Patterned after the original c.1880's banjo owned by Reed Martin. I bought this banjo at the Antietam AEBG gathering 2013.
4 comments on “Minstrel banjo by James Hartel”
Bill Anderson Says:
Saturday, April 26, 2014 @12:08:54 PM
Hello there, Very nice banjo....may 'need' one of those. I love your new avatar photo.
GSCarson Says:
Saturday, April 26, 2014 @8:20:21 PM
Jim is a great builder. Love the wood on this one. Reed is a close friend and I actually had his original banjo that this is patterned after at our home for over a year. There are photos on my home page. Its a great old banjo.
Strumelia Says:
Sunday, April 27, 2014 @9:41:33 AM
Hi GS, thanks! :)
It looks like Reed has glued a metal Gibson name plate on the peghead of his previously unmarked minstrel banjo? I recall it didn't used to have "Gibson" on it and he mentioned (in a workshop I attended years ago when he played it for us) that there was no maker's ID on it, and Gibson didn't start making banjos until 1918. Do you know why he applied a Gibson logo on it...just for fun maybe?
GSCarson Says:
Tuesday, April 29, 2014 @10:45:40 AM
Strumelia, Yes, you guessed it, it was totally in fun. It has an old Gibson armrest, Mastertone sticker inside, and that's a Gibson pearl inlay that is just glued onto the peghead surface as a pearl "onlay". Reed sees humor in a lot of things, and although he has owned some spectacular banjos he also likes the odd and unusual. As someone who has worked on building one off banjos since the 70's I'm probably as banjo obsessed as anyone I've met but I also personally get a kick out of it....
Jim's banjos are great, I enjoyed visiting him about a year ago and I even did a little engraving work on one of his for him which was neat.
You can hear Reed playing his original banjo tuned an octave down for A and D tunes on several cd's, including: Bob Buckingham's "My Friend is a Mule in the Mines" and Jane Rothfield's "I Fiddle They Banjo". Enjoy, Glenn
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