1922 Vega Tubaphone Pineapple Banjo
This 1922 Vega Tubaphone rim is paired with a custom neck with original Vega details and a custom pineapple peghead inlay. The Mahogany neck is a great match for the 10-15/16″ Tubaphone rim. It has the crack and volume that you’d expect from one of these orginal Vega banjo rims.
- 25.5″ Scale Length
- 1922 10-15/16″ Vega Tubaphone Rim
- Engraved Pineapple Peghead Inlay
- Original Engraved Vega Style Fretboard Inlays
- Owners Initials Inlaid into Heel Cap
- Schubb Fifth String Capo
- PegHed Geared Friction Tuners
- Ivoroid Neck Binding
- Stacked Vega Style Heel Cap
- Seeders Violin Bridge
- Hard Oil Finish
- Published in Banjos
1923 Vega Whyte Laydie No. 2 Banjo
This 1923 Vega Whyte Laydie rim features a faithful recreation of a No. 2 Griffin style neck. The large 12″ Whyte Laydie rim is one of the most sought after of all original Vega rims from this era and the sound does not disappoint. The classic inlays and engravings compliment the sound that comes along with these rims making a perfect match for any vintage banjo fan. The PegHed tuners used on this banjo are an excellent tuner that give you a vintage look with the ease of a modern geared tuner. The neck shape is a slightly modified original Vega neck profile for excellent comfort and playability.
- 1923 11-15/16″ Vega Whyte Laydie Rim
- 25.5″ Scale Length
- Hand Engraved Inlays
- PegHed Geared Friction Style Tuners
- Vintage Toned Hard Oil Finish
- Ivoroid Neck Binding
- Vega Stacked Heel Cap
- 1-1/4″ Nut
- Graphtech Tusq XL Nut
- EVO Fretwire
- Published in Banjos
1929 Vega Tubaphone Longneck Conversion Banjo
This banjo started its life in 1929 as a Vega Vegaphone tenor banjo. The new longneck was design to match the original neck in style and looks while also using some of Vega’s Pete Seeger model as influence. These old Vega rims make excellent conversions and the Tubaphone paired with the longneck scale is a perfect combination for a big deep sound. The three extra frets on the low end of the longneck add a great range of tunings and keys to play in.
- 32″ Long Scale Length
- 1929 – 10-15/16″ Vega Tubaphone Rim
- Ivoroid Neck Binding
- Mother of Pearl Star Inlays
- Gotoh Tuners
- 1-1/4″ Nut
- Sunburst Nitrocellulous Lacquer Finish
- Published in Banjos
035 – Pi Banjo Conversion
This banjo started as a 4 string Little Wonder banjo from 1919. The original neck was falling apart and the owner wanted a new five string neck. Built for the same customer as the Prime Number Banjo and is a similar numbers theme. Using Pi as the idea we came up with this unique design. I came up with a new technique for making delicate inlaid dots to feature the number of the banjo at the end of the Pi string and a Pi symbol for the decimal point.
- 10-15/16″ 1919 Vega Little Wonder Rim
- 26-3/16″ Scale Length
- Pi Themed Inlays
- Ebony Fretboard and Peghead
- Ironwood Inlays
- Delicate Inlaid Dots
- Cherry Neck
- Published in Banjos
Vega Little Wonder Conversion Banjo
A 12″ Vega Little Wonder rim that, like many of these, was originally a tenor banjo. The neck was long gone and the owner happened to have a very nice piece of Santos Mahogany around that an old friend had given him many years ago. Sticking with a simple Vega aesthetic I created a new neck from the wood he sent. It turned out to be an excellent neck material and a perfect color match for the stained maple rim. A simple adorned but extremely enjoyable banjo to play. The Little Wonder rims and tone rings are often overlooked but they can have an excellent sound when setup correctly.
- 26-3/16″ Scale Length
- 11-15/16″ Vega Little Wonder Rim
- Ebony Fingerboard, Peghead and Heelcap
- Mother of Pearl Inlays
- Original Dowel Stick Construction
- Calf Skin Head
- Published in Banjos
Vega Tubaphone Slothead Banjo
A nice old original Tubaphone rim with an original Tubaphone resonator. The client wanted a slothead neck with simple aesthetics setup for fingerstyle playing.
- Original 11″ Vega Tubaphone Rim with Resonator
- 25.5″ Scale Length
- Curly Hard Maple Neck with Ebony details
- Brass side dot inlays
- Micro Dot Mother of Pearl Fretboard Inlays
- Slothead Peghead
- Seeders Curved Bridge
- Renaissance Head
- EVO Fretwire
- 2 Way Truss Rod Hidden in Heel
- Published in Banjos