Paramount Style A Tenor Banjo (1925)
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Paramount Style A Model Tenor Banjo (1925), made in New York City, serial # 6873, natural varnish finish, laminated maple rim, laminated maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, black hard shell case.
Paramount's Style A was the plainest-grade instrument in the company's professional standard "letter series" line retailing originally at $130.00; in the 1920's this was still a fancy and expensive instrument. Along with Vega's Vegaphone models William Lange's Paramount line were the most popular of all the orchestra banjos of the 1920's and basically set the pattern for the "modern" resonator banjo. These banjos were the lynchpin of the rhythm section of every jazz and dance band in the country, as well as a featured soloist's instrument.
This Style A is lightly worn in with features typical of mid-1920's Paramounts, not as heavily decorated but with all the same construction details of the high grade instruments. The neck and rim are of laminated all-maple construction with rosewood-bound edges. The rosewood fingerboard has notched diamond pearl inlay, there is a marquetry strip under the fingerboard and a particularly fancy and attractive peghead design with elaborate engraved pearl inlay.
The tailpiece is the standard 1920s Paramount adjustable tension style, marked as "improved Paramount Pat. Pend'g" on the hinged cover. The armrest is the earlier style bent flat wire piece. The only alteration is the original Page tuners are long gone, a very common situation as the cast housings were prone to cracking even when new. This Style A is a medium-level tenor by 1920's standards but retains all the quality and sound of the best Paramounts. This is a fine playing and sounding 100 year old banjo, ready for another century.
Overall length is 33 1/2 in. (85.1 cm.), 11 1/4 in. (28.6 cm.) diameter head, and 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 23 in. (584 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/16 in. (30 mm.).
This banjo is a solid player, with changed tuners and fitted out with a modern Remo fiberskyn style head but otherwise largely original. The fragile Page cast-housing tuning pegs are long gone; the banjo is fitted with a set of later vintage small-can Grover geared tuners, functional and less intrusive than some. Thankfully the beautiful headstock face was relatively undisturbed, with only small pressure collars added.
There is some fairly light chipping and flaking to the original thin varnish finish, most notably to the upper sides and upper back of the resonator. The back of the neck shows surprisingly little wear. Nearly all of the ambered lacquer has flaked off the heavily inlaid headstock facing, but the engraving fill is still crisp. Most of the plating is in good shape; some hooks show corrosion fairly randomly. The hoop is a bit chewed into on its top surface from multiple re-headings. All hardware on the rim including the hooks and nuts remains original and complete.
The banjo retains its original thin frets with only light wear; this is a fine playing and sounding example of a classic era mid-1920s Paramount, one of the standard orchestra tenor banjos of that or any era. It includes a worn but functional original period HSC. Overall Very Good + Condition.
Paramount's Style A was the plainest-grade instrument in the company's professional standard "letter series" line retailing originally at $130.00; in the 1920's this was still a fancy and expensive instrument. Along with Vega's Vegaphone models William Lange's Paramount line were the most popular of all the orchestra banjos of the 1920's and basically set the pattern for the "modern" resonator banjo. These banjos were the lynchpin of the rhythm section of every jazz and dance band in the country, as well as a featured soloist's instrument.
This Style A is lightly worn in with features typical of mid-1920's Paramounts, not as heavily decorated but with all the same construction details of the high grade instruments. The neck and rim are of laminated all-maple construction with rosewood-bound edges. The rosewood fingerboard has notched diamond pearl inlay, there is a marquetry strip under the fingerboard and a particularly fancy and attractive peghead design with elaborate engraved pearl inlay.
The tailpiece is the standard 1920s Paramount adjustable tension style, marked as "improved Paramount Pat. Pend'g" on the hinged cover. The armrest is the earlier style bent flat wire piece. The only alteration is the original Page tuners are long gone, a very common situation as the cast housings were prone to cracking even when new. This Style A is a medium-level tenor by 1920's standards but retains all the quality and sound of the best Paramounts. This is a fine playing and sounding 100 year old banjo, ready for another century.
Overall length is 33 1/2 in. (85.1 cm.), 11 1/4 in. (28.6 cm.) diameter head, and 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 23 in. (584 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/16 in. (30 mm.).
This banjo is a solid player, with changed tuners and fitted out with a modern Remo fiberskyn style head but otherwise largely original. The fragile Page cast-housing tuning pegs are long gone; the banjo is fitted with a set of later vintage small-can Grover geared tuners, functional and less intrusive than some. Thankfully the beautiful headstock face was relatively undisturbed, with only small pressure collars added.
There is some fairly light chipping and flaking to the original thin varnish finish, most notably to the upper sides and upper back of the resonator. The back of the neck shows surprisingly little wear. Nearly all of the ambered lacquer has flaked off the heavily inlaid headstock facing, but the engraving fill is still crisp. Most of the plating is in good shape; some hooks show corrosion fairly randomly. The hoop is a bit chewed into on its top surface from multiple re-headings. All hardware on the rim including the hooks and nuts remains original and complete.
The banjo retains its original thin frets with only light wear; this is a fine playing and sounding example of a classic era mid-1920s Paramount, one of the standard orchestra tenor banjos of that or any era. It includes a worn but functional original period HSC. Overall Very Good + Condition.