1890s Thompson & O'Dell 5-String Banjo

This banjo is what folks consider a "lady's banjo" or "A-scale" instrument. It's nicely-built and has a good, sweet sound to it. The quirky inlays and headstock shape also give it some flair.

My work was, however, limited by the owner's request to "only do a setup." Oh, world!

I wound-up very lightly leveling frets, fitting a better bridge, making new shims for the neck brace, and various other little tweaks. It would have been nice to ditch the wooden friction pegs in favor of at least an old mechanical friction peg set from my parts-bins (I have dozens of sets of 1890s freebie pegs in there) and then also a restring with a heavier-gauge Nylgut set to suit the shorter scale length but, well... not in the cards! The current clear-nylon strings work fine but are really loosey-goosey feeling at this scale.