c.1920 Columbia 5-String Banjo

This is a strange banjo. The neck is maple and finished in natural, which has goldened over the years, and appears to be built by Lange, as it is identical to earlier Supertone banjo necks which were built by Lange. The pot is more reminiscent of Slingerland or Concertone-branded banjos, being relatively thick (ie, not a thin spunover shell) and with a turned wooden top serving as a tone ring. I assume that this brand was built by Lange for some reseller, however, as the pot and neck are so nicely fitted (and finished) that they have to be original to one another.

Lange-style headstock with star MOP inlay. I had to reglue the veneer in places as it was peeling. The nut is now, and bone, but cut from old bone to look the part.

I had to reglue the entire fretboard as its glue was off everywhere. It was cracked down the middle in a couple spots but I glued/filled those a bit before gluing. All the frets needed filing and trimming at the edges, and a fret dress, too, due to fretboard shrinkage. Those are smallish MOP dots and give a good professional look. New 5th peg.

Here you can see the worst board crack. The board itself is some sort of hardwood that's been "ebonized" -- ie, dyed. I imagine it's most likely pearwood.

Original skin head, new Grover bridge -- 1/2" size -- which I've cut down just a bit to get the action perfect -- and it is, at 1/8" at the 12th fret.

A good, thick, 20-hook rim. All the shoes were on the rim, but 4 of the hooks and nuts are new. The others are all original.

Back.

New tuners. I tried to match the cream-ish buttons as best as possible from my parts bin.

Neck back. The finish is still in pretty decent shape despite its age.


Back of pot.


Brand on the dowel.

And here's one great thing: an original Elite tailpiece! These are sought-after items in the old-time community. They work easily both for knotted gut/nylon strings and steel strings, both of the loop or ball-end kind.

Side.


Other side.