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Thread: gibson tenor banjo

  1. #1
    Registered User pezdork's Avatar
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    Default gibson tenor banjo

    im trying to find out some information for a friend on a gibson tenor banjo. He is trying to sell it for like $400...and not having luck. Id buy it, but a 20's gibson sock seems like it should be worth more and my concious isnt letting me do it. What should he be asking and if there are any takers email me and ill hook you up...just dont rip him off or ill hunt you down.

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    Last edited by pezdork; Jun-01-2011 at 12:49pm. Reason: typos
    Johnson A mandolin
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  2. #2
    Registered User pezdork's Avatar
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    ok im guessing he has a fake now. i cant find another gibson with that headstock or a steel resonator. bummer for him i guess.
    Johnson A mandolin
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  3. #3
    Registered User pezdork's Avatar
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    AH HA!

    http://www.earnestbanjo.com/gibson_banjo_TB_349.htm

    its the original gibson TB! their first banjo produced from 1918-1924 (i havent really checked it out yet so i dont know more than that) cool. Now im even tempted to rip him off
    Johnson A mandolin
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    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    You mean a headstock like this 1918 TB-1, $900 at Gruhn's? I'm guessing the aluminum resonator may be a retrofit; several companies like Elton made resonators to fit existing banjos. Your friend has one of the earliest Gibson banjos, even before the "trap-door" resonator, probably late teens. According to Simonoff, the first Gibson tenor banjo was listed in their catalog in late 1918, and the earliest resonators were the "trap-door" variety, which suggests to me that the metal resonator was added. But a real Gibson expert might know if Gibson put resonators like that on their earliest models.

    Probably an instrument for a collector, as an example of the very early Gibson design, rather than for a player. I'd guess that, advertised in the right place, your friend could get substantially more than $400 for it.
    Allen Hopkins
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    Registered User pezdork's Avatar
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    well he is a fool and just wants quick cash now...damn, i hope im not getting scammed by a not very close friend.

    $400 is a lot of money to me.
    Johnson A mandolin
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    Quote Originally Posted by allenhopkins View Post
    But a real Gibson expert might know if Gibson put resonators like that on their earliest models.
    I'm not a Gibson expert but that resonator doesn't have to be made by Gibson. I've got a 1930 John Grey & Sons open back banjo that has a similar aluminium resonator. It was attached to the dowel stick by a clamp so it was easy to remove. My guess is you could buy those resonators and attach it to any open back banjo if you needed it.

    Look at it like a capo. Sometimes you need it, sometimes you don't.

  7. #7
    Registered User pezdork's Avatar
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    now im super stressed...i sure hope i can sell it for at least $500 or my wife will kill me with it...would its use in a murder increase its provenance? if it ends up being a fake or with replaced parts that trash its value...think positive!
    Johnson A mandolin
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  8. #8
    Registered User pezdork's Avatar
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    Gibson TB 393... probably the oldest thing ive ever owned. Elton Retrofit Resonator (it sounds better with it off) and original case...pretty cool for not being a mandolin :P
    Johnson A mandolin
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  9. #9
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    Wouldn't hurt to get it authenticated, but if Gruhn can sell one for $900, you should be able to get $500... Remember, it may have more value to a collector, as a very early example of a Gibson banjo, than to a musician, as it's "pre-Mastertone" and has no tone ring, plus some lower-end strip tuners rather than the later planetary pegs.

    Good luck!
    Allen Hopkins
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  10. #10
    Registered User pezdork's Avatar
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    thanks for your help Allen. Funny now my wife wants me to keep it...i only bought the weird looking thing to help a friend and try to fund my mandolin build...we shall see.
    Johnson A mandolin
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    Last edited by Ted Eschliman; Jun-02-2011 at 7:13pm. Reason: Posting violation
    Johnson A mandolin
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    Maybe I'm stupid, but this all sounds very weird to me. Within a couple of hours you tell us you don't want to rip off your friend, you ask for advise re the value, buy it from your friend and put in on Ebay for $800 without even knowing wether or not it's an original Gibson?

