This Vega Pete Seeger banjo was purchased by American composer Earl Robinson in 1966 while he was writing his ‘Concerto for Five String Banjo’. This was first performed by the Boston Pops orchestra under Arthur Fiedler. From the late 1930’s into the 1960’s, Earl Robinson composed a number of well known, largely topical pieces including ‘Joe Hill’ ‘Ballad for Americans’, ‘Black and White’ and ‘Lonesome Train’, performed by many top artists.
Vega
Here we have a Vega FW5 Folk Wonder, factory converted as new to a Vega Senator. At the time this banjo was built, the Vega name and facilities were owned by the C F Martin guitar company, and a few years later Martin built some higher end Vega banjos in Nazareth PA. The Vega name is now owned by the Deering company, who manufacture excellent Vega models.
The Vega Old Time Wonder is one of Deering’s popular open-back banjo designs, hearkening back to the early days of the Vega company, at a time when the banjo was one of the dominant instruments.
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MORE →The new Vega Vintage Star open back banjo by Deering has arrived, featuring a classic Dobson-style tone ring, Ebony fingerboard and Satin finish! At the heart of the Vintage Star lies a stunning Dobson tone ring. Originally patented by Henry Dobson in 1881, the Dobson balances the low ends with clear highs, and adds just the right amount of sustain to the banjo. The brass Dobson glows from behind the renaissance head, which itself sits on a thinner walled, 12” violin grade maple rim. A knotless tailpiece tops off the set up to produce a classic old-time tone.
Built to compete with the Gibson L-7 and Epiphone Triumph, the Vega C56 Archtop was built from the 1930s until 1950. It was was Vega’s most popular full sized guitar and featured a solid Spruce top with Maple sides and back, Mahogany neck and Rosewood fingerboard. Here we have a Vega C56 archtop in the natural finish introduced in 1940. The serial number is somewhat below other models known to have been produced in 1940, so there’s a possibility this example was built in 1939. The top is solid Spruce, likely Adirondack.
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MORE →The Vega Woodsongs Campfire Long Neck Banjo by Deering is a modern expression of an older solution to a problem for banjo players: playing in E on a banjo is always a challenge. This why Pete Seeger had the long neck built for him. These are normally played with the neck capo’ed up three frets and the 5th string capo tack in use so the banjo is played in G.
This instrument has sold
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