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Nov 12, 2024 - 7:01:04 AM
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2900 posts since 1/4/2009

https://www.auctionzip.com/auction-lot/the-quarrymen-john-lennon-and-rod-davis-1950s-pla_AED4AC8A72

"A five string banjo played by Rod Davis and John Lennon in The Quarrymen from 1956-1957. Acquired shortly before he joined Lennon’s skiffle group in late 1956, the banjo was played by Davis at numerous gigs across Liverpool including on 6 July 1957 at St Peter’s Church in Woolton, when Lennon first met Paul McCartney. ‘When John Lennon broke a string during a performance he would take over my banjo mid-song and continue playing it until the end of the song, by which time I would have replaced the string on his guitar and we would swap back. When we practised at his mother Julia’s house she would often borrow it to play and show us more chords as she said she preferred my banjo to the guitars of John and Eric Griffiths, the other guitarist in The Quarrymen’. Stamped at the headstock VICTOR / SUPREMUS and the applied brass nameplate THE WHIRLE / REG. 450220 WINDSOR MAKER BIRMINGHAM ENG, the pot of beechwood with nickel-plated sheathing, the twenty tension bracket hooks, lugs, shoes and separate flanges all nickel-plated, the neck of mahogany with ebony fingerboard and pearl eyes, the laminated mahogany resonator with sycamore banding, diameter of the head 10 5/8 in. (27cm) Provenance: Accompanied by a photograph of the banjo being played by Davis with Lennon on guitar and a detailed letter from Rod Davis (b.1942; acquired in 1956; exhibited at the Beatles Story Museum, Liverpool, 2002-2013). "

Nov 12, 2024 - 7:12:20 AM

229 posts since 4/7/2010

There are more pics of the case than of the banjo? And what is that thing that looks like a violin bow with a rag attached?

Nov 12, 2024 - 7:24:43 AM
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2900 posts since 1/4/2009

I"m not related to this banjo or the auction, just sharing what i found

Nov 12, 2024 - 7:43:18 AM
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Tom Napper

Scotland

53 posts since 11/18/2011

quote:
Originally posted by PrairieSchooner

There are more pics of the case than of the banjo? And what is that thing that looks like a violin bow with a rag attached?


It looks like an early folding banjo stand.

Nov 12, 2024 - 7:50:21 AM

229 posts since 4/7/2010

quote:
Originally posted by kyleb

I"m not related to this banjo or the auction, just sharing what i found


My comment wasn't a criticism; sorry if it came off as one.

Nov 12, 2024 - 8:52:40 AM

2900 posts since 1/4/2009

the issue i see here is that the photo included doesnt show the banjo.

Nov 12, 2024 - 9:32:33 AM
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KCJones

USA

3296 posts since 8/30/2012

More pictures of the banjo aren't necessary. What purpose would they serve? The only value on the whole thing is the provenance. It's a <$150 banjo without the provenance.

This auction is for a photograph of John Lennon not-playing this banjo, and a letter from somebody-who-isn't-John-Lennon that this banjo was once owned by John Lennon. 

Edited by - KCJones on 11/12/2024 09:35:03

Nov 12, 2024 - 10:49:29 AM

2900 posts since 1/4/2009

quote:
Originally posted by KCJones

More pictures of the banjo aren't necessary. What purpose would they serve? The only value on the whole thing is the provenance. It's a <$150 banjo without the provenance.

This auction is for a photograph of John Lennon not-playing this banjo, and a letter from somebody-who-isn't-John-Lennon that this banjo was once owned by John Lennon. 


yeah, exactly why i posted this. I really wonder about the "value" here. It would be one thing if the picture proved the connection, but without it, its third party provenance . I would be extremely skeptical if someone came to me with it and made the claim. Yes there is a letter, which we cant see for some reason. There is plenty of evidence that the author was in the quarymen, so thats good, but what evidence is there that this banjo is the one mentioned in the letter? I dont see any here. The value attributed to this seems insane to me, but beatles collectors do pay a pretty penny for items.. 

Nov 12, 2024 - 11:10:26 AM
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8564 posts since 9/21/2007

So, this is a banjo owned by Rod Davis (who admits he never really played it, only "thrashed at chords"). That is it.

Lennon could have played it, but Lennon also used telephones, rode on busses, rode in taxi cabs, ate off of plates in restaurants, etc., I don't see how that really ads any value.

So for auction is a jobber level Windsor with a story.

I hope a sucker pays every dime of the £15,000 Davis thinks it is work in an article from June where he says he will sell it.

In full transparency, the auction should be titled "Rod Davis' banjo that he did not really play but that John Lennon might have played briefly when he broke a string on his guitar."

Nov 12, 2024 - 11:41:22 AM
Players Union Member

RioStat

USA

6387 posts since 10/12/2009

It's a plectrum banjo, not a 5 string............

Nov 12, 2024 - 1:06:30 PM
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3622 posts since 4/7/2010

quote:
Originally posted by RioStat

It's a plectrum banjo, not a 5 string............


Look carefully at the one crappy picture of the banjo and you will see the tunnel at the 5th fret and a tuning peg in the center of the peghead.

Easy to miss. I thought it was a 4 string banjo at first glance too.

 

Bob Smakula

Nov 12, 2024 - 1:17:40 PM
Players Union Member

RioStat

USA

6387 posts since 10/12/2009

quote:
Originally posted by Bob Smakula
quote:
Originally posted by RioStat

It's a plectrum banjo, not a 5 string............


Look carefully at the one crappy picture of the banjo and you will see the tunnel at the 5th fret and a tuning peg in the center of the peghead.

Easy to miss. I thought it was a 4 string banjo at first glance too.

 

Bob Smakula


I stand corrected Bob !  I see the tunnel and the 5th peg in the headstock, now.

Actually......it's hard to tell anything from those auction site photos !

Nov 12, 2024 - 4:13:30 PM
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62666 posts since 12/14/2005

Here's a MUCH better photo!

Why buy a "Maybe Lennon" banjo for one point five, when you can buy a print of this photo .
from ME, for $20 cash, USD?

(This was the performance where John was playing his Bart Reiter banjo, with the Sunday Funnies pasted up as the resonator).

His famous "PAPERBACK REITER...Reiter... Reiter"

Just like in the song.

wink

Nov 13, 2024 - 6:35:54 AM

KCJones

USA

3296 posts since 8/30/2012

$20 for that photoshop from Mike is still a better deal than this auction.

Nov 13, 2024 - 10:33:48 PM

13253 posts since 10/27/2006

Most biographical info on Lennon say that banjo was his first instrument but it was probably a tenor. I've no idea if its whereabouts are known. 

Nov 17, 2024 - 8:40:52 AM

335 posts since 2/21/2012

The Banjo in the photo is NOT the same as the Windsor banjo in the auction !

Nov 17, 2024 - 11:13:15 AM

JSB88

UK

658 posts since 3/9/2017

Am I missing something? The only banjo in any photo I can see is in Mr Gregory's post. Can't see a banjo in the auction photo?

Nov 17, 2024 - 9:15:21 PM

jwold

USA

1279 posts since 7/21/2004

How can I get a copy of that bluegrass Beatles picture?

Nov 17, 2024 - 9:17:54 PM

jwold

USA

1279 posts since 7/21/2004

quote:
Originally posted by jwold

How can I get a copy of that bluegrass Beatles picture?

Got it...thanks!

 


Nov 17, 2024 - 9:23:09 PM
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jwold

USA

1279 posts since 7/21/2004

Mike, you need to add Billy Preston on fiddle...that'll test your photoshop skills!

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