So, who got..

..the Abbot Amboyna out of eBay? I had my eyes on that one! But no worries, I got the Cammeyer Grade 1 instead... :-)

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Permalink Reply by Pip on February 23, 2020 at 0:27
Sigh ... not me. Have been checking them out this morning, but with the exchange rate and my nervousness at shipping them to the otherside of the world I will leave them to lucky players as yourself. The Cammeyer looks lovely :)
Permalink Reply by Pär Engstrand on February 23, 2020 at 0:38

Yeah! I'm very happy about that one. Looks like new, almost. And I don't have a Cammeyer yet so I'm really looking forward to having it in my hands. That will be the first banjo I buy that doesn't need major work on it to be playable (I hope!). With abit of luck and if the shipping goes well (sending a prayer to the banjo loving Lord Almighty!) it might even be playable right out of the box.

Living in Germany I always complain about living in the wrong country when it comes to buying banjos. But living in Austrailia must be pure hell when it comes to that! On the other hand, you do have quite a fine instrument.....

Permalink Reply by Jody Stecher on February 23, 2020 at 2:51

Australia? Australia is full of great banjos. Most came over from the UK, some used along with their owner/players, some brand new, shipped (literally by ship) to music shops. Years passed, the players passed away, the style of music the banjos were built to play went out of fashion and the banjos remain. I  myself have obtained 3 great banjos in Australia. Two were shipped and came to no  harm. But the cost of shipping from Australia has gone way up. Too far up. I did bring one back with me on an airplane though.

I missed the Amboyna auction. How much did it go for?  I can find no trace of it on eBay now.

Pär Engstrand said:

Yeah! I'm very happy about that one. Looks like new, almost. And I don't have a Cammeyer yet so I'm really looking forward to having it in my hands. That will be the first banjo I buy that doesn't need major work on it to be playable (I hope!). With abit of luck and if the shipping goes well (sending a prayer to the banjo loving Lord Almighty!) it might even be playable right out of the box.

Living in Germany I always complain about living in the wrong country when it comes to buying banjos. But living in Austrailia must be pure hell when it comes to that! On the other hand, you do have quite a fine instrument.....

Permalink Reply by Pip on February 23, 2020 at 3:33

Not sure about full :) 

But yes, there have been a good number of Windsor banjos and banjo mandolins that made the voyage down under. Have yet to see any that were of the quality of the eBay auction today :(

any tips for shipping Jody?

Jody Stecher said:

Australia? Australia is full of great banjos. Most came over from the UK, some used along with their owner/players, some brand new, shipped (literally by ship) to music shops. Years passed, the players passed away, the style of music the banjos were built to play went out of fashion and the banjos remain. I  myself have obtained 3 great banjos in Australia. Two were shipped and came to no  harm. But the cost of shipping from Australia has gone way up. Too far up. I did bring one back with me on an airplane though.

I missed the Amboyna auction. How much did it go for?  I can find no trace of it on eBay now.

Pär Engstrand said:

Yeah! I'm very happy about that one. Looks like new, almost. And I don't have a Cammeyer yet so I'm really looking forward to having it in my hands. That will be the first banjo I buy that doesn't need major work on it to be playable (I hope!). With abit of luck and if the shipping goes well (sending a prayer to the banjo loving Lord Almighty!) it might even be playable right out of the box.

Living in Germany I always complain about living in the wrong country when it comes to buying banjos. But living in Austrailia must be pure hell when it comes to that! On the other hand, you do have quite a fine instrument.....

Permalink Reply by Jody Stecher on February 23, 2020 at 3:44

In Australia I found (and bought)  for a fair price a Cammeyer Patent zither-banjo, a Windsor Grand Solo "regular banjo" , and a Clifford Essex XX Special.  I also came across  two Clifford Essex Professional banjos, a spectacular JE Dallas zither-banjo similar to mine, another XX Special, a Clifford Essex Boudoir Grand, and many others the particulars of which I don't remember at the moment. All this was found with a minimum of effort. Polish up and plug in your Mental Banjo Magnet and banjos shall fall from the sky upon you.  Australia is Banjo Land. 

Can you be more specific about shipping tips? From where to where please?
Pip said:

Not sure about full :) 

But yes, there have been a good number of Windsor banjos and banjo mandolins that made the voyage down under. Have yet to see any that were of the quality of the eBay auction today :(

any tips for shipping Jody?

Jody Stecher said:

Australia? Australia is full of great banjos. Most came over from the UK, some used along with their owner/players, some brand new, shipped (literally by ship) to music shops. Years passed, the players passed away, the style of music the banjos were built to play went out of fashion and the banjos remain. I  myself have obtained 3 great banjos in Australia. Two were shipped and came to no  harm. But the cost of shipping from Australia has gone way up. Too far up. I did bring one back with me on an airplane though.

