Banjo Hangout Logo
Banjo Hangout Logo

Premier Sponsors


Jun 14, 2026 - 7:42:06 PM
866 posts since 2/15/2006

What is this? 


Edited by - jimmyprince on 06/15/2026 12:46:57

Jun 14, 2026 - 10:27:47 PM

6892 posts since 5/29/2011

I'm making an educated guess here, Jimmy, since I couldn't enlarge the picture clearly. The peghead inlay makes me think Washburn. I once had a Washburn tenor banjo with that inlay. That's not a lot to go on, but it might put you on the right track.

Jun 14, 2026 - 11:39:09 PM
likes this

29932 posts since 6/25/2005

Mark has as good an educated guess as can be made, given the pic. I would also note that the type of banjo is one fitting the Washburn (i.e. Lyon & Healy} style. Hard to tell from the pic, but if the hooks go into, rather than over, the tension hoop, that would also suggest L&H. (A lot of Washburns had hooks over the tension hoop too.)

Jun 15, 2026 - 7:13:59 AM

866 posts since 2/15/2006

It looks to be older

Jun 15, 2026 - 7:51:26 AM

6892 posts since 5/29/2011

George Washburn Lyon was one half of the Lyon and Healy team. He was actually a luthier; Patrick Healy was the mouthpiece of the company. They started the company in the 1860s, if I remember correctly. George Lyon started making a separate series of instruments, using his middle name as a trademark, in the late 1800s.
I attended a Sons of Confederate Veterans convention at the Patrick Henry Hotel in Roanoke in 1994, and, at the evening kickoff festivities, there were several parlor musicians performing in the upper mezzanine. One of the ladies had a beautiful old Washburn parlor guitar from the turn of the century.
So, Washburn instruments can be old.

Jun 15, 2026 - 11:20:07 AM
likes this

9716 posts since 9/21/2007

quote:
Originally posted by Culloden

 there were several parlor musicians performing in the upper mezzanine. One of the ladies had a beautiful old Washburn parlor guitar from the turn of the century.


Would those not be mezzanine musicians playing a mezzanine guitar?

Jun 15, 2026 - 11:23:52 AM

29932 posts since 6/25/2005

Some of us old folks who started playing in the ‘60s remember when “Washburn” referred only to the Washburn/Lyon & Healy instruments—before a distributor started putting the name on Asian-import instruments than bore no resemblance whatever to the pre-WWII Washburns.

Jun 15, 2026 - 12:47:33 PM

866 posts since 2/15/2006

quote:
Originally posted by Culloden

I'm making an educated guess here, Jimmy, since I couldn't enlarge the picture clearly. The peghead inlay makes me think Washburn. I once had a Washburn tenor banjo with that inlay. That's not a lot to go on, but it might put you on the right track.


I added a few more pictures

Jun 15, 2026 - 6:50:56 PM
likes this

6892 posts since 5/29/2011

quote:
Originally posted by jimmyprince
quote:
Originally posted by Culloden

I'm making an educated guess here, Jimmy, since I couldn't enlarge the picture clearly. The peghead inlay makes me think Washburn. I once had a Washburn tenor banjo with that inlay. That's not a lot to go on, but it might put you on the right track.


I added a few more pictures


Thanks, Jimmy. I'm a little more convinced it was made by Washburn, or Lyon & Healy.

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Privacy Consent (EU/GDPR Only)

Copyright 2026 Banjo Hangout. All Rights Reserved.





Hangout Network Help

View All Topics  |  View Categories

0.1445313