Banjo Hangout Logo
Banjo Hangout Logo

Premier Sponsors

326
Banjo Lovers Online


Oct 8, 2024 - 12:25:28 AM

nc65

Germany

6 posts since 10/7/2024

Hi, I'm new to the forum, thanks for having me! Signed up as I need help identifying an old tenor banjo I recently acquired together with a guitar I was interested in (I'm a guitarist and bassist, not a banjo player - sorry!).

I am attaching some photos in the hope that someone might have an idea what it is, there are virtually no markings whatsoever on the entire instrument, inside or out. I did some minor repairs to make it playable again, main item was a new bridge I made (I build and repair guitars and basses in my spare-time, not professionally), other than that I replaced a few felt pads (the original ones were green, if that helps?) and put on new strings, that's it really. Will probably need to have a proper set-up and cleaning at some point, plus it needs a new nut and one hook is missing (if that's what they're called). It also has some ugly remnants of previous repairs that were done in the past, glue splattered everywhere etc., I'll take care of that too once I get round to it.

I live in Munich/Germany and that's also where I got the banjo, my impression from searching online though is that it seems more North-American than European to me, but as I said, I'm a novice to banjos ...

Thanks for looking and if anybody has any insights I'd appreciate it very much! :-)

KR,
Niels
 




 

Edited by - nc65 on 10/08/2024 01:09:28

Oct 8, 2024 - 12:28:22 AM

nc65

Germany

6 posts since 10/7/2024

three more fotos ...




 

Oct 8, 2024 - 1:01:31 AM

nc65

Germany

6 posts since 10/7/2024

... another three:




 

Oct 8, 2024 - 1:04:09 AM

nc65

Germany

6 posts since 10/7/2024

... last three




 

Oct 8, 2024 - 5:10:35 AM

Fathand

Canada

12450 posts since 2/7/2008

The shoes and hooks look like Slingerland. The rim has a Slingerland look as well but fancier than I've seen. Likewise the resonator hardware looks Slingerland, is it a 10 3/4" rim? https://www.centremusic.com/shop/c/p/1920s-Slingerlands-Nite-Hawk-Tenor-Banjo-wCase-USED-x63748502.htm . The headstock is not the normal Slingerland shape.

My guess is Slingerland may have made it for another company or a company sourced parts from them.

Oct 8, 2024 - 6:10:27 AM

nc65

Germany

6 posts since 10/7/2024

Thanks so much for your reply! This kind of ties in with basically the only lead I could find online, but I couldn't assess whether it made sense, so I didn't mention it earlier. The hardware (I guess what you more correctly refer to as shoes and hooks) seemed to be similar to some "Sterling" (not "Stelling") banjos I saw on Google, and there was a couple of references/discussions (I think possibly even on this site here?) that linked Sterling to Slingerland, saying that Slingerland had produced banjos for, amongst others, Sterling, which apparently was a label owned/used by the Tonk Brothers, who seem to have had some of their banjos made by Slingerland ... So it might by a Slingerland or more likely a Slingerland-made banjo sold under a different label. I had hoped the headstock would be a clue as I couldn't find another one on-line that looked exactly the same, i.e. the shape of the top end and the over-all longish shape. Thanks again, Niels

Oct 8, 2024 - 6:13:14 AM

nc65

Germany

6 posts since 10/7/2024

By the way, the crack in the headstock is only in the veneer (probably broke during the last hack-job nut replacement), which is actually a thick solid ebony overlay, the fingerboard is also ebony afai can tell, so quite nice materials used in the build.

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Privacy Consent
Copyright 2024 Banjo Hangout. All Rights Reserved.





Hangout Network Help

View All Topics  |  View Categories

0.203125