To be honest, I struggle to get on with banjos as a rule, but i wouldn't have minded keeping this one. The result was a great sounding, very playable old banjo, far from the 'decorator's piece' it had been for many years. I fitted a new Fiberskyn head and No-knot tailpiece, made a maple bridge, reset the neck to get the action playable, cleaned up the metalwork (much of the nickel plating had worn off the spunover brass pot, giving an interesting two-tone effect.), gave the frets a bit of a polish and fitted some Aquila nylgut strings (I suspect most of the trouble with the action was a result of being fitted with steel strings rather than the gut ones it was designed for).
It turned out to be a plain, but rather nice Lyon & Healy A-scale banjo, probably from the end of the 19th century or beginning of the 20th (judging by the style and number of tension brackets). For example, a friend had had a very old banjo hanging on his wall for years - he'd been given it and was told that it wasn't worth repairing, but I pestered him to let me do something with it. Our SALE Discount Price is $4,119.00 or, Our SALE Cash Discount Price it is $3,995.00.Although repair work isn't really my thing, I have occasionally taken on an interesting project. This WAS $4325 but is now way more reasonably priced at only:
They told us “It ain’t a crack.” "And Rocky said Doc, it's only a scratch." This instrument, a glimitry of asymmetry, at the ripe old age of 97, is sturdy beyond all belief, utterly amazing sounding, and remains one of the most beautiful designs in a pre-WW1 instrument as American luthiery has ever seen. We can see what our repair staff is calling a deep scratch on the back of the headstock. This stately showpiece overall shows normal signs of wear, especially at the treble side point on the face, normal finish checking, nicks, scratches, some fairly light belt buckle marks on back, dings and chips. There are signs of touch up along side the binding near the nut and elsewhere and a slight visible line where the treble side binding was reattached. All parts and components are original except the frets you'd expect that something's nearly a hundred years old would need new frets, right? This mandolin was refretted with jumbo frets which required removal of the black binding and then that same binding was put back on. The back of the headstock has a raised portion that looks like the helmet of a Roman Centurion. The face, back and sides are bordered in black-crème-black purfling the nut is bone, the bridge one-piece ebony the heel cap and backstripe at center of back of neck are also ebony. The pickguard, unbelievably, is made from Vulcanized rubber – though you’d never think it since it looks like black Bakelite.
#LYON HEALY GUITAR TAILPIECE PLUS#
The oval soundhole is bound in what appears to be ebony, and then has a crème and black ring around the orifice, plus another black-crème-black ring around ¼” further removed. Possibly this “scalloped” and extended fingerboard, with a slightly larger space between the last fret and the next to the last one, is what made them call this a “Special.” The ebony fingerboard joins the body at the 10 ½ fret position and proffers a total of 20 full-length frets plus 8 more abbreviated ones. The slide-on tailpiece cover is ornate, having an art nouveau design (scrolls and frames) plus the words “Lyon & Healy, Chicago” in a cameo shape etched near its center. The other notable, most striking visual appointment of the instrument is the violin-style headstock scroll which adds a distinctive and elegant, even regal, touch to this high-level model. This illustrious model comes with a carved spruce top that has two asymmetrical points, the higher being on the bass side it has a pearwood headplate cover held in place by four recessed screws, the tuners, which are geared and boast ebony (or black celluloid buttons) are recessed under that plate the capstans from the tuners never had grommets (bushings). It is also drop-dead gorgeous, as only this gracious, Victorian-era designed instrument can be.
#LYON HEALY GUITAR TAILPIECE PROFESSIONAL#
Although this is labeled “Style A Special” (something we have not seen before, usually it’s “Style A Professional” – but this was #29 so maybe they were still experimenting with a name), it is, indeed, professional in every way possible. #29, carved top and back mandolin, in very good condition with original hard shell case.
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