For Sale: Fairbanks/Vega Tubaphone No. 3 Plectrum circa 1916

10 3/4" rim, beautiful heel carving, nicely detailed gryphon inlay on the headstock. Judging by the wear on the fingerboard, someone loved this banjo and played it a lot. I purchased it several years ago with the intention of converting it to a 5-string, but I never got around to it. Shortly after acquiring it, I installed a set of Waverly 2-band tuners, which have developed a patina but still function well. The pot is in very good condition, with all hooks and nuts present and all of the tortoise shell binding in place.

The issues are mainly with the neck. A dowel stick reset is probably needed to play it as a plectrum, since the action is high even with a 1/2" bridge. There is a repaired heel crack with what appears to be two dowels going through the heel cap. The repair is solid. There are two small sections of binding missing from the neck. It appears that at some point a hole was drilled in the side of the neck for a 5th string tuning peg. The hole was filled prior to my ownership.

I will reduce the price to $600 if the tuners and the TKL case are not included.