    I couldn't find it on Ebay. Could you give me a link?

  13. #13
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    Post deleted by Moderator. Please review Board Guidelines .
    Last edited by Ted Eschliman; Jun-02-2011 at 7:14pm.
    Johnson A mandolin
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  14. #14
    Registered User pezdork's Avatar
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    Ike i didnt want to rip my friend off. $400 is alot of money to me. when he told me he was selling it for that much i told him to put it on ebay. he said it was too much trouble and someone offered him $200 for it...so i said id so the leg work and i did but he is either stupid or lazy and was totally gonna take $200 for it. So i said id give him the $400 (which again is a lot of money to me). I am fairly certain from pictures ive seen of the real deal that its the real thing. if you think its not let me know and ill certainly shoot myself in the head.
    Johnson A mandolin
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    Hehehe, you don't have to shoot yourself :-) and I apologize if my post sounded a bit crude. But then, it all happened very fast and I probably would have handled this different e.g. would have had an expert take a look at it before offering it on Ebay.
    No offence intended.

  16. #16
    Registered User 8ch(pl)'s Avatar
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    If it is in playable condition, $400 is a bargain.

  17. #17
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    Post deleted by Moderator. Please review Board Guidelines .
    Last edited by Ted Eschliman; Jun-02-2011 at 7:15pm.
    Johnson A mandolin
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    If it was mine, and believe me $400 is a lot of money for me as well, I would go for the first part of option 2 and the full option 3 :-)

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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    Personally, as a tenor banjo player, I think your starting bid of $800 is far too high for this, but hey, that's just one gal's opinion. Also, in the event you go with option 3) and try to learn how to play the tenor, you can actually tune it GDAE as well and not have to transpose tunes etc - that's the tuning favoured by folks who play irish traditional music, vs. CGDA, which would be used more for jazz playing.

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    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    OK: when I click on your eBay link, no pix appear, and you're not going to sell this banjo unless prospective buyers can take a look at it. Period. What you have is a rarity, one of the earliest Gibson banjos; however, it's a lot more interesting to a collector than to a musician. Probably sounds inferior to the tenor banjos from the 1920's and '30's that have tone rings, standard-type resonators rather than the "internal" metal bowl, and in many cases longer necks.

    As I linked, Gruhn's selling one at $900, but he deals extensively with collectors, overseas buyers etc., and has a decades-long rep for stocking high-end vintage collectible instruments. Were I in your shoes, with $400 into a banjo that might be worth twice that, I'd consider consigning it with a dealer that already has a clientele of collectors who might be interested. The general-purpose tenor banjo buyer can find cheaper instruments that may be more suited to a banjo player. What he/she won't find, are very many pre-1920 Gibson banjos. People to whom vintage and rarity are most important, are the potential buyers you need to reach.
    Allen Hopkins
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  21. #21
    Registered User pezdork's Avatar
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    Post deleted by Moderator. Please review Board Guidelines .
    Last edited by Ted Eschliman; Jun-02-2011 at 7:18pm.
    Johnson A mandolin
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  22. #22
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: gibson tenor banjo

    Quote Originally Posted by pezdork View Post
    Weird...you are the second person who said that yet when i look at it they show up and i had a guy ask me a question about one of the pictures...
    There is definitely something wrong with your eBay posting, at least as far as my browser's concerned. No pix appear -- instead a message that "the seller has not posted any pictures" -- and your description is in a single column on the left side of the page, with a couple words on each line:
    This is
    the first
    banjo
    model
    Gibson
    produced.
    The Lot
    No. 393 is
    stamped
    on the
    center bar.
    etc..
    Also, your description states "pictures on request," which usually means no posted picture.
    Allen Hopkins
    Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
    Natl Triolian Dobro mando
    Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
    H-O mandolinetto
    Stradolin Vega banjolin
    Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
    Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
    Flatiron 3K OM

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