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Pre-War Gibson Serial Number Listing
This is a listing, with serial numbers and dates, of the major Golden Age banjo makers' products. It is reasonably accurate, tho I am always open to more information. NOTE: I CANNOT APPRAISE BANJOS FROM AN E-MAIL DESCRIPTION. Please get your appraisal thru the link to Gruhn at the bottom of this page.
Paramount was made by William L. Lange, of Rettburg & Lange, who
purchased J. H. Buckbee's banjo factory in 1897. Most of their banjos were
4-string (tenor and plectrum) but they DID make a VERY few 5-strings. Most
Paramount 5-strings are re-necked from 4-strings, however.
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1000............................1922 1500............................1923 2000............................1924 3000............................1925 4000............................1926 6000............................1927 |
11500...........................1929 13000...........................1930 13500...........................1931 14000...........................1932 14500...........................1933 15000...........................1934 15500...........................1935 |
Super Paramounts came in three models, with their own serial number
sequence:
100.............................1930
160.............................1931
180.............................1932
230.............................1933
260.............................1934
280.............................1935
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13000...........................1925 13800...........................1926 14700...........................1927 20170...........................1928 21300...........................1929 22600...........................1930 22700...........................1931 22900...........................1932 |
23440...........................1934 24500...........................1935 25500...........................1936 26800...........................1937 28000...........................1938 29500...........................1939 30000...........................1940 31500...........................1941 |
"Brittles" offers the following information:
"Bacon serial numbers are CONTINUOUS, from the beginning, in 1906 (2-digit) - to 1940 (5-digit), when the company was sold to Gretsch. (And there were some un-numbered, plain banjos made in the late 'teens.)
The company was hit by the hurricane of Sept '38, and contracted with Gretsch to make banjos for them. They finally "closed" the corporation, and sold out, in 1940. (Day was in his 70's.)
By MY observation, Gretsch started re-numbering about that time (Maybe starting with 1000? I've only seen 4-digit, or lower 5-digit numbers, from then on. )
They stopped making the B&D models, around 1968 - after Baldwin (their parent at the time) bought the ODE company, in 1967. Gretsch (re-purchased by the family) tried to re-introduce the B&D Silver Bell, in 1987 - but failed.
Fred Bacon used a BUNCH of names for his different companies over the years. But, starting in 1920 - with opening of the Groton, CT works - the REAL name of the company was: "The Bacon Banjo Company, Inc." The original partners were Fred, and his wife Cassie; and Oliver Winship, and his wife. It remained under that name until it closed.
Starting in late '23, they became "Makers of The B&D Silver Bell Banjos" (Silver Bell, Super Banjo, Blue Bell, - all co-developed by Fred and David Day). These were USUALLY marked ONLY the shortened "B&D" on the peghead. (I'm racking my brain - 'cause I swear I've seen the full "Bacon and Day" somewhere in their advertising, or catalogs. Though rarely!)
They also continued to make "Bacon" banjos as well. These were the designs (like the Professional, Orchestra, and Blue Ribbon) that Fred had developed, on his own.
There were some later non-SilverBell models, developed in the early thirties, that also caried the "B&D" brand (Seniorita comes to mind). And some of the late Gretsch Silver Bells had only "Bacon" on the peghead.
After almost 40 years of making the world's finest banjos - the "Bacon and Day" banjos were the first to carry David Day's name.
Serial numbers were somewhere around 6000, when Day joined in Sept '22."
The Fairbanks/Cole/Vega company was one of the longest lasting banjo makers in the US. Dating their instruments must only be -approximate-, but that approximation should be pretty easy with these lists.
Thanks to Stuart J. Cohen and Jim Bollman for much of the information
contained in the Fairbanks and Vega history and serial number charts. Both
Stuart and Jim are major exponents and experts on the classic banjo, and have
been responsible for much of the information groundwork on the subject. Check
out Akira Tsumura's first banjo book - he devotes chapters to each of them.
They are owners (along with Eric Schoenberg) of The Music Emporium, 165 Mass.
Ave, Lexington, MA 02173 USA. phone: 617-860-0049.
Note that the "Earliest Known Serial Number" for a given year may be higher
than the "Latest Known Number" for the previous year.....meaning that the
actual 'last number' for any year to 1932 is UNKNOWN.
Fairbanks and Cole entered into partnership in 1880.
Fairbanks and Cole split the partnership in 1890, and Cole began making
banjos for himself. this company apparently ended in 1919 or so.
