1860's era banjo

[mladair]

Slightly post war, but still lots of minstrel goodness....

http://elderly.com/vintage/items/60U-2469.htm

[Mark Lewis]

Re: 1860's era banjo

Frets make me believe it's not an 1860s banjo, but it's still a great banjo.

[Boucher42]

Re: 1860's era banjo

Frets make me believe it's not an 1860s banjo, but it's still a great banjo.

"Buckley New Banjo Method" shows a fretted banjo neck in the first couple of pages. It was published in 1860. The banjo in the Elderly ad clearly states 1866 as a patent date.

[Mark Lewis]

Re: 1860's era banjo

Glad to know that, Bob Fletcher steered me wrong I guess. He said the first fretted banjos only had a few frets and not the entire length of the neck.

Is it possible that the head tightening device/method was patented in 1866 and the banjo was built in the 1870s and/or perhaps retrofitted with frets (as some were) even later than that?

[Boucher42]

Re: 1860's era banjo

The tightening system sort of resembles the one on the Ashborn banjo. If you are thinking of buying this to play in a period setting I wouldn't. But it still is a neat piece. Probably more 1870-ish. If you do a cowboy type/ gun slinger impression then this would be a good one.

[Mark Lewis]

Re: 1860's era banjo

I'm probably going to by one from Bob Fletcher before the year is out. Right now all we have is an expensive copy of a Fairbanks Regent made by Bart Reiter, which isn't right at all.

[georgewunderlich]

Re: 1860's era banjo

First off, please do not use Mr. flesher as a source. Although he is a banjo maker of infinite talent and ability, his banjo research has been repeatedly proven to be lacking. If you want sources, use "America's Instrument", "Birth of the Banjo" or www.banjodatabase.org (browse then three dimensional sightings). There are many more if you wish.

As far as frets go. There is at least one banjo from 1848 that has frets to the fifth position. In 1852, Ashborn fretted some of his banjo the full length of the fingerboard. This system was slightly different than the Tilton you see here since the second fret was split under the first string and placed 1/8" lower than the rest of the fret. This was done for intonation purposes but was not actually needed.

There are several banjos from 1848- the ACW that have full fingerboard position makers scribed into the neck with a blunt tool. This is far more common than frets and should be considered. The trick is knowing what banjo you need for your impression and then outfitting it correctly. Anyone who says, "they didn't have..." likely has not done their homework. Blanket statements like this need to be backed with real research.

[Mark Lewis]

Re: 1860's era banjo

Would you care to date the banjo mentioned/pictured above?

[georgewunderlich]

Re: 1860's era banjo

I assume you mean me.

The date of this banjo is not really in question. It is post war, likely 1867-1870. It is unclear how long Tilton made this model although we can find him in the instrument business from 1853 to 1885. This odel could be as late as 1885 but is not likely. Tilton's stock and trade was in new innovations and other later models are extant.

[Old Cremona]

Re: 1860's era banjo

In 1852, Ashborn fretted some of his banjo the full length of the fingerboard. This system was slightly different than the Tilton you see here since the second fret was split under the first string and placed 1/8" lower than the rest of the fret. This was done for intonation purposes but was not actually needed.

Frank Converse said that James Buckley came up with this idea. He (Converse) wrote with some sarcasm that "it was an idea that he was permitted to monopolize."