Old Photo help...who is she and what year is that gibson banjo?

[J.Albert]

JL277z wrote:
"Also the hoop is notched"

No, the hoop IS NOT notched.
Look at the lower (treble side) of the tension hoop.

The "notching" you're perceiving is from light/shadow -- from the plating being so new it reflected the lighting in different ways.

This cannot be a ball bearing TB3 because the ball bearings used a different style of securing the flange to the resonator.

BB's used a hole drilled directly into the flange plate, and they have a small "hex nut" that secures it.

Banjos after the BB's (the solid archtop of 1927) have a larger "thumbscrew" that protrudes through the cutouts in the resonator.

Look again at the pic you "cleaned up".
You can clearly see the "later style" resonator thumbscrew.

Don't want to get into a p'ing contest.
If you want a real confirmation, post this pic o'er at banjohangout.org.

[rcc56]

"If you want a real confirmation, post this pic o'er at banjohangout.org."
I doubt that you will get full agreement over there, either.

The photoshop work is very well done, but the ridge under the head 1" from the outside edge can be clearly seen on banjos with both the ball-bearing system and the archtop tone ring. Reference any of the early model 3 Mastertones on the www.earnestbanjo.com website.

I will, however, defer to the comments about the resonator screws. That might be as good an indicator of 1927 or later as anything else.

I will also note that some of the early 10 1/2" trap door period banjos also had notched hoops. I have one in front of me now. It's risky to write anything in stone when the subject is Gibson banjos.

At any rate, we'll hope that the apparently talented young woman did indeed have an archtop.

[Jess L.]

Re notched hoop:

No, the hoop IS NOT notched.
Look at the lower (treble side) of the tension hoop. The "notching" you're perceiving is from light/shadow -- from the plating being so new it reflected the lighting in different ways.

I have to politely disagree.

The lower part of the hoop looks even *more* clearly notched. See additional enlarged pics below. Maybe our screens are displaying things differently? Of course I know that shiny things can trick the eyes, but in this instance I'm seeing clearly-defined notches. Make sure to click each pic however many times it takes to make it full-size:



and



and

Don't want to get into a p'ing contest.
If you want a real confirmation, post this pic o'er at banjohangout.org.

Lol well I can barely keep track of my posts here at this forum, don't need posts at another forum too. However, if the OP wants to post any of these enhanced/enlarged pics there, that's cool.

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Re archtop:

... the ridge under the head 1" from the outside edge can be clearly seen on banjos with both the ball-bearing system and the archtop tone ring. ...

Ah, ok I see now... missed that earlier... Siminoff writes that in 1925, Gibson "modified" the existing ball bearing setup to create the "first arch top profile" (see figure 5 on the Siminoff page), so yeah according to Siminoff a 1925 model could be both ball-bearing *and* look like an archtop:

"A major design change occurred in 1925 with the introduction of the modified ball bearing tone chamber. ... The banjo head had two contact points, giving it the first "arch top" profile."

(bold and colors added for clarity)

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Re "hijacking":

Can these last few posts be moved to a thread of their own so they don't inadvertently hijack the original thread. ...

With all due respect, the "last few posts" prior to the above, consisted of:

• Post #24, the OP adding tangentially relevant new material to their own thread.
• Post #23, response to other relevant posts responding to OP.
• Post #22, info about banjo. OP had specifically requested help with determining what year the banjo was.
• Post #21, the OP adding new material to their own thread.
• Post #20, relevant info especially in 3rd paragraph (in response to someone else who'd asked for banjoists' input as to whether the hand positions etc looked legit).

The OP (mandotool) specifically asked for info about what year the banjo was manufactured:

"...still could use a little help with the banjo year?? ..."

And the title of the thread itself should be sufficient to allow relevant banjo discussion without non-OP worries of hijacking:

"Old Photo help...who is she and what year is that gibson banjo?"

For what it's worth, if the hits at the top of Google search results for "what is hijacking a thread" are of any validity, then those aforementioned posts did *not* hijack the thread:

From Reddit (whoever the heck they are, lol):

"What does "hijacking" a thread or comment mean?

"It means to take over the thread with your own questions or stories, rather than just answer the question OP posted."

So... OP specific questions being addressed (not hijacking), OP added their own additional info to their own thread (not hijacking)...

(Although, complaints of hijacking (by persons who are *not* the OP), and subsequent rebuttals from people like me (who maybe would be better off to simply ignore the non-OP complaints of hijacking, except I don't like being accused of stuff I didn't do), may very well be in that category. So I will refrain from further comment on "hijacking" lest next time the OP decide that the non-hijacking argument itself is hijacking.

Anyway... still would be nice to find out more about that pic. And FWIW, I also enjoy the other pics that the OP posted of other ladies playing Gibson instruments from that same era of 1920/1930s, IMO it adds valuable context to the picture in the first post.

[Timbofood]

That’s a notched stretcher band for sure.

[mandotool]

Can these last few posts be moved to a thread of their own so they don't inadvertently hijack the original thread. Both are interesting, and both deserve their own focused discussion. Thanks.

I take it you're asking for an additional thread about the young lady with the Gibson Mandocello+Guitar ?yes?
Probably some merit to this ..this being the "Mandolin" cafe and all...
Also, the photos might have a better chance of being found by those interested in Gibson Mandocellos and Style O's..and even her extended family for that matter..
full disclosure...I was reluctant ...but in a moment of weakness did cross into the Banjo side of the cafe to post this on their forum but found it was closed...

[Russ Donahue]

I take it you're asking for an additional thread about the young lady with the Gibson Mandocello+Guitar ?yes?
Probably some merit to this ..this being the "Mandolin" cafe and all...
Also, the photos might have a better chance of being found by those interested in Gibson Mandocellos and Style O's..and even her extended family for that matter..
full disclosure...I was reluctant ...but in a moment of weakness did cross into the Banjo side of the cafe to post this on their forum but found it was closed...

Exactly what I was asking.

Not dissing JL277z. Just hoping that two interesting discussions could be made more accessible.

For any and all who took my request as some manner of criticism, please accept my apology for the poor choice of word in "hijack."

(Though I was polite, and did say "please.")

Thank you Mandotool for " translating" on my behalf.

Russ

[J.Albert]

I have to correct myself.
That is a "notched" tension hoop that -was- used in models 1927 and later. We can clearly see that the banjo is using round hooks as well.

In my post #26 above, I had meant to say that it was not one of the "grooved" hoops -- as used in the earlier style (on the ball bearings) that used "flat" hooks instead of round ones.
The banjo is a TB-3, probably 1927 or 1928.

The poster I was responding too called it "notched" when I believe he meant to say "grooved". I mistakenly used "notched" instead of "grooved".