1930s Harmony-Made Armstrong Resonator Tenor Banjo

Overview: This is an early-'30s Harmony tenor banjo with the Armstrong mark. It's pretty typical of their mid-grade line, aimed at advanced students or semi-professional players. It has a simple hoop tonering, full-flange setup, resonator, adjustable tailpiece, and smart looks. It's definitely been played-in and worn-out here and there, but since Jose's worked on it, it's back to health and loud and proud.

Repairs included: Jose gave it a level/dress of the frets, repaired/replaced fretboard binding, fit a new Renaissance head, new bridge, cleaned it up, repaired a bit of damage to the resonator sidewall, and set it up. I helped him fit some Gotoh UPT pegs to the headstock (they work nice on old banjos as well as old ukes). It's playing spot-on and ready to go.

• Weight: 6 lbs 12 oz
• Scale length: 22 3/4"
• Nut width: 1 1/8"
• Neck shape: medium V
• Board radius: flat
• Depth at first fret: 0.83"
• Depth at seventh fret: 0.92"
• Head diameter: 11”
• Resonator diameter: 131/2”
• Depth overall at rim: 3"
• Rim wood: block poplar
• Tonering: hoop
• Bridge: modern ebony/maple
• Fretboard: ebonized maple
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overeall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 32w, 20w, 13, 9 for CGDA tuning
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: narrow/lower

Condition notes: It has plenty of old scratches, scuffs, nicks, and dings here and there. The resonator sidewall had been cracked and Jose fixed it up. There's an old heel repair (note the black spray paint and a hidden bolt in the neck heel) that's sturdy and functional. I added some through-rim bolts to attach the neck to the rim rather than use the original neck brace (it's more stable). The rim has a little compression damage by the neck joint (flange shape vs wood shape) but is stable and a non-issue aside from visually when you pop the resonator off and look at it closely.

It comes with: Sorry, no case.

Consignor tag: EJ/JW