1963 Vega Pete Seeger Longneck 5-String Banjo

This is a local customer's banjo and he bought it as "the gigger." He had gone through several other longneck instruments before finally plunking the coin down to get the original longneck. I've worked-on many '60s and '70s longneck instruments from Gibson, Harmony, Framus, and others, but this is only the second "original Vega" that I've worked-on. The one before that is a beaut owned by none-other than Pete's nephew!

Work on this one required a bit of struggle -- Tim did much of it and that involved a level/dress of the frets, repair to an ever-splitting heel, mod of the heel/rim attachment to a double-bolted system, filling "detuner" holes at the headstock (Tim did an above-the-pay-grade job there, it looks great), fitting of a compensated bridge, and some setup work. I installed some fifth-string railroad-spike capos (a tricky job with frets this low) and aided Tim here and there when necessary. These can be quirky instruments to work on...!

As you might expect, it has a robust, full, punchy, and loud sound to it.