1920s Paramount/Triple X (Lange-made) Frankenstein Tenor Banjo

When my friend Charlie came in and left me with this cool old Paramount Leader rim to do something with, I immediately thought of this tenor banjo neck which I'd recently purchased. The rim is a little later (mid-late '20s) and the neck is a little earlier (early '20s) but, with a minor amount of effort, they've mated nicely. Both are Lange-made products -- the Triple X neck was meant for a slightly-less-fancy line of banjos than the Paramount or Orpheum brands but many of them had an archtop tonering similar to what's in this rim. So, even though this is a Frankenstein build, it's still a build "all in the same family."

Strangely-enough, they match well aesthetically, too. The Paramount rim has Brazilian rosewood veneer and it's a similar color to the mahogany of the Triple X neck. At a glance, the banjo looks right! It's an interesting mix of design, too, as this has a short-scale neck (20 7/8" -- often a favorite of Celtic banjo players Stateside) mated to a powerful, loud, and focused rim design usually associated with long-scale (23") tenor necks. This gives you the snappy, bright, clean, and focused sound of the Paramount rim but with a more retro feel. It's perfect for folks looking for a nice "lap banjo" for chording or for fiery lead and melody work.

Extra amenities include a fresh set of Gotoh geared pegs with an antiqued finish and a new Remo Renaissance head. Post-repairs it plays spot-on and is ready to go. I can restring and retune it however you desire, but currently it's tuned DGBE "Chicago" tuning which is useful for the chord-savvy among us. I think it would make a killer GDAE-tuned "Celtic" tenor, however as it's got a ton of power and volume.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, cobbling-together the bits, new Gotoh geared pegs, new bridge, new head, setup, etc.

Weight: 6 lbs 11 oz

Scale length: 20 7/8"

Nut width: 1 1/8"

Neck shape: medium V

Board radius: flat

Head diameter: 11 1/8"

Depth overall at rim: 2 3/4"

Rim wood: multi-ply maple

Tonering: archtop Paramount-style

Bridge: ebony/maple 2-foot

Fretboard: ebonized maple

Neck wood: mahogany

Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 32w, 22w, 16, 12 for DGBE tuning (can be restrung/setup for whatever desired)

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: low/small

Condition notes: each part is actually in pretty good shape save that the neck has a previously repaired heel crack. It's solid and good to go and appears to have been fixed ages ago. My "cobbling" job was not perfect and I used a couple of screws to tension-up the neck to the rim and various shims to get it set at the right angle. It's not gorgeous if you spend ages looking at it but it's solid and good to go.

It comes with: an original (for the rim) hard case -- a little loose but, with padding, will be nice.

Consignor tag: B52