Re: Vega mando type model publication?
I seem to have found a more complete version of the Vega numbers, by searching the Internet Archive. It includes Paul Ruppa's numbers above (post #10), but also both earlier and later numbers, as well as more Vega history. We should note that the working assumption here is that the Vega mandolin serial numbers are presumed to be the same as the Vega banjo serial numbers, which is what was actually being archived here. AFAIK, Vega seems to have used the same series of numbers, regardless of instrument type, chronologically from the beginning.
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Vega Serial Numbers
from internet archive, version April 18, 2016
FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS FROM INTERNET ARCHIVE. It came from an archived version of the whitetreeaz.com site:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160418...jomfg.htm#VEGA
Earliest Known Serial Number....Latest Known Number......Year
243............................................... .1875-1880
1741............................1988.............. .1891
2246............................2857.............. .1892
3707............................8662.............. .1893
(note: few 4000 thru 8000 numbers were used)
(note: few 10,000 thru 14,000 numbers were used)
9366............................9920.............. .1894
14000...........................14909............. .1895
15021...........................15843............. .1896
16029...........................16995............. .1897
FAIRBANKS & COLE BANJOS
77..............................691............... ..1880
983.............................1868.............. ..1881
1920............................2666.............. ..1882
2854............................3647.............. ..1883
4022............................4698.............. ..1884
4753............................5503.............. ..1885
5735............................6468.............. ..1886
6760............................7317.............. ..1887
7849............................8460.............. ..1888
9041............................9221.............. ..1889
A.C. FAIRBANKS/VEGA BANJOS
67..............................992............... ..1890
1464............................1638.............. ..1891
.................................................. ..1892
.................................................. ..1893
....(No information available)......................1894
.................................................. ..1895
.................................................. ..1896
16971.............................?............... ..1897
17021...........................17963............. ..1898
18026...........................18939............. ..1899
19124...........................19993............. ..1900
20107...........................20957............. ..1901
21237...........................21961............. ..1902
22002...........................22897............. ..1903
23071...........................23203............. ..1904
23255...........................23548............. ..1905
23560...........................23969............. ..1906
24092...........................24195............. ..1907
24337...........................24973............. ..1908
25083...........................25986............. ..1909
26023...........................26999............. ..1910
27027...........................27991............. ..1911
28062...........................28930............. ..1912
29029...........................29993............. ..1913
30492...........................30891............. ..1914
31462...........................31711............. ..1915
32290...........................32850............. ..1916
33282...........................33822............. ..1917
34273...........................34759............. ..1918
35017...........................37162............. ..1919
37829...........................39942............. ..1920
40071...........................45235............. ..1921
45608...........................50773............. ..1922
51279...........................56313............. ..1923
56656...........................62248............. ..1924
62419...........................67436............. ..1925
67518...........................72204............. ..1926
73075...........................78371............. ..1927
79025...........................83827............. ..1928
84124...........................87896............. ..1929
89729...........................94716............. ..1930
95374...........................97962............. ..1931
98314...........................98149............. ..1932
From 1933 we have a full sequence of numbers, and thus can date with certainty:
Starting Serial Number#........................#Year
98150...........................1933
98185...........................1934
98220...........................1935
98225...........................1936
98290...........................1937
98325...........................1938
98360...........................1939
98395...........................1940
98430...........................1941
98465...........................1942
98500...........................1943
98535...........................1944
98570...........................1945
98605...........................1946
98640...........................1947
98675...........................1948
98710...........................1949
98745...........................1950
98780...........................1951
98820...........................1952
98896...........................1953
98990...........................1954
99067...........................1955
99213...........................1956
99428...........................1957
99582...........................1958
99717...........................1959
100022..........................1960
100560..........................1961
101999..........................1962
These are the famous printer's error yellow labels, used from October of 1962 to February of 1964:
10300...........................1962
10522...........................1963
12130...........................1964
A new series of numbers was begun in February of 1964.
124001..........................1964
125641..........................1965
126772..........................1966
127682..........................1967
128565..........................1968
129120..........................1969
On 05/17/70, Vega was sold to the C.F. Martin Co. These banjos may have the Martin logo on the -back- of the peg-head, with the Vega logo on the face.
129683..........................1970
130049..........................1971
A new series of numbers was adopted after 1971:
M1..............................1972
The name was then sold to Global Trading, of S. Korea. No serial number information is available after 1972 at this time. Deering banjos recently purchased the name, and is currently making reproduction models of the Pete Seeger Tube-a-phone long-neck.
Exploring Classical Mandolin (Berklee Press, 2015)
Progressive Melodies for Mandocello (KDP, 2019) (2nd ed. 2022)
New Solos for Classical Mandolin (Hal Leonard Press, 2020)
2021 guest artist, mandocello: Classical Mandolin Society of America
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