Details
Here's an incredibly clean and original "trap-door" Gibson tenor banjo from the company's early pre-Mastertone days. The only part missing is the tailpiece cover, and perhaps the biggest surprise is the original tall bridge with heart-shaped cutout between the legs as those bridges are fragile and rarely survive. There are some shallow scratches to the finish on the back of the resonator, but the neck's finish is almost pristine. The neck is straight and frets show only minimal wear. Thanks to the short 19 inch string scale, these early Gibson tenors are easy to play and can be adapted to a variety of tunings, plus the trap-door feature actually works and gives you an easy and almost instant way to modify the tone. Best of all, this example is just so dang cute!
Specs
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Binding
Ivoroid on resonator
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Fingerboard
Ebony
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Finish
original shellac varnish
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Frets to body
17
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Neck material
Maple
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Nut width
1 1/8"
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Scale length
19"
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Total frets
20
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Tuners
Original Waverly, Ivoroid buttons
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Year
1923
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Diameter
10 5/8"
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Resonator
Yes
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Case type
Original Hardshell
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Serial number
11169-A
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SKU
GIBTB3-11169A
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UPC
141135
