1910s Supertone 407 Dixie Wonder Fretless 5-String Banjo

Supertone banjos of this style were made as early as the late 1890s, but my guess is that this is a late '00s or early '10s instrument. I'm pretty sure Lange made these for the Sears catalog, but my only direct proof of that are a few tenor variants of the same basic instruments from the '10s-era with the "Lange-made" stamp on the back of the dowel. I've handled so many Supertones and "jobber" Lange products that are essentially identical in build, though, that this is my personal view on the matter.

Regardless of builder, this was a pretty slick instrument when it was new -- fancy celluloid inlay in the fretboard, binding at the side of the neck, inlay in the headstock, and a zillion hooks on the spunover rim. It even has an old Elite-style tailpiece.

Someone had done some good work on this in the past by way of leveling the fretboard and frets flat so that this became a fretless banjo with "flushfret" markers. At the same time they made an adjustable-dowel-angle attachment for the dowel stick, reset that neck angle, fit a new skin head, new 5th-string nut/pip, added some replacement violin-style friction pegs, and set it up with a minstrel-style bridge and Aquila Nylgut strings. It now plays, essentially, the same as a nicer 1870s-era flushfret banjo -- and shines in this role.

I only had to give it a quick setup (and added a neck joint reinforcement bolt) when it came here for consignment, but otherwise left it alone.

Repairs included: a setup and addition of a neck-reinforcement-bolt at the heel. This only had friction-set ebony wedges set into the neck brace and those are not to be relied-upon.

Setup notes: it plays spot-on with 3/32" action at the 12th "fret" and a quick feel. Strings are Aquila Nylguts with a "red" low D string. Tuning is normal gDGBD at the moment and the string gauge is set for that.

Scale length: 26 1/4"

Nut width: 1 3/16"

String spacing at nut: 15/16"

String spacing at bridge: 1 11/16"

Head diameter: 10 1/2"

Rim depth: 2 1/4"

Rim material: maple w/nickel-silvered-brass cladding & integral "hoop" tonering

Neck wood: cherry?

Fretboard wood: ebonized maple or similar

Bridge: maple w/mysterywood top

Neck feel: slim/medium C/V-shape, flat board

Condition notes: someone did a good job restoring this already -- the pot and all of its hardware has been cleaned-up shiny and so has the neck. It's original finish throughout, though, and all of the original rim hardware is (amazingly) extant. Check out how many hooks this guy's got! Clearly, though, it's been modified into a fretless player.