The Fairbanks "Electric" was introduced in 1890.
The metal nameplate was introduced in 1896.
The famous "Whyte Ladye" was begun in 1901.
The "Tube-a-Phone" was introduced in 1909.
The metal nameplate was dropped, and a stamped name on the dowel stick of
"Fairbanks-Vega" was begun in 1910.
The stamped name was changed to "Vega" in 1923.
On March 4, 1904, the factory burned, and the Vega company purchased the company on March 21st, making banjos under the direction of David Day, later of "Bacon & Day" fame.
1741............................1988...............1891
2246............................2857...............1892
3707............................8662...............1893
(note: few 4000 thru 8000 numbers were used)
(note: few 10,000 thru 14,000 numbers were used)
9366............................9920...............1894
14000...........................14909..............1895
15021...........................15843..............1896
16029...........................16995..............1897
983.............................1868................1881
1920............................2666................1882
2854............................3647................1883
4022............................4698................1884
4753............................5503................1885
5735............................6468................1886
6760............................7317................1887
7849............................8460................1888
9041............................9221................1889
1464............................1638................1891
....................................................1892
....................................................1893
....(No information available)......................1894
....................................................1895
....................................................1896
16971.............................?.................1897
17021...........................17963...............1898
18026...........................18939...............1899
19124...........................19993...............1900
20107...........................20957...............1901
21237...........................21961...............1902
22002...........................22897...............1903
23071...........................23203...............1904
23255...........................23548...............1905
23560...........................23969...............1906
24092...........................24195...............1907
24337...........................24973...............1908
25083...........................25986...............1909
26023...........................26999...............1910
27027...........................27991...............1911
28062...........................28930...............1912
29029...........................29993...............1913
30492...........................30891...............1914
31462...........................31711...............1915
32290...........................32850...............1916
33282...........................33822...............1917
34273...........................34759...............1918
35017...........................37162...............1919
37829...........................39942...............1920
40071...........................45235...............1921
45608...........................50773...............1922
51279...........................56313...............1923
56656...........................62248...............1924
62419...........................67436...............1925
67518...........................72204...............1926
73075...........................78371...............1927
79025...........................83827...............1928
84124...........................87896...............1929
89729...........................94716...............1930
95374...........................97962...............1931
98314...........................98149...............1932
From 1933 we have a full sequence of numbers, and thus can date
with certainty:
98185...........................1934
98220...........................1935
98225...........................1936
98290...........................1937
98325...........................1938
98360...........................1939
98395...........................1940
98430...........................1941
98465...........................1942
98500...........................1943
98535...........................1944
98570...........................1945
98605...........................1946
98640...........................1947
98675...........................1948
98710...........................1949
98745...........................1950
98780...........................1951
98820...........................1952
98896...........................1953
98990...........................1954
99067...........................1955
99213...........................1956
99428...........................1957
99582...........................1958
99717...........................1959
100022..........................1960
100560..........................1961
101999..........................1962
These are the famous printer's error yellow labels, used from
October of 1962 to February of 1964:
10522...........................1963
12130...........................1964
A new series of numbers was begun in February of 1964.
125641..........................1965
126772..........................1966
127682..........................1967
128565..........................1968
129120..........................1969
On 05/17/70, Vega was sold to the C.F. Martin Co. These banjos may
have the Martin logo on the -back- of the peg-head, with the Vega logo on
the face.
130049..........................1971
A new series of numbers was adopted after 1971:
The name was then sold to Global Trading, of S. Korea. No serial
number information is available after 1972 at this time. Deering banjos
recently purchased the name, and is currently making reproduction models of the
Pete Seeger Tube-a-phone long-neck.
The banjos of S.S. Stewart are considered to be some of the finest
of the "classical" style banjos. Most were made for cat-gut strings, and
DO NOT take steel strings well at all, as they tend to warp the necks. A
slight twisting of the neck on an SS Stewart is pretty common, and should not
be allowed to detract from the value, unless it is so serious as to hurt the
instrument's playability.
La Bella makes a set of nylon banjo strings that work quite well on
Stewarts.
Note that the serial number list here is only an -approximation,- as
the true dates are impossible to find. This listing is pretty accurate, tho.
- 01 - 1000.................................. late 1878 - early 1880's
- 4000 - 5000.............................1888 - 1889
- 14000 - 15000.........................1894
- above 50,000.......................... after 1898
- all marked "4S"..................... after 1901 to 1904
The peg-head shaped trademark was introduced in 1888.
