c.1905 Weymann "Keystone State" 5-string Banjo

I just realized I never actually posted photos of this instrument -- which is one heck of a nice old banjo. It's an early Weymann (out of Pennsylvania) 5-string banjo under their "Keystone State" line. It's got a nice double-spun pot with German silver cladding and a beautiful, thin and very fast (almost Martinesque), v-shaped mahogany (or is it walnut?) neck.

Simple headstock with some cracks in the very thin topper of ebony veneer.

Ebony fretboard -- the pegs on this look more or less period to 1920s, though I did kit-bash a missing peg on the headstock with some parts-bin pieces to maintain the look.

MOP dots.

Replacement bridge and head -- there was an older Non-Tip but it wasn't quite the right height.

Rim is 10 1/2" which makes this feel very comfortable in the lap, while at the same time the neck has a great long 26 1/4" scale. Did I mention the neck is perfectly straight?

Simple friction pegs but they work just fine.

Super fast neck with a comfortable v-shape.

Ebony heel cap... rim hardware is all original and it even has its original ebony neck shims.

However, because someone additionally shimmed the neck for a slightly better angle, and as the dowel actually looks like it may have slightly warped over time, I had to angle the tailpiece to keep string pull down the middle.

Sure does gleam! It's hard to get really nice photos of openbacks... never can quite get just the right lighting to show this type of banjo off -- but in person it's definitely a looker in the same way a pre-war 12-fret O-18 might be.