2 old unknown banjos

[Robert Mitchell]

84229 I'd appreciate to have any info on these. A friend brought them to me ,finding them in the celler of his Mom's house. Actually in pretty good shape, straight necks, no cracks. need bridges, tuners,,ect.
Thet meas. approx. 21" long,,1 is 6" dia. 1 is 5 1/4" dia.
Thanks, Mitch

[onassis]

They appear to me to be banjo-ukeleles. I know absolutely zero about banjo-ukes. Good luck.:)

[John Ritchhart]

You had me at "unknown banjos" which is what they all should be. :whistling:

[Tim2723]

Those are indeed banjo ukuleles, likely soprano models. The lower one appears to be in the British style.

[pfox14]

They appear to be made by two completely different manufacturers. Can't say much more than that.

[allenhopkins]

Ukulele banjos. As Tim pointed out, the construction of the lower one in the photo, is consistent with the methods many English builders used: a solid wooden shell, and the head attached to an interior rim, stretcher band screwed on from the top. It appears to have a medallion on the headstock; is there a maker's ID on it?

The other is the more "standard" banjo construction, with exterior brackets. Lack of ornamentation and makers' labels leads me to think these may be pre-WWII "trade" instruments, built to be sold by large distributors or through catalogs. The heyday of this instrument -- to the extent it had a heyday -- was the 1920-30's. Ukulele banjos were actually quite popular in Great Britain, due to association with the singer/comedian George Formby. Many American makers included them in their product line, including Gibson, S S Stewart, etc.

Not much interest in them today. Fixed up with tuners, strings etc., you'd probably value them at less than $100 each.

[Tim2723]

But...if you get them up and running you can have $100 worth of fun. They're a real kick.

[Brutus1999]

But...if you get them up and running you can have $100 worth of fun. They're a real kick.

Yep, banjo ukes. I have a few that I bought to fix up and give to kids. Haven't fixed them up yet...hard to find plastic heads in the small sizes!

They were VERY popular in the 1920's on college campuses. They are tuned like a uke with nylon (or gut back in the day..) strings and despite the banjo head, they sound more like a uke than a banjo, though with a little more "sharpness" than a wooden uke.

Played like a uke. I used to disparage ukes, especially because PEOPLE CALLED MY MANDOLIN A UKE :disbelief: ! ! but actually, you can find some pretty cool uke music on Youtube.

Depending on the condition, those in the picture are worth anywhere from 25 to 70 dollars or so. You can find them on ebay and guesstimate prices from there. Properly set up, they can make some interesting music and might be especially good for a child to learn on. I suppose you could even string it like a mando, but they are more suited to chord playing than (rather weak) single string work!

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Tim2723 - "...The lower one appears to be in the British style." . They are indeed both old Ukulele-banjos.The lower one is very similar to the one that i started my musical endeavours on,apart from the fact that mine was fretted all the way to the pot. They simply need taking apart,cleaning & carefully re-assembling. Fitted with a good bridge & some decent strings,they should be fine. A nice little project with a worthwhile outcome i reckon,:grin:
Ivan;)

[Robert Mitchell]

Thanks everyone. Really appreciate the info.