Stewart began producing "Acme" banjos for Sears in 1893, and the
steel patented neck-fastener was introduced in 1894.
Weymann made banjos under the "Keystone" name beginning in early
1900. These were 5-stringed, and are quite interesting. Beginning in late
1924, they began to make the tenor and plectrum models for which they are
famous. Weymanns tend to be quite rare.
37000...........................1925
39000...........................1926
41000...........................1927
43000...........................1928
45000...........................1929
45500...........................1930
46000...........................1931
46800...........................1932
47500...........................1933
48200...........................1934
The cheaper Ludwigs are very evident, and not rare. The top-of-the line models, however, are hard to find.
4000............................1926
5000............................1927
6000............................1928
7000............................1929
8000............................1930
9000............................1931
10000..........................1932
In about 1897 two New York instrument makers, Lange and Rettberg
bought the J. H. Buckbee banjo factory. Buckbee of New York had been
the banjo maker for many famous players, among them Farland, Foote,
Converse, Bruno, Mather, H. Dobson and G.C. Dobson and produced
banjos with the names of these performers as the manufacturer.
Indeed, Buckbee had been the largest of the post-war banjo
manufacturers and produced both handmade and mass produced
instruments. Why they sold out to Rettberg and Lange remains a
mystery. No banjos with the Buckbee name on the instrument seem to
have been made, or if so, none have survived. (nb: "JHB" stamped on the dowel stick
is one of the known markings of Buckbee -WJB) R & L continued to
make banjos for these performers, as well as a line of their own.
Exactly when R & L began to make the Orpheum is not known, but in
1903, W. B. Farmer was granted a patent, # 724833, for a tone ring
which sits on brackets which are attached to the rim. This is the
tone ring that was used on all Orpheum banjos by R & L and which
gives the Orpheums their distinctive sound. It is not known who W.
B. Farmer was or whether he worked for R & L. He was granted two
additional patents for the banjo but these do not seem to have been
used by R & L.
Orpheums were made in Styles 1, 2, 3, 3 Special, Brass Band and the
rare #4. They were made as Tenors, 5 strings & Mandolin Banjos. There
were also many custom models such as the "Duchess". Most Orpheum 5
strings have Serial numbers from #1-#3000. Tenors have #3000 and
higher. Highest serial number seen is around #17,300. R& L did not
keep records on the dates for their Orpheums. That is why most
vintage instrument catalogues list R & L Orpheums as "c. 1915".
Many more tenors were made because Lange continued to make the
Orpheum after he left R & L. in 1921. Many of the earlier features
that were in the R & L Orpheums were incorporate by Lange in his top
of the line Paramount Banjos which continued in production until
about 1935. The Lange Orpheum 3 and the Orpheum 3 Special were among
Lange's most popular Tenor banjo models during the "Jazz Age".
I have not been able to locate a price list for the R & L Orpheums.
In 1929, the Lange Orpheums' selling prices were: #1-$70: #2-$90; #3-
$110;-#3 special-$135.
The R&L Orpheums are not noted for their volume but do have a very
distinct and pleasant ring. The 2 recent banjo CDs by Walt Koken, are
fine examples of the sound of the Orpheum. Walt uses an Orpheum #4 on
these recordings.
Price Track: (These are some of the prices I have seen for R & L
Orpheums offered for sale during the last few years by reputable
vintage instrument dealers .... )
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TUNING A 7-STRING BANJO
The top five notes are standard (non-bluegrass) C tuning. CGBD plus octave g on the drone string. The extra two notes are as follows. The 5th string is A ( same pitch as guitar A ) and the 6th string is G a tone below that. This seems to be the Victorian English tuning.
I find that tuning the first four to a D tuning D F# A D, the fifth to X, the 6th to X and the drone to f# is useful.
This effectively gives you all the usual fingerings of G, but on the 2nd thru the 5th strings, with the 1st and 7th as "extras." Try it, if you have a 7-string!
Alvin Turner's "Universal Banjo Tutor" from about 1890 gives the following tunings for English banjos:
- 5 strings G CGBD
- 6 strings G GDGBD
- 7 strings G GCDGBD
More on the history of the banjo can be found at Mugwumps.
A list of American banjo makers, with dates of manufacture, is available also, as is a listing of vintage period British makers.
I would like serial number and historical information on GRETSCH and ODE / BALDWIN-ODE / OME banjos. If you have any, please !
