1930s Oscar Schmidt-made Resonator Tenor Banjo

This is either a late-'20s or early-'30s Oscar Schmidt-made tenor, along the lines of their full-flange Stella tenors from the time. I've worked on 2 or 3 of this same model before and they sound a lot better than they look. They're quite loud and have a good "chirp" and punch to them that's clean-sounding. The lower/mid-grade resonator tenors like this from other makers can often be a little reverby-sounding or muddled/indistinct by lackluster hoop tonerings and overly-bulky builds and whatnot, and so the fundamental, clean sound of one of these is pretty satisfying to hear post-work.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, new bone nut, side dots install, "new" guitar-style tuners to replace the frustrating original friction pegs, a new frosted-top Remo synthetic head, cleaning, modification to the neck attachment (I simply bolt them on rather than rely on the friction-set original wedge), a new bridge, cleaning, and setup.

Setup notes: it plays perfectly with 1/16" action at the 12th fret and is strung for CGDA tuning with gauges 32w, 20w, 13, 9. The neck is straight and the instrument is nice and stable in service.

Scale length: 21"

Nut width: 1 3/16"

String spacing at nut: 1"

String spacing at bridge: 1 1/4"

Head diameter: 11 1/8"
Resonator diameter: 13 1/2"

Rim depth: 3"

Rim material: ply maple

Neck wood: poplar

Fretboard: ebonized maple

Bridge: Grover plastic-saddled, ebony/maple bridge

Neck feel: slim-to-medium soft V-shape, flat board

Condition notes: general usewear throughout and mild wear-and-tear to the finish, but overall in good health. The pegs are replaced with '60s-era guitar tuners and look a bit like "mouse-ears" but are much more convenient than typical friction pegs.

It comes with: an original chip case in OK shape.

The original, hinge-covered, downpressure tailpiece is nice to have.