c.1930 Kay-built B&J "Serenader" Tenor Banjo


This banjo roars! And sounds nice doing it, too. With a full-length scale and original gear (save bridge... and new bone nut) this one looks the part, too. I did my usual banjo overhaul -- teardown, cleaning, rebuild, setup, etc.

This instrument was made by Kay in Chicago (previously "Stromberg Voisinet") for B&J in New York to sell under its "Serenader" brand. It's got a hoop style tonering, nice big rim, rosewood fretboard and rim bottom cap, and solid maple everywhere else. Good looks with a tobacco-ish sunbursty finish throughout... oh, and birdseye maple veneer on the pot sides and resonator back.


Rosewood veneer... sorry for the washed-out photo.


Love the label.


Frets are nice and level and all good, but there's some board chipping along the treble side of the board like this thing lived a hearty, gig-traveling life. MOP dots in a rosewood board.


New Grover maple/ebony bridge (old-fashioned style) with adjustable tailpiece. Original skin head is in fine shape.






See the pot-metal doohickey at the neck join? This is Kay's adjusto neck contraption... lets you set the neck angle really easy. Just remove the resonator, undo a big bolt a half-turn, adjust the neck to your desired angle and action, and then tighten up the bolt again. You may want to tune down first.




Cast metal tuners. Good strong, practical stuff.



Cool birdseye veneer on this resonator back. The floral decal is pretty well rubbed off, though.


Tailpiece.
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Mark said…
I inherited a B&J Serenader banjo from my father. Unfortunately it isn't in as nice shape as the one on your website. The tonering disintegrated (owing to the fact that it was made of soft potmetal)the head is in decent shape (although it needs a good cleaning) and the back appears to have been broken and repaired. Aside from that it appears to be fairly solid. The tuners have a white plastic-like knobs(possibly celluloid?)and the case appears to be wood covered with some sort of thin leather(I suspect either shark skin or ray skin). The case needs a lot of TLC to bring it back. I'm considering selling it for a low price(given the amount of work it needs)what I am trying to find out is what was the date range that these instruments were made? Also, I could not find any sort of serial or model number anywhere on the instrument. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
October 22, 2011 at 12:24 AM
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