Who made my Banjo

Subject: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,Allan S.
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 11:07 AM

Can anyone identify my new banjo that I picked up at a local flea market, name, maker, and aprox cost new. Resonator 5 string banjo no name or maker anywhere. Appear so be relatively new, and has the look as tho made in Japan, Korea, China??? On the headstock is a Pearl looking inlay in the shape of a maple leaf. On the neck are six sided pearl looking inlays at the 3rd. 5th,7th 10th, 12,15,and 17th fret. White strips on the sides of the neck. The side of the neck there are black dots on the white strip at the same frets. White strips at the top and bottom of the sides of the resonator. A green piece of felt between the bottom of the neck and the resonator. Truss rod in the neck. Tuning machines also have pearl plastic buttons? Bridge is made by Grover w/ black and white inlays for strings. Thanx for any help Allan

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 11:31 AM

I can't identify it but if you feel it was made in the East, Samick are always a good bet. They are based in Korea.

Jon

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,truckerdave
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 11:33 AM

Sounds like you just described the "Rogue" brand banjo i bought last year from Musicians Friend. I saw another identical banjo at a music store with the "Irma" name on the headstock or something that sounded like that. Also saw pictures of another brand that looked the same. Mine had a little peel off sticker that said "made in korea". They are made at the Samick factory there. Fender sells a similar looking banjo that i believe is made in the Samick factory also. The one i have is quite a good sounding and playing instrument. Certainly worth the $200 i paid for it. It has a wooden rim, some have aluminum one piece rims. I didn't see any difference in any of them except for the name on the headstock.

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 11:40 AM

Yep, I'm afraid you're doomed never to know what label they may have stuck on for sale in your area, but you can be pretty sure the same parts were made in a couple of generic factories. If it plays and sounds good, it won't matter.

Rick

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,allan.s
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 01:03 PM

Wow Thanks for the help. Does anyone have an idea what price they sold for? I note on the back of the headstck there was a sticker that pealed off probably "made in Korea" I guess I did ok for $80. Allan

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,truckerdave
Date: 02 Jan 02 - 05:58 AM

Banjos are expensive. If you got any kind that plays for $80, that's not bad. The imported banjos with the wooden rim/gibson type brackets usually go for around $300-$350 or so, Solid one-piece aluminum rim types for around $200.

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: 53
Date: 02 Jan 02 - 09:34 PM

well i'm sure it's not a mastertone, but it would be nice if it was. BOB

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,Peter Hajdin
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 02:05 PM

Hi everybody,

I have bought a banjo today, but have no clue what make it could possibly be. If anyone has any idea or at least some hints, please let me know.

The banjo is a 5-string openback, with a headstock that has a very Fender-like shape (black, 4 tuning machineheads on the upper side), with 5 pearl dot inlays on the headstock, which create a star-like shape.

There's a metal plate on the bridge-side of the instrument that says "BELL" or "BELLS" (can't read it, have to clean it first).

What kind of banjo could this be?...

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: Songbob
Date: 20 Aug 09 - 02:49 PM

Identifying banjos with no name is a really hard job. I sometimes try to guess if the peghead shape is familiar or if the tone ring is an identifiable kind, but all you have on the last one here is "Bell..." on a metal plate. It could be "Silver Bell," in which case it's a really desirable Bacon & Day shell (though the description of the neck doesn't sound right, and B&D 5-strings are really rare), or it could be "Maybelle," made by Slingerland (as I recall), in which case it's less valuable but still pretty good (and they, too, made few 5-strings).

Or it could be something else entirely. Since it's an open-back, it doesn't sound like a modern Oriental Import© but an older kind of instrument. But the "Fender" peghead sounds a lot like it's either a modern oddity, like my GoldTone guitar banjo, which has a Fender Telecaster peghead (and a single-coil pickup, too), but the other possibility that occurs to me is that it's a really old banjo, from the 1850s-70s, and the peghead is a version of the "scroll" style seen on Boucher banjos and others from the Minstrel days.

How large is the shell? If it's big, like 12" or more, and made with one ply of bent wood, it might be one of the really old ones. Does it have brackets to tighten the head? How many?

Does it look like this?


Bob Clayton

Subject: To: Songbob From: Peter Hajdin
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Aug 09 - 03:25 AM

Bob,

first of all, thank you for all the info - realy appreciated!

I bought the banjo from a guy who used to play it decades ago in a local band, so it moght be 30-40 years old, if that helps a bit.

I will also try to make a few snapshots of it and post it somewhere for you to see.

Thanks once again,

Peter

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Aug 09 - 10:03 AM

Hi everybody,

well then, here are a few pics of the above mentioned banjo I just bought:

pic1

pic2

pic3

pic4


Please excuse the poor quality - the pics were all shot on a cellphone.

Any tips, what kind of banjo could this be?

Thanks,

Peter

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: Mzee Simba
Date: 21 Aug 09 - 10:20 PM

Don't know what it is, but it's a cool looking banjo! I have a few banjos, some, very old, with serious pedigrees, while others seem to be made from bits and pieces of spare parts. One of mine, I know is a hybrid, because I had a neck custom made for it that's quite different from the original neck. Another one is a tenor that's been converted int a five-string. Yours looks like it could be a banjo made from parts as well.

