vintage Barnes & Mullins banjo

Subject: vintage Barnes & Mullins banjo
From: GUEST,BLUELOU .UK
Date: 11 Mar 09 - 11:53 PM

i was recently given an old banjo found in a loft,looks like an ebony fretboard with pearl inlays, 22 frets (a dove inlayed at the fith fret)mahogony v shaped neck with inlay along the centreline of the v,wooden inner hoop with chrome or nickel plated metal outer,open back and Barnes & Mullins London stamped into the back of neck where it meets the hoop.Is there anyone out there who can i.d this model and or date it, or can point me in the right direction for some online research.....Many thanks. KEEP ON PLUCKIN..

Subject: RE: vintage Barnes & Mullins banjo
From: GUEST,Greycap
Date: 12 Mar 09 - 04:06 AM

Check with Pete Stanley - 15 Torriano Avenue, London NW5. If he doesn't know about B&M banjos, nobody will!
Best of luck,

Subject: RE: vintage Barnes & Mullins banjo
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 12 Mar 09 - 09:52 AM

Except that is Dave Stacey, British banjo maker supreme. He's in Letchworth. Herts.

Hoot

Subject: RE: vintage Barnes & Mullins banjo
From: GUEST,BLUELOU.UK
Date: 12 Mar 09 - 01:50 PM

thanks guys..im on the case,appreiciate your help.

Subject: RE: vintage Barnes & Mullins banjo
From: bubblyrat
Date: 12 Mar 09 - 02:06 PM

I saw a "cheapo" mandolin fairly recently, made in China,apparently by ,it said on the headstock, "Barnes & Mullins"-------So I assumed it was one of those "made- up- to- suit- the- Western- consumer" type names, of which the Orientals are so fond ?? And you are saying that Barnes & Mullins is a pukka,kosher old firm then ??
Gosh !!
       Didn't Pete Stanley die a year or two back ?? Or am I thinking of the wrong Pete ( East Anglia--goofy teeth--"Pike County Breakdown"--"Back in the Saddle Again".....??).

Subject: RE: vintage Barnes & Mullins banjo
From: GUEST,Greycap
Date: 12 Mar 09 - 02:29 PM

bubblyrat,
That was Pete Sayers.

Subject: RE: vintage Barnes & Mullins banjo
From: GUEST,BLUELOU.UK
Date: 12 Mar 09 - 02:47 PM

B & M`s history is quite well documented on the net.check it out.

Subject: RE: vintage Barnes & Mullins banjo
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 12 Mar 09 - 06:30 PM

My twenty-first birthday present (from my brothers) was a B&M "Mammoth" 6-string over-size jumbo guitar. Barnes and Mullins at that time were an importing/distributing firm based in London. In earlier periods they may have commissioned instruments locally, but by the seventies I would guess most of their stock would have come in from Japan or elsewhere.

I chose the guitar on looks and sadly it didn't live up to expectations in the volume department. It was also extremely hard on the fingers - but it got me through a few years learning time until I got my first Fylde.

Your banjo sounds like it came from a period of more up-scale instruments. While looking for information on Ruben Greene, a Portobello Road dealer who amassed a huge collection of banjos and related material, I came across a couple of editions of "The Banjoist's Broadsheet", (downloadable in pdf form), which include names and addresses of people like Pete Stanley and Dave Stacey (both suggested above) and others who might be able to help you. Good luck!

There's a "Classical Banjo" website here with more info on this type of banjo.

Ross