1930 Vega Vegaphone Artist Resonator Tenor Banjo

It's been a while since I had a Vegaphone Artist in the shop and it's nice to have another one through. This was just in for mild setup work but, as you'd expect, once it was playing spot-on it not only played beautifully but it also became a screamer. It's got cut and snap and a nice clarity (without harshness).

High-end tenor banjos were really the electric guitars of their day (loud, proud, and used by "shredders" of their day) and gold-plated, whiz-bang tenors like this are akin to the Super 400 of the guitar world.

It's got all of it -- fancy, engraved inlay throughout, a carved heel, neck backstrapping, a pie-plate resonator, and robust hardware all over.