1920s Slingerland MayBell Resonator Tenor Banjo (Baritone Uke Setup)

This is a nice, well-built old tenor banjo that someone modified into a short-neck 5-string banjo at one point. That mod has been removed and so there's a little fill on the bass side of the neck. The neck itself is also a little thinner than typical for these banjos at the time and so, when I strung it with still, it upbowed a bit. I decided to remove the steel strings and instead set it up as a "baritone banjo ukulele" with all-plain fluorocarbon strings for DGBE tuning. In this format, the neck stays straight and it yields a more-interesting, fun sound. It can do the "tenor banjo thing" of chord-chopping but also the "banjo uke thing" of flitting between fingerpicked uke sounds, clawhammery sounds, and jazz-chord voicings picked or strummed.

Other work was the usual -- I reinforced the neck joint area with a couple of bolts to keep it stable, the frets got a level/dress, and I set it all up spot-on. It's sturdy, good to go, and ready to make some good music. Strings should not be hard to come by despite the different scale -- regular baritone uke strings will feel over-tense unless tuned down a step or two, but any classical guitar set's DGBE strings will work fine and heavier 5-string banjo Nylgut strings will be fine for DGBE tuning as well. Just let me know if there's a preferred tuning and I can suggest something to taste.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, cleaning, double bolts added to the neck brace area, setup work, etc.

Weight: 8 lbs 11 oz

Scale length: 22 7/8"

Nut width: 1 3/16"

Neck shape: slim-medium V

Board radius: flat

Head diameter: 10 7/8"

Resonator diameter: 13 1/8"

Depth overall at rim: 3 1/4"

Rim wood: ply maple

Tonering: donut-style

Bridge: maple/ebony

Fretboard: ebonized maple

Neck wood: 2 piece figured maple

Action height at 12th fret: 1/16” overall (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: D'Addario EJ99TLG (low G tenor uke: works for DGBE baritone uke tuning)

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: lower/smaller

Condition notes: it's mostly-original but does have a replacement head and bridge, the tailpiece might be later but is old, the neck was modified at some point to add a 5th peg and pip (since removed and filled), an d there's a small section of replacement binding at the neck.

It comes with: I'm pretty sure it has a hard case hanging-about.

Consignor tag: JW