I missed the Amboyna auction. How much did it go for?  I can find no trace of it on eBay now.

Pär Engstrand said:

Yeah! I'm very happy about that one. Looks like new, almost. And I don't have a Cammeyer yet so I'm really looking forward to having it in my hands. That will be the first banjo I buy that doesn't need major work on it to be playable (I hope!). With abit of luck and if the shipping goes well (sending a prayer to the banjo loving Lord Almighty!) it might even be playable right out of the box.

Living in Germany I always complain about living in the wrong country when it comes to buying banjos. But living in Austrailia must be pure hell when it comes to that! On the other hand, you do have quite a fine instrument.....

Permalink Reply by Pip on February 23, 2020 at 3:53

Thanks Jody,

patience then ... I am looking :) 

it would be shipping overseas in general ie packing/preparation/buying instruments sight unseen. It’s not something that I have ever done before.

thanks 

Permalink Reply by Jody Stecher on February 23, 2020 at 4:25

Ah. I see. Well the seller should know how to pack an instrument. One does the same as with a mirror. The instrument should not move in its case. No part of the outer walls of the case should touch any part of the inner walls of the shipping box. When shipping an instrument with no case (I have sent these and received these) the instrument should be suspended in packing material. Floating. No part of the instrument can touch an inner wall of the shipping box. With sufficient packing material (wadded up newspaper ... not as plentiful as it used to be!...is as good as anything else. Completely surrounding the instrument or its case in bubble wrap is also good. Within the case make sure that wadded up paper or old dishrags (got one like that from France) or foam or something prevents the instrument from moving.

What the buyer should know is how to recognize the presence or absence of a potential problem from looking at photos. If there is a part of the banjo not shown in a photo, the buyer is doing a reasonable thing to ask to see photos of these parts.   The buyer may ask questions.   Insurance is a must. Then if the instrument is broken no money is lost. And the likely repair cost should be included in the amount of insurance. 

Each country has a different post office price and a different private shipper price so there is no blanket Overseas statement I can make that will mean anything. Well OK, there is one thing:  Customs officers have something in common in all countries.  No matter what the written rules are, they will do what they want.  You will be charged too much, or not at all or a trivial amount or they will hold the banjo for 2 weeks because they think that B-A-N-J-O spells "bomb".  You think they won't? I had an oud (a middle eastern lute)  sent to me in California from England. It stayed in Louisville Kentucky for weeks because someone thought O-U-D was the equivalent of I-E-D (improvised explosive device).  The customs official who did that was an I-D-I-O-T.   Then another oud sent to me from Turkey was held up at JFK airport in New York because..... are you ready for this.?..... the paperwork was not the proper kind for........cheese.!

Nothing I have sent has arrived broken. Only one thing sent to me ever arrived broken and that was because the seller ignored my instructions on how to pack a fragile item.  Fortunately insurance covered the repair and the instrument cost.

Pip said:

Thanks Jody,

patience then ... I am looking :) 

it would be shipping overseas in general ie packing/preparation/buying instruments sight unseen. It’s not something that I have ever done before.

thanks 

Permalink Reply by Pär Engstrand on February 23, 2020 at 8:40

I had contact with the seller before he posted the banjos. He wanted £350 for the Abbott. Don't know how much it went for. I missed the auction as well. It was only up for a few hours so it should have been a good price. 

I got the Cammeyer Grade 1 for £250.

Permalink Reply by Jody Stecher on February 23, 2020 at 14:44

If the Abbott was in good condition I think  £350 is a low price. I wouldn't sell mine for so little. Not that it is for sale.

Pär Engstrand said:

I had contact with the seller before he posted the banjos. He wanted £350 for the Abbott. Don't know how much it went for. I missed the auction as well. It was only up for a few hours so it should have been a good price. 

I got the Cammeyer Grade 1 for £250.

Permalink Reply by marc dalmasso on February 23, 2020 at 20:35
Permalink Reply by Pär Engstrand on February 23, 2020 at 20:49

Thanks alot, Marc!

Now when I see the picures, I'm happy I got the Cammeyer. Looks like the Abbott would need a bit of work to look and play really good.

I'm still curious as to who got it. And if we'll ever see videos of it here... :-)

Permalink Reply by marc dalmasso on February 23, 2020 at 21:16

Not me ;  i even didn ' t see it was on ebay :

and i already have one  like this , marked B & M , but it 's his brother ; the pot is 9 inches , the neck of mine is very straight , compensated fret as well ,  the banjo is beautiful , i payed  160 € for it  ( almost 130 £  or  180 $ ) ; exquisite sounding

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