1920s Epiphone Mayfair Resonator Tenor Banjo

It's been ages since I had an Epiphone tenor banjo in here. It's nice to have one "in the house" again! This one was dropped-off via a consignor and it was pretty-much clean and in its case, but had obviously been super-well-loved. There was a ton of fretwear and grime all over the fretboard and the original head has "beauty marks" of grime from decades of play.

Epiphone Mayfair models like this guy were lower on the Epiphone totem pole, but are equally as good as many Gibson-model resonator tenors from the '30s and beyond. They're loud, snappy, poppy-sounding, bright, and clean -- and boy do they project. One does need to dial them in, though, just like any other banjo, to get them operating at peak.

Work on this was average, but I did give it a little extra boost by way of a fresh new Renaissance head and Gotoh 4:1 tuners at the headstock (the original friction pegs were funky and, unfortunately, wanted to pull the headstock seams apart when tensioned).

Post-repairs it plays perfectly and is good to go. There's no mistaking when you have a pro-level tenor banjo like this in the hands -- it just feels great.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, peghead wing-seam repair, side dots install, new Remo Renaissance head install, new Gotoh relic'd tuners install, cleaning, setup, etc.

Rim wood: multi-ply maple

Tonering: tall hoop ring

Bridge: 2-foot Grover maple/ebony

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: mahogany

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

Neck shape: medium-deeper soft V

Board radius: flat

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: smaller/narrow

Scale length: 23"

Nut width: 1 1/16"

Head diameter: 11”

Resonator diameter: 13 1/2"

Depth overall at rim: 3"

Weight: 7 lbs 9 oz

Condition notes: it's clean and mostly-original -- the tuners, head, and bridge are swapped but all of that equipment is in the case! The finish shows wear and tear here and there throughout but mostly along the sides of the resonator where there are a bunch of scuffs. Still, it looks great. There are divots in the fretboard but they don't affect playability. The hardware on the rim is all original and in good order but the plating through the hardware shows wear and oxidation.

It comes with: an original hard case in beat-but-worthy shape. The handle is replaced with simple rope.