Identifying Unmarked Banjos
Many banjo manufacturers, in addition to making banjos under their own names, made unmarked banjos for others to sell as well. In some cases, teachers would purchase these instruments and put their own names on them, but in many other cases they carry no identifying name at all. It’s difficult to positively identify the manufacturer of these banjos in many cases, but some identify themselves through common hardware and design characteristics. Another useful set of identifying characteristics can be found at http://www.mugwumps.com.
Buckbee (1861-1897) banjos can frequently be identified by their peghead shape. Banjos with pegheads like that shown in the first picture below are usually made by Buckbee.
A nice early 20th century mandolin, this Lyon & Healy Style C has a carved spruce top with an oval sound hole. The maple back and sides have a natural finish, and the back has some birdseye figuration. The 2-piece mahogany neck has an ebony fretboard with pearl dot inlays. Other features include a fancy engraved ta. Look for tailpieces marked with the words 'Lyon and Healy' or the intertwined letters 'LH,' which indicates a patented tailpiece by Lyon and Healy. The name or letters will be stamped on the tailpiece, indicating the banjo was made during the golden age by Lyon and Healy.
Lyon & Healy 5 string Antique Pony Banjo Shortscale 1890's Lady’s Banjo. Because of its smaller size, this would be labeled either as a Ladies banjo or a Pony banjo. It has an 11 inch pot, 17 1/4 inch long fingerboard and is 34 inches total length. The instrument will need a new fiberskyn head, strings, and tuning pegs. Liberty Banjo Ukulele circa late 1920'sKerschner Unique Tailpiece marked Lyon & Healy Makers Chicago USALast patent date 1916.The body seems nice and tight with no visible damage to the fretboard. There are 18 frets, with a top inlay of bone and bone tuners and three MOP inlays. In 1864 George Washburn Lyon and Patrick J. Healy were sent to Chicago by Oliver Ditsonto set up his Mid West musical instrument wholesale business and among their suppliers was C F Martin.
Rettberg & Lange (1898-1920) banjos were initially similar to Buckbee-made banjos, not surprising since they bought out the Buckbee factory in 1898. Most of their later banjos had elite tailpieces, Orpheum-like hardware, and long, thin heel footprints as shown below in the second row of pictures:
J. B. Schall (1878-1907) manufactured many unmarked banjos for teachers who sold them to students, some of which are tagged with the name of the teacher or distributor. Schall hardware is pretty unique and the fifth string peg perch is typically carved out from the side of the neck as shown in the third row of pictures below:
Lyon & Healy (1864-1940) made many grades of banjos in many styles, and many were left unmarked. Lyon & Healy routinely used talon or patent 1897 tailpieces (see fourth row of pictures below) on many of their unmarked banjos, and their better-grade offerings frequently had notched, rather than grooved stretcher bands even in the early 1890’s. The Lyon & Healy peghead shape used on most of their better banjos is also distinctive, with a small additional bump on either side of the top of the peghead (see last set of pictures below).
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Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/98587 Henke - Posted - 11/07/2007: 14:20:18 Does anybody know anything about Lyon & Healy Banjos? Are they good, bad..anything. I am maybe buying one, and thouhgt it best to here the forums opinions.  chip arnold - Posted - 11/07/2007: 14:59:39 I've had several that were very basic, openback, mail order type banjos of 100 years ago. They were all good instruments on a par with Sears' Supertone, etc. I think they may have had fancier models but mine were basic. A nice 5 string will fetch $150-$300.00 on Ebay. Edited by - chip arnold on 11/07/2007 15:02:26 Lyon And Healytimmo_1949 - Posted - 11/07/2007: 19:45:19 I've rehabilitated a few Lyon & Healy banjos. L&H was a major Chicago instrument manufacturer. The company still exists but they only make harps. In the banjo heyday, they also made a line of banjos sold under the Washburn name. Henke - Posted - 11/08/2007: 06:06:51 Thanks for you help guys! Mario multiverse super fanmade mario bros download pc. BConk - Posted - 11/08/2007: 07:31:35 Henke - Mylar is the plastic material used to make modern banjo heads. It's been in use since at least the 60's. Prior to that, calfskin was the preferred material for the head - still is for some players. Lyon Healy Violin Valueblack flag - Posted - 11/08/2007: 16:49:19 Lyon And Healy Chicago L&H made banjos well into the 20th century and the instruments in the upper range of their model line were well-designed and attractive. |