This is a 1926 Vega Tubaphone pot with 5-string neck from Bernunzio Uptown Music in Rochester, N.Y.
The neck is in the Whyte Laydie style, 22 frets, made for Bernunzio by Eastman Strings. It’s three-ply: maple with an ebony strip in the middle. The fingerboard and peghead overlay are ebony. String length is 25 ½ inches. The dowel stick has been extended in maple to fit the larger pot (see photo). I do not have the original neck.
The serial number on the rim is 85993, which according to Deering Banjos’ Vega records puts the banjo in 1926. The rim is 11 3/4 at the ring. The rim, Tubaphone ring, resonator, armrest, and all hooks and hardware are original. The clamshell tailpiece is of the period but I don’t know whether it’s original.
The frets are as new. The resonator has a few chips of finish missing from the back. The action is 1/8 inch at the 12th fret. There’s one railroad spike at the 7th fret.
The bridge is a Deering, 9/16ths. The banjo comes with a vintage 9/32 hex wrench for the brackets, a leather strap and a TKL-style hardshell case in good shape.
Questions welcome.
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