I'd been looking several months for a 17 fret tenor, preferably a 1920's Vega, and preferably a Little Wonder or Style N open back as the weight of my 19 fret Silver Bell with resonator was aggravating my 83 yo back and left shoulder. About three good candidates located in various places east of the Mississippi had slipped through my fingers over the last two months, when this one appeared on Facebook messenger, located less than a mile from my home! It appears that it spent almost all of its 99 year life in the case, judging by the absolute lack of wear on the wood (with the exception of some strange human-induced scratches on the heel), and complete presence of untarnished original hardware, and what appears to be the original and very clean Jos Rogers calfskin head. After trying to make the original friction tuners work to my satisfaction, I reluctantly reamed the original 3/16" hole to accommodate a "vintage" 1970's set of Five Stars. As for the case, the pictures speak for themselves.
Edited by - mainejohn on 06/21/2026 11:09:12
That's gorgeous, John. Does that have the Little Wonder ring? I know it can feel like a bit of a compromise to replace original parts, but I am happy with the ones I've converted to geared tuners. It really makes it so much more user friendly, especially at a jam. Speaking of jams--I hope we'll see you at the August Jam again.
quote:
Originally posted by Bill HThat's gorgeous, John. Does that have the Little Wonder ring? I know it can feel like a bit of a compromise to replace original parts, but I am happy with the ones I've converted to geared tuners. It really makes it so much more user friendly, especially at a jam. Speaking of jams--I hope we'll see you at the August Jam again.
Hi Bill, it's a "Style M" which makes it a TubaPhone. I should have made that clear in my original post. The Tubaphone ring doesn't solve the weight problem that a Style N or Little Wonder would have helped allleviate. Yes...I hope to attend the August jam.
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