1924 Gibson CB-4 Cello Banjo

Right? How about them apples? Gibson cello banjos are just not everywhere. This one is in excellent shape and appears all-original save the nut, bridge, and head. It has a giant, 14" head and while the FiberSkyn head is on the darker/woofier side of tone, that combined with the flatwound strings on it gives the instrument more of a "cello" vibe in its mellowness and roundness.

The owner had brought this for show and tell the last time he was up but we didn't have time to work on it at all. This time around I got it dialed-in and it's now a true player.

The worst "setup-side" snafu is that Gibson fit a nice steel tension rod in the fretboard extension to give it some stiffness. Unfortunately, as the instrument aged the fretboard must have shrunken a little and so the steel flexed into an upbow as it was fixed in place in the rosewood. This made a "ski-jump" over the head and so dialing-in the action wasn't possible until it was addressed. I excavate the end of this bit of steel, bent it into a little bit of a backbow, and then re-fit it into its slot in the backside of the rosewood. This solved the problem. After that, a level/dress of the frets and a setup was all it needed to be playing perfectly.