Majestic Chief Model Tenor Banjo (1928), made in New York City, natural lacquer finish, laminated maple and rosewood rim and resonator, laminated rosewood neck with ebony fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
The somewhat mysterious Majestic-logo banjos of the 1920's are the product of one of many of the immigrant Italian luthiers working out of New York in the 'teens and twenties. Gaetano Puntolillo was the name in this case, and during the 1920's he built a surprisingly large number of quality banjos sold in the NYC area under several brandnames. The Majestic brand was his own, and the better of these instruments are fully professional orchestra banjos, the equal of any of their competitors. Puntolillo also made similar instruments for B&J under the "S.S. Stewart" brand in the '20's.
This Majestic Chief is a fairly fancy mid-line tenor; the metal parts are gold-plated and the wooden resonator and neck somewhat lavishly decorated. The neck is multi-laminate rosewood with multiple layers of colored wood veneers interspliced, with a fancy pearl-inlaid peghead and bound ebony fingerboard. The geared tuners are gold plated early "spike' Grovers. The maple resonator is veneered in rosewood and decorated with multiple strips of colored wood marquetry. The rim features Puntollilo's elaborate raised tone ring and sheath flange, which are fairly close to Paramount practice-indeed it's speculated that much of the hardware for these banjos was supplied by William Lange's 24th Street factory. There is no serial number but inside the resonator is a penciled "11-10-28"-in the absence of other evidence we'll consider that an indication of build date. The construction is to a very high level overall and indeed this banjo is a highly professional piece, a fine testament to its undeservedly obscure maker.
Overall length is 34 in. (86.4 cm.), 10 7/8 in. (27.6 cm.) diameter head, and 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 23 in. (584 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/8 in. (29 mm.). This banjo is in extremely clean condition for its age, with only minor wear to the finish and no repairs or modifications. The gold plating has some general loss, as is typical with pieces this old but overall the banjo shows far less wear than most 1920's instruments we see. The hardware is original and it is set up with an old plastic head with a 1970's Barcus-Berry pickup attached underneath. The sound is not as bright as many comparable tenors and this one has a chunkier tone, well suited to Irish or other small-group playing. A very cool and unusual 1920's high-grade tenor, complete in its original HSC. Excellent + Condition.
