This price is firm. The buyer may inspect at my house and pickup, or I can ship it.
A link with all the high def photos I have: https://plus.google.com/photos/117903489909227478671/albums/5778034345757602321?authkey=CJrz0sC2tPeu8gE#photos/117903489909227478671/albums/5778034345757602321?authkey=CJrz0sC2tPeu8gE
Late 1930’s Gibson TB-11 archtop tenor banjo in near perfect condition. All original, and set up to play with a 5/8” bridge.
I bought this from a guy that said he got it out of a storage unit. I’ve had this banjo completely apart and could see no signs of a parts swap or conversion to 5 string. I set up all my banjos and for others too. I set the fretboard to about .010 to .015 relief, so I know the truss rod works. The string action is about 1/8” above the 12th fret.
Armrest, hoop, tailpiece and one piece flange were consistently grimy when I got it, but no rust. All these steel parts cleaned up like almost new. The one piece flange has lifted up some and this is consistent with the age. I can see no signs of noticeable fret wear. The frets had just a few very small overspray specs of the “blue” stain that was used indicating the frets were also original. However, the specs are no longer there as I polished the frets as this was going to be a player tenor banjo.
The nut appears to be original, and I’m sure the label is. The head is skin, but there is no maker’s stamp inside. The tuners work perfectly and are the “Grover Pat.” 2:1 tuners. While they are original vintage tuners there may be some discussion as to whether Gibson put them on this model. It’s known that Gibson put these tuners on the higher end models during those times. Most believe the TB-11’s came only with the 1:1 tuners that had ears on the housing to mount the tuner with screws. Those tuners were found to be hated; they were hard to tune and had other problems. I can find no signs whatsoever that there was a swap, i.e. filled screw holes, discoloration of lacquer or old footprint impression. Hence, I’m convinced Gibson put these better tuners on this banjo. I spoke with a gentleman that is considered to be the foremost expert in the nation on tenor banjos. He also believes they are original to this banjo. Check the link below for more info about this. You will find that the later 30’s had the archtop and only occasionally the better tuners were installed; as on this one.
The finish is also near perfect, refer to photos. There is a 1” scratch through to the finish on the sidewall of the bottom side of the resonator. There is a small dent on the back of the neck near the heel. There are some hairline cracks in the finish and celluloid on the back of the resonator (not to be confused with finish crazing from temperature changes). You may not be able to see these in the photos, but they are there. You really have to look close to see them or feel them. There is also about a 1/8 minor finish chip on the peghead.
The case appears to be the original “Red Line” Geib case. It is in excellent condition for its age. All latches including the locking latch work perfect, however there is some moderate rust on the steel hardware. The handle appears to be original and also in excellent condition for its age. There are no tears on the case covering, just some scuffs. Someone tried to do some type of repair as there’s some spillage of some type of dried resin. The resin is looks very old. The case padding has relaxed over the years, so the banjo does not have a snug fit.
I have an original bracket hook wrench, what appears to be the original Gibson information sheet and a Tenor Banjo Fingerboard diagram copyright 1922, all of which came with the banjo (see photo). I also have an extra 5/8’ W Farquhar bridge; the banjo currently has a Grover bridge on it. I have the bridge it came with when I got it, but don't know if it’s original. Checking the link below it appears it could be.
Sometime back I had a new student coming in to start lessons, and he wanted to learn tenor banjo. I bought this banjo to use to learn myself and teach him. Long story short, he bailed and I find I have no interest in the tenor style. I have everything I need so no trades please.
This banjo is awesome and I’ve been looking at them for awhile. Seriously, the best one I’ve seen and it’s a great player. And, the fact that this is one of the extremely few that had the better tuners installed makes it even more rare.
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