1924 Weymann Style 140 Resonator Tenor Banjo
Overview: As I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of Weymann instruments for the restraint of their styling mixed with the rugged, sturdy builds they're known for. They make good "professional" instruments because of their design philosophy and, tonewise, are very similar to Vega's offerings. This tenor banjo is fairly plain in the looks department but definitely has plenty of sound to write home about and is a quick player.
Tone: It's dry, poppy, loud, and snappy. It'll carry easily in a jam and has good cut.
Feel: Despite a medium-depth V-neck, it plays quick and easy and can flit around doing chord-melody work or lots of fast single-notes, no problem.
Interesting features: The pop-on/pop-off resonator is nice to have (no hooks! no latches! no bolts!) as it allows for easy conversion to openback when you want to step the volume down a bit. All of the hardware throughout is rugged and well-thought-out and this has the classic Weymann neck brace/stabilizer bar that acts a bit like a coordinator rod down the back of the rim. This gives the instrument much more of a stiff build that helps to keep it playing spot-on all the time.
Repairs included: Tim gave it a level/dress of the frets, cleaning, and setup work. It plays bang-on and is ready to go.
- Weight: 6 lbs 10 oz
- Scale length: 22"
- Nut width: 1 1/8"
- Neck shape: medium V
- Board radius: flat
- Head diameter: 11”
- Resonator diameter: 12 3/4"
- Depth overall at rim: 3 1/4"
- Rim wood: ply maple
- Tonering: hoop in sleeve (Little Wonder-style)
- Bridge: maple/ebony
- Fretboard: ebony
- Neck wood: maple
- Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall(fast, spot-on)
- String gauges: 32w, 20w, 13, 9 for CGDA tuning
- Neck relief: straight
- Fret style: small/narrow
Condition notes: It's quite clean with little wear and tear throughout but does have a replacement (synthetic) head and bridge. It has original 1:1 friction pegs at the headstock which are a little bit more of a nuisance to use than geared pegs, though they do hold pitch just fine. It would be easy to upgrade to geared pegs of some sort but they do cost a bit.
It comes with: It has its original hard case in decent shape.
Consignor tag: KTZ
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