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Help: banjo
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Subject: banjo From: kendall Date: 05 Jun 02 - 07:41 PM I'm probably going to open myself up to considerable abuse, but, I want to know something. I dear friend just gave me a banjo, and I want to know something about it. It is an open back, and stamped in the wooden shaft that runs from the neck to the tail piece, is this info: Fairbanks banjo, made by Vega, Boston Mass. Special number 2. It has a five digit serial number. Ok, experts, what have I got here? |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: Devilmaster Date: 05 Jun 02 - 07:47 PM check this page out kendall....hope it helps. A.C. Fairbanks Steve |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: Devilmaster Date: 05 Jun 02 - 07:48 PM looks like it might be earlier than 59.... Steve |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: DD Date: 05 Jun 02 - 09:16 PM You got yourself one HECK of a banjo |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: Rick Fielding Date: 05 Jun 02 - 09:23 PM You damn well better justify a Fairbanks #2 Kendall!! Shit, people only give me Kays from the fifties with twisted necks! Have fun, you got a real good'un. Rick |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: kendall Date: 06 Jun 02 - 09:01 AM The serial number is 17 thousand... I wont print the whole number here. The list is not clear, but, it looks like a turn of the century product. Over the years someone put a plastic head on it, I think I'll have a skin head installed. |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: greg stephens Date: 06 Jun 02 - 09:19 AM definitely get a skin head.The sound is so much better in every conceivable way, it's worth the hassle of dealing with all the humidity/temperature problems. And congratulations, that sounds a very nice find. Happy plucking. And if any dickheads make jokes about banjoes, there's an effective two-word reply. |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: Charley Noble Date: 06 Jun 02 - 10:07 AM Sounds like a fine vintage banjo, Kendall. Post an image of it sometime for us to admire. I used to have an old Fairbanks & Coles from 1890's. Yours I think is from the early 1900's but the website would clear that up if I wasn't too lazy to click. I favor the Remo Fiberskyn head, myself; it's a plastic head overlain with some synthetic fiber material which has a sound similar to real skin, and unlike real skin is less subject to sag when the fog rolls in. But, I'm sure, fog never worries you...;~) Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: Mooh Date: 06 Jun 02 - 10:37 AM I too, like Charlie, would do the fibreskin head just to avoid the greater movement of real skin due to atmospheric changes. (I really like 'em on hand drums too.) Holy shit Kendall, it should sound and play like choirs of angels! Peace, Mooh. |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: kendall Date: 06 Jun 02 - 12:36 PM The head that is on it now feels rough on the top and smooth on the underside. Could that be your fibreskin head? |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: Mooh Date: 06 Jun 02 - 01:10 PM Could be. They have evolved a bit over the years. You might want to get a new one anyway so you'll know you've got the best. Stewart-MacDonald carries them, and they're not too pricey. Mooh. |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: BanjoRay Date: 06 Jun 02 - 07:25 PM If you put a skin head on and spray it with Scotchguard or some similar water resistant spray for suede shoes, it keeps the water out significantly - you get the best of both worlds. A friend has a Fairbanks no2 with a skin head and it sounds gorgeous. A great Old Time banjo - get frailing! Cheers |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: greg stephens Date: 06 Jun 02 - 08:09 PM |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: Desert Dancer Date: 07 Jun 02 - 01:26 AM The Fibreskin heads also have some color variation to make them look skin-like. Although they have some variation in texture, if you've got a head of uniform color (excluding the players' grime) that's rough on top and smooth on the bottom, it's probably not Fibreskin. Also, as a modern product, don't Fibreskin heads mostly come labelled as such down by the tailpiece? ~ Becky in Tucson |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: Jeri Date: 08 Jun 02 - 12:34 PM Now I'm curious as to what I've got. I bought this in 1989 from a friend who had had it since about the late 1960's. It has a brass plate on the dowel stick stamped with "C. Bruno & Sons, Inc, New York." No serial number. This page at the Mugwumps site posted above says "Charles Bruno" has made banjos from 1830-present. There are 41 brackets. There is no tone ring. I'd really like to know ANYTHING about this banjo. Possible dates or more information about C. Bruno & Sons. It may be that it was made from parts of others. |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: Jeri Date: 08 Jun 02 - 05:06 PM Help? Anybody? |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: Jon Freeman Date: 08 Jun 02 - 09:56 PM Jeri, I'd try asking on alt.banjo. Jon |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: Jeri Date: 08 Jun 02 - 11:26 PM Thanks Jon. I might try that. Bruno banjos aren't well known (I couldn't even find one 5-string ever sold on E-Bay) and it doesn't look like folks here have anything to say about it. |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: kendall Date: 09 Jun 02 - 01:11 AM Jeri, I found them briefly mentioned in a site that google brought up. |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: BanjoRay Date: 09 Jun 02 - 09:22 AM Loads of five strings are sold on Ebay all the time - maybe not on the UK Ebay. There are usually 20 or thirty on US Ebay at any time. Cheers |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: Little Neophyte Date: 09 Jun 02 - 09:54 AM Mazel Tov! on your new (old) banjo. Sounds exciting. I just got myself a SS Stewart 'Lady Stewart' from around the turn of the century. Sounds real sweet. I plan to put a skin head on mine. If I find myself a 'chicken thief cat' I'll look for his accomplice and mail you the cat in a bag. All the best Sir Kendall Love, Little Neo |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: Rick Fielding Date: 09 Jun 02 - 11:20 AM Great looking banjo Jeri. Boy, some good ones are comin' out of the woodwork around here. Rick |
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Subject: RE: Help: banjo From: kendall Date: 09 Jun 02 - 11:43 AM I really should come to Toronto and get some lessons... |
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