1920s Wurlitzer Archtop Tenor Banjo

I took this neat old Wurlitzer-branded tenor banjo in trade recently. Banjos of this style are often branded "Concertone" or "Slingerland" but I think the lot of them were made by Regal in Chicago for the various distributors and retail brands. I can't confirm it, but I'm almost certain about it.

That said -- brand doesn't really matter -- this is simply a nice little archtop-tonering, short-scale tenor banjo. I have it currently tuned to CGDA standard (archtop tenors often sound great in it) but there's no reason it couldn't be restrung and setup for whatever other tuning you might enjoy -- DGBE like guitar or baritone uke, low-G GCEA like a uke, GDAE like an octave mandolin... though the latter would be a "bright/poppy" sound like '70s Celtic tenor banjo and wouldn't have the round-sounding bass a lot of people like out of a GDAE instrument these days.

Work was average for an instrument of this sort, but post-repairs it plays spot-on and quick and it's sturdy, rugged, and reliable.

Repairs included: fret level/dress, bolt-reinforcement for neck joint, new bridge, Remo synthetic head install, side dots added, cleaning, setup.


Rim wood: maple multi-ply

Tonering: inset archtop-style hoop ring

Bridge: old Grover 2-foot

Fretboard: ebonized maple

Neck wood: maple 2-piece


Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (quick!)
String gauges: 32w, 20w, 13, 9

Neck shape: medium V/C

Board radius: flat

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium-low


Scale length: 20 7/8"

Nut width: 1 3/16"

Head diameter: 10 3/4"

Depth overall at rim: 2 5/8"

Weight: 4 lbs 7 oz


Condition notes: it's mostly-original but does have a replacement head, one replacement hook+nut, and a later vintage bridge. One of the tuner ferrules is also not original. It's in good overall shape looks-wise. The frets are lower but have plenty of life left in them. One nice feature are geared tuners at the headstock. They're original and while they're only 2:1 ratio, they're a lot better than the usual for the time (friction pegs) and look neat and hold pitch.















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