Classic-Banjo

A Site Dedicated to all enthusiasts of Classic Style Banjo

A very rare tenor banjo for sale on Ebay

Comment by Jody Stecher on April 16, 2018 at 16:48: Wow! Really nice. There's also a JE Dallas 5-string that might be good and a lot less expensive. I keep trying to post the URL but instead I get hundreds of characters. And there's a TIP TOP JE Dallas Zither-Banjo at a lower price (so far) than what I paid for the same model. This is a great banjo. I have no personal stake in this auction,

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-J-E-DALLAS-ZITHER-BANJO-BEAUTIFU...

Comment by Jody Stecher on April 17, 2018 at 21:28: The Lipoff went for £1705. No one has bid on the Dallas zb.

Comment by Richard William Ineson on April 18, 2018 at 7:02: It's a bit of a gamble at that price as there may be some hidden defects and it will need some time, effort and money to bring it back to life, but it is a fancy banjo and will repay the investment. Lipoff seems to have been a violinist and may have played with Paul Whitman's band, he was in Rio at one time with the Pingitore brothers.

Comment by carrie horgan on April 18, 2018 at 7:09: It's interesting that it went for so much. I posted a link on Banjo Hangout on the Collectors Forum but no-one came back with any information about the maker however, some ideas that it could have been made by Lange. Anyway, it is good news for the Hospice. The Dallas ZB looks in really good condition.

Comment by Jody Stecher on April 18, 2018 at 15:41: It's also interesting that you mentioned the neck, Carrie. The neck seems to have its finish stripped. The neck on my Dallas zb has a bit of gloss. The heel carvings are similar on the two banjos. But the neck of mine (#6633) is of several pieces. The treble side is bird's eye maple, the bass side is flame maple and there is a middle strip of dark wood, possibly rosewood, surrounded on each side with thin strips of dark and light purfling, if that is the right word.

Comment by Jody Stecher on April 18, 2018 at 16:13: To be clear, the finish on the neck of my JE Dallas zither-banjo is the same as on the back of the pot of both mine and the one on eBay (is "Resonator" the right word for the back of a zither-banjo?). Another possible difference is the inlays. The eBay banjo is advertised to have mother-of-pearl inlays. That may be so. Mine are African snail.