Minstrel Banjo

For enthusiasts of early banjo

I recently acquired a puzzling banjo that I'm trying to identify and approximately date.  It's 34'' long with an 11''  single-lap rim.  The dowel is interestingly carved and extends into the rim, ending in a bulb.  There is a square shaped patch of wood reinforcement where the dowel goes through the rim, as is seen on many Boucher banjos and some other early minstrel banjos.  It has six brass bracket shoes very similar (possibly even identical) to those found on some Boucher banjos.  One of the nuts and hooks isn't original, but the others are of the non-tapered square variety.  The banjo has a number of interesting decorative plates on it similar to those on 1860s Tilton banjos and some other banjos from the 1850s and 1860s I've seen.  The neck has an interesting heel shape.  The tuners are gears- the peghead tuners seem typical of those found between 1850 and 1900.  The fifth string tuner is unique- I've never seen another like it.  The rim and the heel of the neck (if not the entire neck) had a very nice rosewood veneer at one point.  Overall the condition is quite good.  It would benefit from a little cleaning, and as you can see it needs a new head and a tailpiece.  Somebody just stuck a cheap metal tailpiece on their rather haphazardly.  Have you seen a banjo like this before, or any others with this hardware?

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Despite what the pictures might show, its in pretty great condition and will need little work to be made playable.  It's caked in a lot of dirt that's rubbing off with a dry paper towel, and the hardware still maintains a polished look underneath it all.

I'll stick a new head and a wooden tailpiece on it and probably replace the gears with period ones.  Having seen the banjo in person, I don't see how it could have ever had friction pegs, although it's obvious that the current geared tuners are replacements.  It's an odd banjo- sort of a mini minstrel banjo.  Despite its small size, it still has a proportionally deep pot, thick, wide neck, and little hand cast brackets.  The hooks and nuts (minus the replaced late 19th century hook and nut) along with the tension hoop are hand forged as well.  The entire neck was at one point finished like the rim and the headstock with a faux rosewood veneer.  It's interesting how the dowel is secured to the rim.  

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Dan'l, while the 5th string gear might be period, the peghead gears are of the late 19th/early 20th century variety.  There is another hole on the other side of the peghead, but this does not necessarily mean that the banjo had friction pegs.  It could have had individual gears that were cut apart from a guitar set (like what the builder did for the 5th string peg) or it could have had a custom set of gears with a different spacing like an Ashborn banjo.  Because the gears aren't original, there's an entire world of possibilities as to what those holes were for.  It's unlikely that it had horizontal friction pegs, although there are a few surviving banjos out there that had them.

Sometimes the gears just break and get jammed.  The set that's currently installed aren't salvageable.

I normally don't have any refinishing done when I have a banjo restored, but this one seems like a good candidate.  The faux rosewood veneer is almost entirely intact on the rim and once extended along the entire length of the neck.  My luthier can replicate the finish on the rim and refinish the neck to match... do you think I should do it?   

I agree with you on all points.  Normally I'm very conservative when it comes to restorations.  I'll have to think hard about this one.

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