8254 – 28 1926
TB-1 open back to five string Conversion Banjo
(click on the above to enlarge)
· Original 1926 Gibson TB-1 rim
· Kalamazoo flat back refinished double bound resonator
· Mahogany neck
· Rosewood fingerboard
· Gotoh tuners
· Early 2000s Kulesh 20 hole
flat head tone ring
· Bracket shoe construction with mid-1920s diamond
flange added
· Grover Presto windows style tail piece
· Period Elton arm rest
· Levy’s strap
“I bought the rim for
this banjo as part of a complete
open back pot on ebay in 2009. It was in
pretty rough shape so I took it apart and set aside components that I thought I
might be able to use such as the metal parts and the old Remo Weather King
head. About this same time, good friend and banjoist, Ed Stacy told me of a neck and hardware he had for sale from a TB-1
conversion parts banjo that had been taken apart for the rim and resonator. I
bought the neck and hardware – including a diamond flange - for the
bracket shoe construction pot and combined with a refinished double bound
Kalamazoo resonator and an early Kulesh 20 hole flat
head tone ring from a Gibson banjo and carried to Arthur Hatfield near Glasgow,
KY for him to produce the conversion parts banjo. As it turned out, the neck
was one that both Arthur and another good banjoist friend Jeff Crews were
familiar with due to the two of them having been involved in its production.
Arthur did his magic
including repairing some slight damage to different parts of the neck and the
final result is a very good conversion banjo that is an “all Gibson” pot, fine,
easy playing neck, and period correct. By the way, Jeff had originally included
the Factory Order Number in a pearl block at the 15th fret. The
owner before Ed had replaced that with MASTERTONE – indicating a full
flat head tone ring. I have chosen to leave this as is since it is now a part
of the history of this instrument.“
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$ (Inquire for price) This Banjo is no
longer available on this website.
