Comment by Jody Stecher on March 7, 2014 at 4:16

Ooof. This one's harder to play than Yeoman's Call. Big stretches. Sometimes folks get my name wrong and call me Jody Stretcher. But it still doesn't help. Is it my fault that the dancer dreamed wrong notes and staccato notes where Cammeyer indicates legato? But anyway, this video conveys something of the sound of this banjo, which is the main reason for posting it. 

Comment by marc dalmasso on March 7, 2014 at 7:59

good playing  , Jody & beautiful zeebee ; fine tune with the Cammeyer ' style signature

Comment by Jody Stecher on March 7, 2014 at 23:42

My neighbor in San Francisco just received his Abbott Amboyna from Skip in Australia. The heel of his is stamped J Abbott and mine is stamped J G Abbott & Co. My guess is that JG is John senior and J is John Junior. Can anyone confirm whether this is a reasonable conjecture?

Comment by marc dalmasso on March 8, 2014 at 21:56

some infos here :

http://banjolin.co.uk/banjo/abbotthistory.htm

Jody , have you  inspected your beautiful zeebee everywhere ?  ( Inside  ? )

i have a  pretty well made / state TB n°3 with the same stamp that yours , and there 's a date ( 1921 ) manually written on the neck brace

Comment by Jody Stecher on March 8, 2014 at 22:26

I haven't taken it apart. There is a paper label affixed to the inside of the resonator. Most of what it says is blocked off by metal parts. It is a printed label in fancy letters and in very clean good condition. the top line says J. G Abbott & Co. Below that it says Musical Instrument Makers and then there is a blocked off word followed by "Specialists". I think it may say Banjo Specialists. Below that is an address, most of which is blocked off. What I can see is

44 Cha                   Road

which would suggest the 1928 address of

44 Chalton Street, Euston Road.

although the fourth letter appears to be a T, not a L. But it's hard to see in there.

http://www.paulvernonchester.com/AbbottVictor.htm

What is a "neck brace"? 

Comment by marc dalmasso on March 8, 2014 at 22:47

the triangular metal piece screwed on the dowel stick & supporting the 2 ebony wedges

Comment by Jody Stecher on March 8, 2014 at 22:58

Ah, the "thing". I've recently heard "neck bracket" and "dowel stick hardware".  The Amboyna, being a ZB doesn't have one. But I realize you mean I might  look for a date *somewhere* inside. 

Comment by marc dalmasso on March 9, 2014 at 7:52

The English guy who sell some original re nickeled metal hardware on eBay UK  call this " neck brace "

take a look

http://glensbritishbanjocollection.weebly.com/index.html

Comment by Jody Stecher on March 9, 2014 at 15:49

"Neck brace" is a good term. I had misunderstood and was asking what part on a zither-banjo was a neck brace. Anyway, thanks for suggesting I look inside the banjo, I think I've established that mine is a post 1928 Amboyna banjo. As for my neighbor's banjo, we'll look inside that one too.

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