c.1930 Concertone Tenor Banjo

Update 2013: I'm pretty much sure that these were made by Regal for Slingerland.

I have a soft spot in my heart for this type of tenor banjo. Though this particular one is labeled "Concertone," these were built by the Slingerland company (known well for their drums) which at the time was hailed as "the world's largest banjo manufacturer." I've worked on a bunch of this same model and have a healthy respect for its Spartan excellence: it's sturdy, weathers well, sounds nice and woody but loud and bell-like, and feels like a million bucks (though they hardly cost that!).

This one looks like it's seen action all over Normandy... but no... pieced back together those "wrinkles" are just fine. Headstock veneer, nut, and fretboard are all dyed pearwood. Tuners are original and overhauled.

I remember this fretboard looking grey, pale, and deathly when it arrived. The pearwood usually restores quite nicely though, as it has here, nice and healthy brown with spotless pearl dots.

Rim detail: hardware's a little battered, but still holding on after polishing and conditioning. Previously very rusty and tarnished.

Head is original and: oh my! Typical blood spots near the (unoriginal) bridge. That's what happens when you play with a cut!

Maple construction on the neck and rim.

Original tuners with bakelite buttons -- I like this design as it's slim and elegant, and rarely wears out the tuner holes in the headstock.

Heel cap and rim cap are? Walnut? I think.

Rim detail again: the head rests (in this case) on a round-wire tonering. In other variants of this same model I've seen a "band" style tonering and also a simple turned-wood (raised wooden) type. All produce, strangely enough, a quite similar tone, with the turned-wood type being a hair quieter.

Concertone branding.

Nice maple veneers used in the pot construction. Original neck brace.

Long view.

Tailpiece. The end-bolt is new, as the old one was worn out.

Tailpiece open.

Newer Grover fancy-style bridge.

Rim detail: some finish cracks... but nice color to the birdseye maple.