#8826-2, (long-neck 4-string) banjo, in very good plus condition, with a Paramount hard shell case.
We present a tube-and-plate flange banjo having a refinished mahogany resonator that may not be original to this banjo rim since the serial number painted into the back of the resonator is #9113, but the serial number on the inside rim is #8826-2. The back of the neck and the headplate are refinished as well. This comes in a prewar (period) Paramount Banjo case that’s been painted and taped up. This banjo is accompanied by an undated note from the late Bill Sullivan of First Quality Music Supply that says that this is a newer PB-3 than the one shown in a provided photocopy of the Gibson catalog because this banjo has a solid archtop tone ring, which he mentions is less common than the 40-hole archtop ring. He says “This banjo appears to have had some refinish work along the way but it was kept near original and the instrument is in good playing shape.”
This mostly original Gibson plectrum banjo, has a 22-fret long 4-string neck, the same length neck as the 5-string has only without having the drone fifth string. All four headstock tuners are “Grover Pat.” with grained ivoroid buttons. The interior label is properly aged looking and it retains its apparently original Grover Presto tailpiece, undrilled for the fifth string, while the armrest is a newer part. The frets are worn but the banjo remains playable. There has been a small amount of re-gluing of the binding to the fingerboard, especially on the bass side of the fretboard. This banjo has the standard pattern for a Style -3, that being a fiddle-cut headstock shape bearing a diamond inlay above the script Gibson logo, and, there under, a figure made up of four solid diamonds facing north, east, south and west, with an etched square in the middle, and having twin lower case f-shapes facing apart below that, with a black, bell-shaped truss rod cover below the inlays. The first inlaid fret is #3, with twin etched squares and a diamond at center, fret five has two parallel diamonds and so does fret 7; fret 10 has three contiguous etched squares, fret 12 has two more adjacent horizontal diamonds, and so forth. A “Mastertone” block is inlaid at the 21st fret. This banjo has a more modern Fiberskyn Mylar head that looks a lot like skin and sounds mellow and strong, and it has the standard 24 brackets. The screw that holds the tailpiece to the shoe below the flange is a replacement part that is missing its nut (it is not long enough to support a nut). There is a tiny crack in the neck binding on the bass side at the 12th fret dot.
Our Discount Price is $4,639.00 and Our Cash Discount Price is $4,500.00.
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