Clifford Essex datation & Sr-number

[marc dalmasso]

I found an interest in the last Marc ' post where he spoke about the factory ' period of his beautiful CE special clad ' banjo ; about 1934 , i can remember .

For sure , it is my own point of view , i discovered by myself that the CE ' serial numbers ( when there is one on the banjo ) are not CE ' brand serial numbers but CE ' models serial numbers ; i hope you will understand what i mean .

For instance , i have a pre 1920 clipper model ( dowel say CE- Co grafton street ) and the  serial number is 6199 .

6199 for a pre 1920 ' banjo and marc ' one is  4330 for a 1934 ' banjo ...

More , my CE professional ( i play on a video with éric )  is serial number 51 and if you go to the CE paragon 'website , you will find many paragons , and one of these is numbered 51 .

 So i think ,  each  CE-banjo  ' model got ' s his own numbering . am i right ?

[Jody Stecher]

Your analysis seems sound and is probably correct I'd guess. However sometimes instrument manufacturers didn't think about posterity and history when numbering their instruments and so Gibson's serial numbers for instance don't always represent the logical sequence one might imagine or hope for. I'm curious about your early Forgotten Model of CE banjo, the Special X.  Does it have a serial number?

[marc dalmasso]

NO , Jody ;  no serial number on the CE special X , like on most of the early CE banjos .  I guess it ' a an intermediate model between the CE special and the CE special XX  ; the choice of the name CE special X should make us think that i am right . It is a wood hoop model with a very heavy  all wood pot but without tonering ; however , the Bj is built like a tubaphone ( same  ring around the pot with the shoes on ) ; i pretty sure the neck is  walnut ; the banjo is like a speciall XX but without tonering and without inlays on the peghead ; size is 10 1 /2 and the sound is simply GREAT