I decided to buy a vintage banjo instead of a new one. since I am pretty new to the banjo world, I do not know the vintage banjo marktet very well. I heard Bernunzio is a well-known dealer of vintage banjos. I saw this beautiful 17-fret bacon and day silver bell banjo:
I wouldn't like to say...maybe.... You should ask the dealer lots of questions. It looks like it has friction tuners, which I have changed on a couple of banjos to geared Waverlys and they cost $100 a set. I have a copy of a list of banjo prices from 1927 and it's useful for comparison purposes. The Silver Bell no.1 is listed as $140. The Bacon Peerless I have is listed at a mere $50 and so is my Gibson TB-01 (but the Gibson is far superior). The Silver Bells go up to a 1927 price of $900 for the No.9 - that would be a king's ransom in the 20's. The no.1 must be a fairly basic model but I've never played one. It looks pretty though. Personally having played 17 and 19 fret banjos I think the extra effort and stretch required for the longer scale tenor is really worth it. I wouldn't go back to 17 frets. Good luck with your quest!
I can't comment on the price. However, those folks at Burnunzio are an impressive lot. They really know what they are doing and are incredibly helpful. I would not hesitate to do business with them.
You are always going to pay full retail price for a banjo from a dealer, but the upside is that a dealer like John Bernunzio has to keep his reputation and he will set up the banjo to play. $1400 is a top price these days in the states, but if you try to find a similar banjo in europe, you might as well put a Euro sign in front of the figure and then add ten percent.
I've dealt with Bernunzio.com a lot and have been in his store a number of times. The owner, John Bernunzio, has always been up front with me regarding his instruments and his prices usually in the middle of the well known dealers (hint: Elderly is lower, Gruhn about the same or higher, Mandolin Brothers higher, just to name a few.)
The banjo you are asking about is a good banjo for ITM. I have owned or played several and while they do not sound like a B&D 19 fret Silverbell, they have a find sound on their own. After a journey overseas, your banjo will probably need to be setup for optimal sound, but mostly that will be tightening the head and making sure that the bridge is in the precise place it needs to be. 17 fret banjos are more finicky when it comes to bridge placement. The banjo in question is an early Silverbell, built like a tank, and it should be fine. Call and talk to the owner or staff about the condition of the banjo and any problems first, however (use Skype, it is cheaper and you can see the banjo if they have it.) They will not mess with you.
I too have purchased a vintage banjo from Bernunzio as was not at all disappointed. The staff answered all my questions ahead of the purchase, and the item was shipped safely and promptly. If my memory serves me, a friend of mine purchased an almost identical model from Bernunzio a few years ago. Look up "dirtyheel" on this site and shoot him an e-mail. He can give you some good info about this banjo and his buying experiences.
I recently got a '24 B & D Silver Bell #1 - mine's a 17 fret one as well. I'm really pleased with it - lovely instrument, nice sound and nice to play - I paid considerably less for mine (approx half the price of that Bernunzios one) but mine was a total restoration project, so any collector's value considerably diminished by that. The one at Bernunzios looks to indeed be in good nick, and price wise, certainly less costly than the same instrument would be if you were buying in Europe.
I love my Silver Bell. It's actually my every day player, over the Ome, the Orpheums, and the Paragon (which is currently being restored).
My SB is a fancier model than that one, but was also a lot more money. But sound-wise, it shouldn't be any different. So I would say that this would be a banjo that you could be happy with for probably your entire playing career.
You can find similar banjos on eBay as low as maybe $850, if you work really hard to get one. Maybe $1100 pretty easily. But having everything about the banjo known in advance, because it's coming from Bernunzio, may save you a fair amount of heartache!
And the chances are that it's not going to lose value in the future, unless you trash it. So it's a much better investment than pretty much any new banjo in that price range.
a fair price for this banjo?
a fair price for this banjo?
I decided to buy a vintage banjo instead of a new one. since I am pretty new to the banjo world, I do not know the vintage banjo marktet very well. I heard Bernunzio is a well-known dealer of vintage banjos. I saw this beautiful 17-fret bacon and day silver bell banjo:
http://bernunzio.com/products/1015755
Is 1400$ a fair price? (plus 150$ shipping costs to Switzerland)
Regards
# Posted on February 24th 2011 by jstyle
Re: a fair price for this banjo?
