1922 Vega Style M Tubaphone Tenor Banjo

This is a local customer's Vega tenor. Like many early-'20s professional-grade instruments, it has an oddly-large rim (11 3/4") and shorter scale length (~21") which happen to be just about ideal if you're the type of player who picks "Celtic" in GDAE octave mandolin tuning. The shorter scale gives it a faster feel for melody playing while the large rim boosts the warmth on the low G string.

Personally, I'm more into the '70s/'80s Irish tenor banjo sound which focuses on bright and very loud instruments that have resonators (and not much bass, but plenty of snap to the G so that it cuts through) but that's not nearly as desirable to the average modern player who wants something that sounds full and is rewarding outside of a band context as well -- like this.

Anyhow, this guy has a Tubaphone tonering which certainly helps it along a lot, too, giving it plenty of punch and fundamental-forward clarity. One interesting detail on this particular banjo are the weirdo Page geared tuners. They're not original (and are usually found on Lange builds -- Orpheum and Paramount) but they work decently and are period.

Repairs were simple on this -- I reset/reglued the dowel and a split heel and then set it up. Someone had already refretted it at some point and the job was good enough so I didn't level and dress the frets as well.