I got this from my father and wondered if anyone here knows much about this maker.
Joe
Edited by - RB3WREATH on 01/15/2021 08:35:40
quote:
Originally posted by RB3WREATHI got this from my father and wondered if anyone here knows much about this maker.
Joe
That is a beauty!
(Put some shoes on! Just kidding.)
Lovely banjo. I know little about USA makers but all the Teel banjos I've seen differ. There are a couple of examples on "Bills Banjos" site. I seem to recollect reading on here Jim Bollman had one.
Wow! Next time Joe Val is a live event, you have to bring it with you!
quote:
Originally posted by Ira GitlinWow! Next time Joe Val is a live event, you have to bring it with you!
How are you I will bring it
I'm doing OK, but REALLY missing playing with people. I've had five gigs since March--all outdoors, only two of them with a full band. How about you, Joe?
I know nothing except that I really like the way it looks.
Just out of curiosity, what size is the pot, and intended scale (based on the big diamond as the 12th fret mark)?
quote:
Originally posted by RB3WREATHI got this from my father and wondered if anyone here knows much about this maker.
Joe
The heel looks a lot like a W. Cole as does the hardware.... or at least the shoes. Nice looking banjo!
Edited by - TriMD180 on 01/16/2021 13:21:06
Teels banjos all look a bit different - although they are sort of distinctive for their elaborate pegheads (I'll post a pic of mine if I get a moment). The earlier (1870s/80s) are a bit more folksy and the later ones had pots made by a variety of makers - the majority I've seen are Boston made but there were also Lyon & Healy/Washburn made Teels as well. I love the inlays on yours!
quote:
Originally posted by Ira GitlinI'm doing OK, but REALLY missing playing with people. I've had five gigs since March--all outdoors, only two of them with a full band. How about you, Joe?
Only one gig during Covid. My daughter made two videos for our bands new CD release. One video received over 177K views in a month on Bluegrass Music TV.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=224470989172454
Joe
Very cool banjo!
Let me preface this post with a disclaimer. I do not know if any of this is connected to your banjo. It might be purely coincidental, but it is a lead for you to follow up on using ancestry, etc..
When S. S. Stewart got sick and died, his duties at editing the "Stewart Journal" got divided up. Paul Eno took over as music editor. and the editor position went to a man named Charles Morris (officially taking over on May 1898). The photo below was published in April of 1899. Morris continued as editor of the "Journal" until Fred Stewart (SSS' eldest son) became old enough. That was the one piece of the business that the Stewart family was able to keep. Fred moved the "Journal" to Jos. W. Stern & Co., NYC in January 1902 and took over the editor position.
So, a guy named Charles Morris edited the SSS Journal from May 1898 to Jan, 1902. He worked in Philadelphia.
I know he played organ and piano, as did his wife. He was clearly interested in the banjo with his work. He was also an early supporter of "C" or "Universal Notation".
I don't know if it is the same person that your banjo was presented to, but it is a lead to follow up on.
Okay, a little more research shows that the pictured Charles Morris was the person to propose starting the Guild of Banjoists, Mandolinists, and Guitarists. That was a big deal. They are the reason the banjo neck positions are marked they way they are today. They brought us the 27" x 11" 22 fret banjo standard size (more or less). They worked for the changeover from A notation to C notation. Members included all the big makers at the time, Gibson, Vega, and Lange.
It would be pretty cool if you were to research and find if his middle initial is a match.
The head is 13 1/8" and the scale os just over 27" I found a James H Goodrich born 1840 lived in PA I think there is a lot to this thought
Joe
Found this little piece about Teel banjos in the Aug-Sept 1983 issue of Mugwumps.
Does not give any real info, but it’s a unique read. Typical of the magazine.
Edited by - Alvin Conder on 01/17/2021 13:20:59
quote:
Originally posted by Alvin ConderFound this little piece about Teel banjos in the Aug-Sept 1983 issue of Mugwumps.
Does not give any real info, but it’s a unique read. Typical of the magazine.
Ah, the good old days before the internet.
P.S. I'll still put Eli Kaufman up against any of the best today. He runs circles around me with his banjo history knowledge.
Joel-
Ah yes, the days before the internet,
I used to pour over the for sale ads in the back of magazines like frets, BNL and Mugwumps and try and figure how in the good Lords name I could come up with with the then absolutely impossible sums of $900-1200 or so to buy things like 1929 RB3s, Whyte Laydies and pre-war Martins.
Learned tons from those magazines and calling on those ads trying to work something, anything out.
Now we have eBay with $20,000 verified Civil War banjos.
I miss the good old, easy simpler times...like back in 2019....
Alvin, at the click of a mouse I have at my fingertips the entire run of "Cadenza" and "Crescendo" magazines, most of the Stewart Journals, a hundred or so tutors, thousands of pieces of sheet music, countless documents, census records, newspapers, film clips, etc. & etc.. All easily searchable and at hand anytime I want with no digging through boxes.
Through the internet I have made contacts and friends with people I would have never known existed. I have been able to view and examine infinite numbers of banjos in detail.
Through the internet and email, I have digitized stacks of catalogs from instrument distributors and banjo manufacturers.
I can listen a fantastic number of recordings Fred Van Eps and Vess Ossman made including various takes, and can watch films of both. I can hear super rare recordings of Alfred Farland and Ruby Brooks.
Yeah, the good old days... I'm off to read articles about classic banjo in the BMG magazines published just after WW2, oh yeah, we can find those now on the internet.
