This is a restored Gibson-made Oriole tenor banjo. The FON is 8003-44 dating it to early 1925. This was apparently the first year that Gibson produced Orioles representing Gibson's initial foray into non-Gibson branded banjos. This Oriole has an 18 fret tenor neck with the snakehead peghead, more commonly found on trapdoor Gibsons produced in the early 1920s. The tuners are like those found on early 20s Gibson RBs. The neck has a very slight bow, string height is <1/8" at the 12th fret. The original frets are in good condition. The rim is a 10 1/2" dia. x 1/2" thick, typical of bracket shoe rims of the era. It has a quarter inch brass tone hoop that sits atop the rim, under the vintage skin head. The hardware is original, except for 1 hook, 7 nuts, and most of the shoe washers; the tailpiece is correct, but transferred from a banjomando. The neck and outer rim were over-coated to restore the original black finish. It plays well, but may need some tweeking of the set-up (I'm not a tenor player). It’s a pretty cool vintage piece, with some historical significance. It comes with a beat-up vintage hard case (not sure if original). $320. plus shipping and ins. I'll discount the price by 3% if you don't use PayPal.
↧