1920s Vega/Bacon Frankenstein Tenor Banjo

Overview: This cute little banjo is a Frankenstein mix of an early-'20s Vega Little Wonder short-scale tenor banjo neck with a same-period rim of another make with a Bacon-style "donut" tonering. It may even be a Bacon rim from when Lange was building for the company -- pre-Groton. This was made from parts left-over from deconstructing other monsters brought into the shop and I'm glad I could at least reconcile era and intent in this instrument. This would be a great banjo for Celtic-stlye play in GDAE tuning due to the short scale (good for melody work) as well as the bright, chipper CGDA tuning it's currently strung for.

Interesting features: It has geared tuners (vintage) already at the headstock, which helps right away. The head is my favorite type (Remo Renaissance) and it has a good wire-style armrest as well. I put it together "Epiphone-style" with the neck just bolted-on to the rim without a support dowel or rod running through the middle. It's holding tension perfectly-fine and the setup has not budged a bit since stringing it up a couple weeks ago. I really like the sound of these "donut" tonerings -- they're a lot like Little Wonder rings on Vegas but have a little more sustain and a cleaner, more-crisp overall tone.

Repairs included: I'd previously repaired binding and given the neck a level/dress of the frets. My other work on this was mating the neck to the rim and then setting it all up and adjusting it. I scrounged a tailpiece and endbolt from my parts-bins. It's playing spot-on and ready to serve.

• Weight: 5 lbs 5 oz
• Scale length: 20 7/8"
• Nut width: 1 1/8"
• Neck shape: medium V
• Board radius: flat
• Head diameter: 11”
• Depth overall at rim: 2 7/8"
• Rim wood: ply maple
• Tonering: Bacon-style "donut" ring
• Bridge: ebony/maple
• Fretboard: ebonized maple
• Neck wood: maple 2-piece
• Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 32w, 22w, 14, 9 for CGDA tuning
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: low/small

Condition notes: Due to the Frankenstein nature of the instrument there are some visual flaws seen mostly in the interior of the rim. You can see the hole where the old dowel would have fit and you can see some plugging from the last guy's work at the tailpiece side of the rim. The armrest and tailpiece are not original to the rim but the rest appears to be. The Vega neck is entirely original to itself except for some replacement binding here and there along the fretboard edges.

It comes with: Sorry, no case.

Consignor tag: JW/MNSN