11/4/2022 0 Comments Vega mandolin banjo serial numbers![]() ![]() Now, all this may seem a bit goofy to you 5-stringers but if you've been studying the evolution of the tenor banjo and you see a Vega tenor banjo with a 24XXX serial number the wheels start turning and the juices flowing. The original Fairbanks plaque went into the parts basket. The neck wouldn't come out of the pot opening due to that pesky Fairbanks plaque so they took it off, completed the refurbish or set-up work, slid the dowel with neck attached back into the pot, and stamped the dowel with the current Vega stamp. Some time later the owner brought the banjo back to Vega for some refurbish or set up work. So, let's say the OP banjo was indeed an original Vega Tenor Banjo made in 1908. I'll give another scenario I'd like to believe in support of my view that Vega made the first manufactured tenor banjo 2016 the OP number is consistent with 1908 build which is too early for the Vega dowel stamp. Hank Schwartz has said the OP Vega dowel stamp was used 1910-1919.īefore that the Fairbanks plaque (tag) depicted above was used on Vega banjo dowels.įrom the earliest Vega serial number date chart by Jim Bollman in June 1978 Pickin' magazine to our own Banjotrader in his revised chart of Sept. ![]() Jim Bollman has said the OP Vega dowel stamp started in the S/N 26XXX time frame. You saw what I was doing with my theory as you pointed out here early on - the Vega dowel stamp is inconsistent with the serial number and I was theorizing of ways to reconcile this anomaly. What's underneath?īTW, Bob has the extra-good-guy price on Gotoh 2-band tuners which take the same hole size as the Waverly and can accept the original buttons (again, with sleight modification). The earliest that resonator can be is mid 1920s - readily available at any Vega dealer once all the other kids began to use them, too. The second that someone screwed that resonator bracket into the dowel stick, pristine and all-original left the building, never to return. You can ignore all the nonsense about pristine, original bla, bla, bla. ![]() If it was a flowerpot or fern inlay, I'd recommend the ABM but with the fleagle (Stan Jay's term for the gryphon that looks like a fish/eagle), the flange for the larger tuner will not obscure the inlay ar all. So can Waverlys but the holes will be bigger. If Waverly tuners drop in, the holes have already been altered - for that matter, same goes for ABM tuners unless Champions were original - and it's easy to tell this banjo does not have Champions (maybe it did once?).ĪBMs can be installed with a slight modification and reuse the original tuner buttons - again with a slight modification. ![]()
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