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 22 Aug 09 - 11:26 AM

"BELL" is the name brand of the tailpiece only. Bell tailpieces were made by the defunct National Musical Strings Co., the same folks who made the original Black Diamond strings.

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: Songster Bob
Date: 22 Aug 09 - 12:18 PM

That looks like a Kay shell, or one of the similar basic-type shells, with either a totally home-made neck or a cut-down Stratocaster neck. I'd say home-made, but it might be cut down. Are there extra holes where the other two tuners would have been? Obviously plugged, if they were there once, but that would be a tip-off to a conversion instead of a copy.

Interesting, for sure.

Bob

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,Peter Hajdin
Date: 23 Aug 09 - 06:28 AM

Bee-dubya-ell: thank you for th eexplanation, at least now I know about the "BELL'S" sign :)

Bob: the neck does not look like a Strat conversion; there are no holes in the headstock (not even plugged ones) plus the whole thing is considerably smaller than a standard Fender Strat or Jaguar (or even Mustang) headstock.

I examined the thing further and I have realized that the front of the headstock is painted solid black, but the back of it as well as the bask of the whole neck and the "drum"like thing are translucent dark green. (by "drum-like" I mean the "body" - sorry for my terrible non-banjo vocabulary, I am a bass/guitar player... YET! :)

I did not find any signature or serial number or anything similar.

Best regards,

Peter

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,emma
Date: 10 Apr 10 - 05:48 AM

hi please can someone help identify my banjo. it has a symbol of a circle with either an m or n inside it. this is on the neck and also on the front, i know nothing about banjos so please someone help!!!. thanks

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: olddude
Date: 10 Apr 10 - 09:29 AM

Can you post a picture Emma?

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: Charley Noble
Date: 10 Apr 10 - 04:57 PM

A link to a photo would be very helpful.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Jul 10 - 11:07 PM

I have a fender banjo   made in California # 04961

can anyone tell me what year it is/

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Jul 10 - 08:48 AM

Guest-

Try asking that question at the Banjo Hang-out website: click here for website!

There's usually someone there who can answer any banjo question.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Jan 11 - 03:00 AM

I HAVE A 4 STRING BANJO THAT SAYS MODEL JAPAN WITH A REAL PLAIN HEAD ON IT. DO YOU KNOW WHAT BRAND THIS COULD BE. I THINK IT IS OLD BUT I'M NOT SURE.

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,Joseph Christensen
Date: 15 Feb 11 - 01:29 PM

I have a banjo that only has sierra on the headstock with a little circle around mountains and I can't seem to find out what kind of banjo it is. Deering says they never put sierra on there headstocks. If any one could help that would be awesome!

joe

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,terry
Date: 21 Nov 11 - 10:58 AM

i have a 5 string banjo with an eagle/falcon holding a drum and a stars and stripe banner also the headstock has a logo which looks like a weird k inside a circle any ideas??

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,Timothy Foote
Date: 23 Nov 11 - 10:07 PM

I recently bought what I believe is a late 19th Century Gut String Open Back Banjo. The dowel stick has "WALDO" stamped on it and the number 1604. I understand that the WALDO MFG CO. made banjos for the BARROWS (or BARROUGHS) Music Company, from 1894 -1902. I would really like to learn more about this banjo. What can you tell me? I can send pictures.

Timothy Foote
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Nov 11 - 05:33 PM

We found a banjo at the local pawn shop.

It has a FENDER name on the front, but a sticker on the back that says made in China?

Is this the real deal, or a knock off?

The pawn shop wants $400.00, and when we saw the made in China sticker, it seemed sketchy.

JWhitfield

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,Songbob
Date: 30 Nov 11 - 06:19 PM

Well, Fender and China could go together, since their banjo line isn't really made in their guitar factories, I'm sure. Their earlier ones were probably Samick products, but a lot of that job-lot work has moved to China these days.

Unless it's a really high-quality model, $400 is pricey. That's a new price, not a pawn-shop price. However, if it truly is one of their top models, it was probably $700-800 list price, so $400 used isn't so bad.

Look up the model number online (Fender's site or Google "Fender banjo model XXX" and see what you find.

Bob

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Dec 11 - 03:54 PM

http://www.flickr.com/photos/73012405@N05/6589892591/


here is a photo of the symbol on my banjo that i bought...just trying to figure out who made it! It's a tenor 4 string with a pretty short neck (19 fret) and at least twenty years old. Thanks! :)

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 28 Dec 11 - 04:38 PM

Guest - I would say that the inlay isn't intended as a maker's mark, but is rather a simple piece of decoration. A diamond shape being one of the easiest ones to cut in mother-of-pearl, or similar shell. It is fairly typical of banjo neck inlay, often used as one of the fret position marks.
You are much more likely to find a maker's name, or brand number stamped into the wood at the heel, or on a "perch pole" which connects the neck through the drum.
Quack!
GtD.

