I have never seen a mandolin banjo quite like this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1920...p2056016.l4276
I can't even imagine how heavy and loud it must be...
I have never seen a mandolin banjo quite like this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1920...p2056016.l4276
I can't even imagine how heavy and loud it must be...
It looks like a Fairbanks-Vega Style S with some sort of retrofitted resonator -- except for the squared-off end of the fretboard, which might just be a manufacturing variation.
I'm not sure that the metal resonator would add that much weight; it looks pretty thin-walled to me. If it has the Tu-Ba-Phone tone ring it might be loud, fer shur. All Vega instruments that I've seen have been marked on the dowel stick inside the pot, with stamped trademark and serial number; my Little Wonder mandolin-banjo is marked that way. Perhaps the seller has not pulled off the resonator; if that were done, we might find "Vega" markings.
Anyway, the "art" on the head's pretty cool. I couldn't get the link above to work well; here's another one with the eBay URL:
link
Later: bother, that link sends me to VigLink instead of eBay too. Better to access eBay and search on "Vintage 1920 Vega Banjo Mandolin w/Resonator" or some such.
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
Those were aftermarket resonators.
Right click on the link and open in a new tab. Scott has been trying to get that fixed. It only happens with certain browsers.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
It definitely looks Vega, but more to me like a White Laydie.
THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!
9 bids so far and over $260 with five days to go. Shipping alone is over $50 so I wonder how heavy this thing is?
I agree that it looks like an after-market resonator. I have an Elton that will fit on my Tubaphone tenor but not with a metal back. I woud guess tho that the metal is probably thin or possibly aluminum, so wouldn't add too much weight. As pops1 says, the Tubaphones and Whyte Laydies are super heavy by themselves.
If the seller removes the resonator, the style and model should be on the dowelstick.
Jim
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1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
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