Curious how these lower line Vegas from the Golden Age compare sound wise with other for use as conversion to five string claw hammer banjos? I own and am very familiar with Vega Whyte Laydie and Tubaphone models but not the above three or how they compare with each other?
They may not have the depth of tone you will get from the banjos you already own but there is nothing wrong with any of them for Old Time playing. Many players stuff rags or something inside the pot to cut down on the overtones and tame the volume. With the three banjos you mentioned, that would not be as necessary as with banjos which have full tone rings.
I have a Vega Wonder from the early 1960s that I made a five-string neck for. It has a wonderful tone but is not overly loud. It is a wonderful banjo to play at home but, since I play Bluegrass, it does not cut through in a jam session as well as I would like. If I played Old Time style, I would probably like it better than my Gibsons.
BHO member Gary Schattl has offered several of these banjos as conversions in the past. I haven't seen any for sale recently, though.
Edited by - Culloden on 11/20/2024 21:47:27
I just recently put an Eastman Whyte Laydie neck on a 1930's Vega Little Wonder Irish tenor pot, and I'm liking it a lot. I strung it with a LaBelle #17 set with a slightly lighter 5th string and it is stuffed with a small dish towel. I also play a Vega Whyte Laydie and Tubaphone from the same era, all nylon strung, stuffed, openbacks.
It has the nylon string sound that I like, but is just a tad brighter than the other two banjos -- and so much lighter!
I'm not sure on openback banjos if the overtones are what I call sustain or not. but I do like the more individual notes that I get by stuffing.
I have a Vega Little Wonder open-back tenor and would describe the sound as bright and clear. Not sure what it would be like as a converted 5string. Those models you listed all share the same type of tone-ring so should be in the same ball-park sound-wise (depending on set-up of course).
See, what I can't seen to get is an explanation of the differences between the three, most people know about Little Wonder conversions, but not Senator or Regent conversions. I'd really like to know the differences between those three?
You can find Little Wonder conversions and they are popular among Old Time banjo players. You don't find Regent and Senator conversions because they were five strings in the first place. They had the same tone ring as the Little Wonder. The difference between the latter two was cosmetic. The Senator was a little fancier than the Regent. I don't know if they were the same kind of wood or not.
You can find pictures of an old Vega Regent on the Internet but it's not as easy to find old pictures of the Senator since Deering still makes it.
Thanks, I figured as much. The Senator and the Regent some to be a lot rarer than four string Little Wonder banjos.
It (almost) goes without saying that results vary depending on setup, but I think the Little Wonder pot makes for a great "all around" banjo-especially for a five string. That said, for a tenor played Irish style, it's not very loud and a little on the "tubby" side. As an "Old Time" banjo it's very good-especially with either a "damper" cloth or a skin head, and with a tight plastic head it's almost the epitome of the 1960s "Kingston Trio" sound. For Bluegrass, it's more "solid" than "bright" and not really as loud as it needs to be, but still provides a good sound for playing solo.
I think the Tube-a-Phone tone ring is a little more focused and a little brighter and clearer, but basically like the "Little Wonder".
Vega also made the "Ranger" which has an all-wood pot with a milled ridge taking the place of the Little Wonder tone ring. It might work for Old-Time, but you're not going to get either volume or brightness.
The fret scale is different from on the 5-string Vegas I own than on the Masterclones, but I like it better.
Here is a link to descriptions of the different vintage Vega models (although doesn't include scale length; I've seen some Vega banjos with a 27inch scale): https://www.banjohangout.org/archive/180294
Thanks for the link!
I do have some vintage Vega conversions listed for sale . I have done several conversions on many different vintage pots , tuba phone, style N, style F , regent , senater , white layde , little wonder and some newermodels, the style N is the same as a little wonder as dar as the tone ring but the or size is largar on the little wonder . I think the little wonder is the loudest for bluegrass with a resonater and the lightest weight . My go dom kills my Back after standing . Anyway the old Vegas are killer if you like a lite weight banjo for all around playing and will hold its own in a jam
Edited by - laguna21dc on 12/16/2024 02:40:13
quote:Originally posted by frankabr.See, what I can't seen to get is an explanation of the differences between the three, most people know about Little Wonder conversions, but not Senator or Regent conversions. I'd really like to know the differences between those three?
mikehalloran would be the guy to give you the minutiae of the differences between the three if that is what you are looking for. Necks, boards, inlays...
As far as I'm concerned, THESE ARE the original old time banjos. If you are wondering whether they would make a good clawhammer banjo, then that just points up how today's aesthetic for clawhammer sound has changed from not too many decades ago.
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