1920s Slingerland MayBell Openback Tenor Banjo

How many of these have I worked-on? So many! I took this one in locally a while back and finally put it all together as I'm trying to clear-out some trade-ins.

These are always great, practical, simple tenor banjos. They're plentiful, too, and available in a wide variety of random tonerings. This one lacks a metal tonering but it has a pretty extremely-shaped upper rim which acts a bit like a sweeter-sounding version of the standard "hoop" tonering setup.

I'm pretty-much certain that Regal made these instruments for Slingerland as I've seen a few with the Regal mark and I've seen the same instrument (more or less) in tons of other brands as well. They're also almost identical (save trim) to early-'20s Regal catalog banjos.

I have it setup for standard steel-string CGDA tuning, though I can adjust it to whatever taste the end-player desires. I like these a lot tuned to CGCG (open C modal) plus a capo to move-around into different keys. That makes an excellent recording buddy for droney tunes.

Post-work it's solid, plays perfectly, and is ready to go.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, side dots install, new Gotoh 4:1 geared pegs at the headstock ($75ish value), new Remo Renaissance head ($25ish value), new Grover 2-foot vintage-style bridge, added "neck bolt" neck attachment (vs the shim-style attachment which was missing), cleaning, and setup.

Rim wood: ply maple

Tonering: none, shaped wooden rim

Bridge: 2-foot ebony/maple

Fretboard: ebonized maple

Neck wood: maple

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

Neck shape: medium C/V

Board radius: flat

Truss rod: none

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: low/smaller

Scale length: 21"

Nut width: 1 1/4"

Head diameter: 10 3/4"

Depth overall at rim: 2 3/4"

Weight: 3 lbs 8 oz (light!)

Condition notes: the tuners, tailpiece, bridge, neck bolt, and head are unoriginal. Some of the hooks and nuts are same-era replacements. Otherwise it is original throughout. It has lots of finish wear and tear and much of the hardware has tarnish but it is in good order. The headstock MayBell decal is all but gone but I've seen enough of them to know that it would read "May-Bell" at the headstock.