W.A. Cole Banjo Maker

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Rob Sharer
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W.A. Cole Banjo Maker

Post by Rob Sharer »

Hi All,

There has been a lively discussion taking place, on and off the Chiffboard, about W.A. Cole and his banjos. There seems to be a lack of general knowledge about these fine banjos, which certainly have a lower profile than the more commonly seen offerings from Fairbanks, Vega, and other better-known makers. That said, there are some good online resources for learning more about these under-appreciated banjos.

First and foremost, Mike Holmes, whose Mugwumps website has long been a clearing-house of information on obscure banjos, has an excellent page on W.A Cole. Resources include model descriptions, photos of dowel stick stamps and pearl inlays, patent documents, and serial numbers, all viewable here:

http://www.mugwumps.com/WACole.html

Collector Bill Destler has good photos of several Cole banjos in his possession, viewable here (scroll down to the Cole section):

http://www.billsbanjos.com/

Finally, Vintage Guitar Magazine did an excellent essay on a Cole's Eclipse Pro Special, which includes a good description of the Eclipse tonering, which was present only on W.A. Cole's high-end banjos. Article here:

http://www.vintageguitar.com/15434/cole ... o-special/

There are other resources available, but these are three of the best. Cole's banjos were made in several different models, featuring a bewildering range of inlay options. Complicating identification of individual banjos is the fact that the O. Ditson company, a Boston instrument distributor, apparently used different names for Cole's banjos than did Cole himself.

Essentially, though, the banjos boil down to two categories: Eclipse and non-Eclipse. The Eclipse tonering was one of Cole's three patents and consisted of a square ring with upward-facing pins, which in turn supported a round ring which contacted the skin head. The finest banjos from W.A. Cole feature this tonering, though he did make many less-expensive banjos without this tonering. Most if not all Eclipse banjos will be stamped "Cole's Eclipse" on the dowel stick.

I leave you with a photo of a gorgeous Cole's Eclipse openback 5-string. Enjoy!

Rob

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