 05/21/2026:  16:30:43

If you want it as a player, don't get the Paige tuners. They're not as strong as modern planetaries...and you'll enjoy tuning more.



I like the Style As (I have a tenor, a plectrum and a 5-string). You'll want a Lange "window latch" tailpiece...but sometimes they're hard to find.

Edited by - trapdoor2 on 05/21/2026 16:33:03

Paramount Tenor and Plectrum

 

tdennis - Posted - 05/21/2026:  21:53:20

Not only are they hard to find, but sellers have been asking high prices for this part over the past decade or more. There was a version of the latch tailpiece used on Lange Triple X banjos. You might try the BHO Triple X group to see if anyone has a spare piece.

Bob Smakula - Posted - 05/22/2026:  05:58:00

quote:

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Originally posted by clfieds

Hi all,

I acquired a late 1920’s Paramount Style A tenor banjo. I’m searching to find the original Page “8” shaped tuners for this banjo. I have read that there are two styles. Also searching for the proper tailpiece for this model which I believe as a “Paramount Lange Tailpiece” I have tried to find even decent pictures but those seem also scarce. I have been a 5-string bluegrass player most of my life, so I know more about those banjos than the tenors- any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

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As the housing of Page figure 8 tuners is an early die-cast metal, nearly every one of those tuners has either disintegrated, or will in the future. In the past I remember some dedicated Paramount banjo aficionados offering replacement page tuner housings cast in brass, but I have not seen those offered for many years.

The busy mother-of pearl inlay on the peghead makes it hard to upgrade those tuners. For most of my repair career I would install ABM tuners, as they they required only a 7.5 mm hole. Unfortunately they are no longer available as the manufacturer decided making banjo tuners was not as much fun as manufacturing electric guitar parts. And occasionally the peghead thickness would prevent the use of ABM or other planetary geared tuners. 

My recomendation is to first check the thickness of the peghead and decide if Gotoh or other banjo tuners with the modern standard 3/8" shaft are long enough to grab the peghead, then enlarge the hole and not worry about dinging the inlay.

Window Latch tailpieces are popular as Don Reno used one. I recommend not worrying about finding that exact tailpiece immediately, as it is easy to change it in the future.

Fitting modern parts to obsolete banjos is always a challenge, Hopefully you can get that banjo into playing condition without significant permanent alteration.

Bob Smakula

smakulafrettedinstruments.com

Edited by - Bob Smakula on 05/22/2026 05:58:49

clfieds - Posted - 05/23/2026:  05:00:11

Thanks all- it makes sense, the more I research and find these tuners were not great. I think I’ll use something else that will tune well and fit the banjo well. As for the tail piece , I’ll keep an eye out and see if something turns up.