Value of Gibson tenor banjo?

[Tim2723]

Fearfaoin, please give heed to what Simon just said. That is a lot to pay for a '30s banjo, even with the G-word on the headstock. And getting the work done can easily cost more than you expect, even with all the reproduction parts available. Although better than nearly any entry-level banjo you'll find today, the TB-0 wasn't Gibson's top-of-the-line offering when it was new, and I don't believe it's the one the Bluegrass converters drool over. The Antiques Roadshow people would politely examine it, but it's not the one they'd get exicted about.

What is wrong with your current banjo? You mention something about not playing in tune. Do you mean it goes out of tune easily, has flawed intonation along the neck, or is it a case of sounding a bit off in Irish GDAE tuning? Or maybe something else? If you've got a decent, mechanically sound banjo already, you can make TONS of improvements for a lot less than $1200! Remember that the banjo is the tinkerer's instrument. You can make any decent banjo sound any way you want it to by making relatively inexpensive changes. It's not in the nature of a banjo to improve with age the way other stringed instruments do. They tend to dilapidate.

[Rob Sharer]

Late to the party, but here goes:

These are not great Irish tenors. The only Gibsons I've ever heard making sounds that approach the kind of sound that the best Irish players aspire to are the archtop Mastertone models, and they're another class of a banjo from the one you're considering. Check out the silkscreened logo; this is a cheap instrument, despite being made by Gibson. It resembles a Kalamazoo, Recording King, or Oriole, all off-brand lines that Gibson produced during the dark years of the 30's. Cheers,

Rob

[fearfaoin]

Thanks for the insights, folks.

What is wrong with your current banjo? You mention something about not playing in
tune.

Here's the thread about it.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=66119

It's a lot closer to in-tune now, but I'm constantly
fussing with the bridge to get the 2nd fret right,
especially on the D string. I have to press that
string right at the fret to keep it from going way
sharp. Also, there's a cant to the neck that makes
the E string very close to the edge of the neck.
I'm probably going to get around to having that
fixed, but it would mean being without my banjo
for a while and that would not be cool at all.

[Rob Sharer]

Hey man, did you know that I'm a banjo mechanic? PM me. Cheers,


Rob