I'm mostly a fiddler, but have had some fun lately playing a little tenor banjo (17 fret) I bought. I have no idea what kinda of banjo I'm playing, but I'm sure it's just a so-so one.
I was looking at upgrading it, and I found a 1929 Vega banjo (19 fret) with hard case for $950US. It has a resonator and plays real nice. I'm just hoping some of the experts can tell me if this is a good deal or not.
I'm sorry, I don't really know whether it's a good deal or not (how much you should pay for that Vega), but I do know they're good banjos. I'm not an expert in banjos yet, just got into banjo fairly recently. Good luck anyway!
Vega had release plenty of models of banjo. Differents were in tone ring, number of screws and ornaments on it and neck with 17 or 19 frets.
you can have Little Wonder with 17 frets neck, nice but simple banjo - at ebay sometimes you can buy on like that for 300$
or you can have Vegaphone Artist model with carvings on the neck, really nice ornaments on the head, not mentioning flange and resonator, and it will cost over 1000$
what you can do is take off the resonator and look inside, there should be a model of your banjo and serial number - with a little luck you may even found out when was the banjo made.
Bear in mind why you're buying the banjo. A big factor in the price of vintage banjos on the market is their "collectability" rather than playability or sound.
Also, a banjo that isn't great when used for dixieland jazz may be incredibly good for ITM.
Ive got a vega 17 fret and at the two willie clancy weeks ive been to most of the teachers had a go with it and said how much they liked it .Ive just got it restrung while in ireland and the sound is a lot better .I payed £600=00 for mine 5 years ago off andy perkins in uk Des
Look at the dowel stick and there will be a model number and a serial number. The model number will tell you what features it has (and the value) while the serial number can tell you the age. Make sure that the serial number on the dowel and the one on the rim are the same.
Thanks everyone for your replies. I plan to go take a better look at it and give it a thorough look. I'm more interested in having a good playing instrument more than a vintage instrument, but if I can get both, what the heck. Thanks again!
Good deal on a Banjo?
Good deal on a Banjo?
Hi All,
I'm mostly a fiddler, but have had some fun lately playing a little tenor banjo (17 fret) I bought. I have no idea what kinda of banjo I'm playing, but I'm sure it's just a so-so one.
I was looking at upgrading it, and I found a 1929 Vega banjo (19 fret) with hard case for $950US. It has a resonator and plays real nice. I'm just hoping some of the experts can tell me if this is a good deal or not.
Thanks for your help,
Larry
# Posted on September 14th 2007 by nofrets
Re: Good deal on a Banjo?
I'm sorry, I don't really know whether it's a good deal or not (how much you should pay for that Vega), but I do know they're good banjos. I'm not an expert in banjos yet, just got into banjo fairly recently. Good luck anyway!
# Posted on September 15th 2007 by seisflutes
Re: Good deal on a Banjo?
Vega had release plenty of models of banjo. Differents were in tone ring, number of screws and ornaments on it and neck with 17 or 19 frets.
you can have Little Wonder with 17 frets neck, nice but simple banjo - at ebay sometimes you can buy on like that for 300$
or you can have Vegaphone Artist model with carvings on the neck, really nice ornaments on the head, not mentioning flange and resonator, and it will cost over 1000$
what you can do is take off the resonator and look inside, there should be a model of your banjo and serial number - with a little luck you may even found out when was the banjo made.
# Posted on September 15th 2007 by padre
Re: Good deal on a Banjo?
Bear in mind why you're buying the banjo. A big factor in the price of vintage banjos on the market is their "collectability" rather than playability or sound.
Also, a banjo that isn't great when used for dixieland jazz may be incredibly good for ITM.
# Posted on September 15th 2007 by grego
Re: Good deal on a Banjo?
Ive got a vega 17 fret and at the two willie clancy weeks ive been to most of the teachers had a go with it and said how much they liked it .Ive just got it restrung while in ireland and the sound is a lot better .I payed £600=00 for mine 5 years ago off andy perkins in uk Des
# Posted on September 15th 2007 by DES RYNNE
Re: Good deal on a Banjo?
nofrets,
Look at the dowel stick and there will be a model number and a serial number. The model number will tell you what features it has (and the value) while the serial number can tell you the age. Make sure that the serial number on the dowel and the one on the rim are the same.
MIke Keyes
http://www.banjosessions.com
# Posted on September 15th 2007 by mikeyes
Re: Good deal on a Banjo?
Thanks everyone for your replies. I plan to go take a better look at it and give it a thorough look. I'm more interested in having a good playing instrument more than a vintage instrument, but if I can get both, what the heck. Thanks again!
# Posted on September 15th 2007 by nofrets