Unidentified banjolin

[thks]

Hello everybody!

Thank you for this great site. I am looking for information about a banjolin I've linked here:

http://kotiweb.kotiportti.fi/~w475865/banjolin/bm01.jpg
http://kotiweb.kotiportti.fi/~w475865/banjolin/bm02.jpg
http://kotiweb.kotiportti.fi/~w475865/banjolin/bm03.jpg
http://kotiweb.kotiportti.fi/~w475865/banjolin/bm04.jpg

There is three deep stamped "ges. gesch No" labels, that suggest me it might be german made? Whole body and back is made of 1 mm-2 mm thick metal and it weights nearly 2,3 kilos. Resonator head seems to be somekind of leather. Condition is run-down, the banjolin was found from Finland during worldwar II.

Can anybody recognize this model? I would be very thankful for any information. Thank you very much!

[allenhopkins]

Apparently the "ges. gesch." followed by a number, is the German equivalent of a US patent number; here's an explanation from an on-line "answer" site: (http://www.answerbag.com/)

Ges Gesch is an abbreviation for gesetzlich geschützt. Gesetzlich translates from German to English as legal, legitimate, by law. Geschützt translates from German to English as protected or sheltered. Ergo the translation means: legally protected.

So your guess of German manufacture is a good one. And the "leather" head is probably calfskin, which was pretty much standard for banjo heads.

Beyond that, it's based sorta on the British style of mandolin-banjo manufacture, with the head tension adjustable by bolts accessed from the front of the body, and a "plate" resonator on the back, that doesn't extend beyond the diameter of the shell. If you remove the back plate, which may be do-able with the center mounting bolt, you may find some manufacturer's label inside. Or you may not.*

If you were a really avid researcher, possibly you could research the German patent number, though that might be a monumental task, as we're talking pre-WWII here. From the pictures, it appears to be a run-of-the-mill quality, with little ornamentation, one that a German soldier in Finland might have carried in his pack, or that could have been imported from Germany before the war.

I'd be pretty pessimistic regarding a specific maker ID, unless someone here just happens to recognize it.

* Forgot that the head is torn, so you can look inside without taking the resonator off. Probably you've already done that...

[Bertram Henze]

Looks like Bilbo Baggins took it to Mirkwood and back again.
Apart from that, Allen's German interpretation is correct. "ges. gesch." means the patent was approved, not just pending. To find out about that patent number however, I'm afraid you'd have to go to Berlin to browse through their lists (http://www.dpma.de/amt/aufgaben/auskunftsstellenundrecherchesaele/historischepatenteberlin/index.html).

[G7MOF]

I've never seen an Oval hole Banjolin before!!!

[Bertram Henze]

Oval hole Banjolin

It has opened up over time...