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Long Neck Provenance

From reese158 on 8/25/2015 5:35:12 PM

Dear Longneckers & Fellow Travelers,

It has puzzled me for some time trying to figure out the exact heritage of our beloved long neck banjo. We all know its genesis with Papa Pete, of course, but after his early experiments things get murky.

Now, I was inspired to post this by the recent discussion of Erik Darling's long necks on the BHO: (http://www.banjohangout.org/topic/306806/1). Involved in that discussion is a Vega with what is purportedly a spliced long neck (a la early-Pete) that is currently for sale at Gruhn Guitars (http://guitars.com/inventory/ja6137-1955-vega-tu-ba-phone-original-5-string).

Gruhn has listed the banjo as a 1955 Vega; however, according to the serial number (99049) (http://www.mugwumps.com/acf_date.html), it was actually made in 1954. Other than Pete's banjos, the only long neck this old that I've come across was a 1926 Vega that Mike Seeger had Joseph Wallo lengthen by two frets in 1953. It was sold to someone by Bernunzio about seven years ago.

So, presuming the Erik Darling banjo IS a splice-job, that brings us to 1955 when Peggy Seeger had her long neck made (serial# 99181). Peggy's banjo is NOT a splice but a custom-made long neck by Vega. Hers is a bit similar to the Darling banjo in that it has block and dot inlays and a pot with the bracket bolts drilled through. However, the inlay shapes and pattern are different than Darling's, and Peggy's banjo has the squared peghead similar to the later Vega Folklore and Earl Scruggs banjos.

What I'm not sure about--and maybe one of you wise souls can help me here--is when exactly Bob Gibson (who had a very similar banjo to Peggy's, from about the same time) had his instrument made. Bob's and Peggy's banjos seemed to differ only in that Bob had Rotomatic tuners, and Peggy's inlay extended to the end of the neck. If anyone knows the serial number or whereabouts of Bob's early Vega, it would be of inestimable help in establishing the long neck family tree.

Either way, if the Erik Darling is a 1954 Vega with a splice and Peggy Seeger's banjo is a 1955 custom long neck by Vega, can we say, uncategorically, that Vega first began producing long neck banjos in 1955?

8 Comments
	coalandice says: 9/29/2015 10:34:39 AM Just to add to the discussion they date this one as 1958 shop.jakesmainstreetmusic.com/...pe-c-1958
	reese158 says: 10/1/2015 12:15:04 PM Thanks for posting that Coalandice. It's interesting. I called Main St. Music and found out that there's no serial number on the banjo. There's a well-known piece (among long neck geeks, anyway) Pete Seeger wrote for Sing Out in Spring 1960 in which Pete describes his dealings with Vega about the Pete Seeger model. After declining royalties, he says that Vega contacted him in 1959 to let him know they had sold several hundred PS5s. In lieu of pay, Vega sent Pete a PS5 which he seems to have received in early 1960. So . . . if this is THAT banjo, several hundred PS5s would already have been made which makes one wonder if this is, indeed, a "prototype" or from 1958. Unless Vega saved the first one for Pete and sent it to him several years later.
	coalandice says: 10/1/2015 12:44:49 PM Isn't the 1960 one the one that was raffled off via subscriptions to Sing Out! ? There's discussion of it on the forums here somewhere. Fellow who won it just bought a ton of subscriptions to win the banjo. Passed away fairly young I think? flickr.com/photos/35177263@N07...47026204/ wave3.com/story/5640254/bluegr...printable ajc.com/news/travel/road-trip-...ky/nQfpT/
	coalandice says: 10/1/2015 12:57:25 PM Here it is banjohangout.org/archive/302345 Apparently there were two PS-5's at one point per Mike Halloran: Long story short: Pete was given two Vega PS-5s. One is the blonde that appeared in many photos, on the Arlo record, Sesame Street and the Australian concert video. There was a backup. The backup was offered as a prize for selling subscriptions to Sing Out!. When the winner was given his prize, he raised quite a fuss because he wasn't given "Pete's Vega" but another. Eventually, he was given the performing banjo. We know this because he posted the full story on the BHO many times (searching the archives can be a bear) – apparently he didn't know that Pete was given two. Anyway, that second PS-5 was given away as a raffle prize to raise funds for the Clearwater. There are many who wonder how the same banjo could be given away twice and do not believe that Pete had two. This story is told completely in one of the books I have but I don't recall which one. It includes someone from Vega stating that Pete had two PS-5s. I don't know which one is sitting in the museum in Oklahoma.
	reese158 says: 10/1/2015 1:38:41 PM Thanks. I had forgotten about the raffle business. You know, I looked at the photos of his Bowdoin College concert from March 1960. He appears to be playing the blonde. One telling detail is his signature eye-bolt in the neck. The Bowdoin blonde is bolted, as is the one in the Bluegrass Museum. The banjo at Main St. Music doesn't have the bolt (or like like it ever did, unless removed and repaired). Maybe that's the one he never played that was raffled first. He seemed to have bolted all of his "working" banjos from the 1950s on. I'm sure Pete would tell me to stop wasting my time with this and go play, but there's something about the mystery that fascinates me.
	reese158 says: 10/1/2015 1:49:19 PM ACTUALLY, if the raffle was in the 70s and Pete gave Bernie Krause the Main St. banjo in 1963 . . . Great Scott! A third Vega?
	coalandice says: 10/1/2015 3:17:51 PM Ah, here's the fellows name banjohangout.org/archive/179475 and a discussion on the Bernie Krause banjo banjohangout.org/archive/282571
	coalandice says: 10/1/2015 3:25:26 PM Ditto about the mystery!
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