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,Dobie356
Date: 16 Jan 12 - 11:54 AM

can anyone identify this banjo, no markings other than five star planet tuning pegs. Not geared.Inlays are the shape of a tulip or almost a W.

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,miz
Date: 15 Jun 13 - 09:11 AM

The name i can see is at the topit says Hi Low the and its color is dark and fades in to burnt orangish...can ya help me out?

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: catspaw49
Date: 15 Jun 13 - 10:47 AM

All banjos are made in the depths of hell under license from Beelzebub Industries. They are made on the floor just above Dobros, 15 stories above the accordions, and 27 floors above the bagpipes.......


Spaw

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,Everett
Date: 23 Oct 13 - 08:37 AM

This banjo has been in my family a long time my gr8 grandpa added a 5th string, can anyone tell me who made it, I have looked all over it and can't find any markings any help wld be gr8, thanks

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 23 Oct 13 - 09:44 AM

Hitler hated banjos so much he had the Luftwaffe bomb Windsors Banjo Factory in Birmingham UK during WW2.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 23 Oct 13 - 10:30 AM

All things coarse and dissonant,
All banjos great and small,
All things crass and irritant,
The Lord God made them all.

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: Andrez
Date: 23 Oct 13 - 04:55 PM

Not really wanting to state the bleedin' obvious but if posters read the rest of the thread they would see there are there are several links to websites with info about banjos. As the requests for ID and accompanying descriptions are becoming Vega and Vega that might explain why no responses to requests for ID have been made latterly.

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,Doug
Date: 07 Feb 14 - 10:17 PM

I have a banjo that says the Pittsburgh banjo company inside the resonator, with the numbers1248255-R. Anybody ever hear of this company? Thanks

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Feb 14 - 10:41 PM

"Over 800 people came to walk among vintage
cars and listen to the toe tapping banjo riffs of the
Pittsburgh Banjo Company."

That is on page 8 of the following site.

http://oldeconomyvillage.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Fall-2013.pdf

Subject: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Aug 14 - 10:52 AM

I have been given a 5string open back banjo recently, but with no makers ID, the only markings are on the head stock, which is the name of VINTAGE in mother of pearl italic style lettering,can anyone identify this for me tx Billy

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 06 Aug 14 - 10:18 AM

GUEST,Everett, how could anyone help you identify your banjo
when you don't give any information, even the most basic?
You did imply that it was originally a four-string, converted
to five. But that's not at all helpful.

But is it open or closed back? What sort of neck and fingerboard
decoration, if it still has the original neck? What's the shape
of the tuning head, if original? Diameter of the drum? Any name ANYWHERE?

What sort of tuning machines does it have? The more details you give, the more likelihood of at least a fair guess.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: Andrez
Date: 07 Aug 14 - 09:44 PM

Yair wot Uncle Dave said!

Please check out the banjo sites listed above and if no luck put in as much identifying info as possible when posting here. Otherwise you are just Macon it too hard for others to help you out. That said as we all know:

The banjo is a divine instrument. Man plays it but only God knows why!

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,malcolm
Date: 08 Aug 14 - 03:27 AM

Hello I just bought a banjo flom a frea market it has 4 strings and a very short string!! Is it rare it looks rare it has a name on it saying This Banjo Belongs to Pete written in thick marker pen who is Pete do you know?? Maybe he wants it back?? What is its CMV (current market value)? Is it worth the £80 I spent? It sounds awful and looks like hell can you tune these things if I bought them to your house?

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,Guest SP
Date: 19 Jun 16 - 10:12 AM

I have a banjo- ukelele, 4 string ,measures 20 1/2 inches, has a star mother of pearl inlay on head of fret bar, 16 frets, circle pearl fret inlay on, 5th fret, 1 inlay , 7 fret, 2 inlay , 10-1, 12-2, 15-1, open back, 16 pins hold skin on. There are no marking on anything. I'm trying to find out who the maker is and when it was made.

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: cnd
Date: 20 Jun 16 - 07:32 AM

Guest SP, you should start a new thread on it. It looks like no one noticed it in here. I unfortunately cannot help, but if you start a new thread on it someone might

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,rayf
Date: 29 Aug 16 - 08:03 AM

Hello. I have a 5-string banjo from 1970's that has Westbrook on the black headstock. It has 2 stickers on the back of the head. One stays "W7" (is this a model #?), while the other is an inspection tag (suggesting mass produced?). The headstock, neck and resonator appear to be made of solid mahogany with a rosewood fretboard & armrest. The resonator sides are thick, perhaps ¼ inch. The metal pot looks to be cast aluminum. Who and where was this made? Does it have much value? Thx much.
Ray

Subject: RE: Who made my Banjo
From: GUEST,Dylan
Date: 21 Apr 17 - 07:30 PM

I have a Korean made banjo that appears to be fairly old. I picked it up on craigslist for $20 and am wondering about its history, value, manufacturer, and what year it was made. It reads "Steel Reinforced Neck Made in Korea" on the back of the headstock. No markings anywhere else.

If you might have any idea about my banjo, please email me at [e-mail]

Thanks guys