I wouldn't like to say...maybe.... You should ask the dealer lots of questions. It looks like it has friction tuners, which I have changed on a couple of banjos to geared Waverlys and they cost $100 a set. I have a copy of a list of banjo prices from 1927 and it's useful for comparison purposes. The Silver Bell no.1 is listed as $140. The Bacon Peerless I have is listed at a mere $50 and so is my Gibson TB-01 (but the Gibson is far superior). The Silver Bells go up to a 1927 price of $900 for the No.9 - that would be a king's ransom in the 20's. The no.1 must be a fairly basic model but I've never played one. It looks pretty though. Personally having played 17 and 19 fret banjos I think the extra effort and stretch required for the longer scale tenor is really worth it. I wouldn't go back to 17 frets. Good luck with your quest!
# Posted on February 24th 2011 by RichardB
Re: a fair price for this banjo?
Here's an interesting article about the Silver Bell: http://banjoexpress.com/silverbell.html
# Posted on February 24th 2011 by RichardB
Re: a fair price for this banjo?
I can't comment on the price. However, those folks at Burnunzio are an impressive lot. They really know what they are doing and are incredibly helpful. I would not hesitate to do business with them.
# Posted on February 24th 2011 by oriley
Re: a fair price for this banjo?
You are always going to pay full retail price for a banjo from a dealer, but the upside is that a dealer like John Bernunzio has to keep his reputation and he will set up the banjo to play. $1400 is a top price these days in the states, but if you try to find a similar banjo in europe, you might as well put a Euro sign in front of the figure and then add ten percent.
I've dealt with Bernunzio.com a lot and have been in his store a number of times. The owner, John Bernunzio, has always been up front with me regarding his instruments and his prices usually in the middle of the well known dealers (hint: Elderly is lower, Gruhn about the same or higher, Mandolin Brothers higher, just to name a few.)
The banjo you are asking about is a good banjo for ITM. I have owned or played several and while they do not sound like a B&D 19 fret Silverbell, they have a find sound on their own. After a journey overseas, your banjo will probably need to be setup for optimal sound, but mostly that will be tightening the head and making sure that the bridge is in the precise place it needs to be. 17 fret banjos are more finicky when it comes to bridge placement. The banjo in question is an early Silverbell, built like a tank, and it should be fine. Call and talk to the owner or staff about the condition of the banjo and any problems first, however (use Skype, it is cheaper and you can see the banjo if they have it.) They will not mess with you.
Mike Keyes
http://www.mikekeyes.com
# Posted on February 24th 2011 by mikeyes
Re: a fair price for this banjo?
I too have purchased a vintage banjo from Bernunzio as was not at all disappointed. The staff answered all my questions ahead of the purchase, and the item was shipped safely and promptly. If my memory serves me, a friend of mine purchased an almost identical model from Bernunzio a few years ago. Look up "dirtyheel" on this site and shoot him an e-mail. He can give you some good info about this banjo and his buying experiences.
# Posted on February 24th 2011 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: a fair price for this banjo?
I recently got a '24 B & D Silver Bell #1 - mine's a 17 fret one as well. I'm really pleased with it - lovely instrument, nice sound and nice to play - I paid considerably less for mine (approx half the price of that Bernunzios one) but mine was a total restoration project, so any collector's value considerably diminished by that. The one at Bernunzios looks to indeed be in good nick, and price wise, certainly less costly than the same instrument would be if you were buying in Europe.
# Posted on February 24th 2011 by triplet upstairs
Re: a fair price for this banjo?
I love my Silver Bell. It's actually my every day player, over the Ome, the Orpheums, and the Paragon (which is currently being restored).
My SB is a fancier model than that one, but was also a lot more money. But sound-wise, it shouldn't be any different. So I would say that this would be a banjo that you could be happy with for probably your entire playing career.
You can find similar banjos on eBay as low as maybe $850, if you work really hard to get one. Maybe $1100 pretty easily. But having everything about the banjo known in advance, because it's coming from Bernunzio, may save you a fair amount of heartache!
And the chances are that it's not going to lose value in the future, unless you trash it. So it's a much better investment than pretty much any new banjo in that price range.
# Posted on February 24th 2011 by Reverend
Re: a fair price for this banjo?
Nearer to home, I see Alan Hopkins has a few nice Banjos.
http://www.cft-jhopkins.supanet.com/banjos_for_sale%20page.htm
You might also like to check out the full list of 'Banjos for Sale' outlets, on the Irish Tenor Banjo, to compare prices etc.
http://theirishtenorbanjo.ning.com/
Cheers
Dick
# Posted on February 25th 2011 by Ptarmigan
Re: a fair price for this banjo?
That John Grey Aristocrat on Alan's site looks and sounds the business!
# Posted on February 25th 2011 by triplet upstairs