Fairbanks/Vega Tu-Ba-Phone Guitar Banjo (1919)

Fairbanks/Vega Tu-Ba-Phone Guitar Banjo (1919) in Very Good Condition. Non-original tuners (original tuners included). Comes with a period correct hardshell case with a broken handle. Serial # 35620. Here's some additional information i found online about these instruments:

Vega Tubaphone Model Guitar Banjo (1928), made in Boston, Mass

This is a relatively rare late example of the Vega Tubaphone Guitar-Banjo, one of the best-sounding "Guit-jo's" ever made. The Vega company in Boston built these starting in the 1910s up through the late '20s (initially under the Fairbanks name) but only in small numbers compared to 5 and then 4 string banjos. These 6-string banjos did feature in some jazz bands of the 1920s, but seem to have been produced in ever-smaller numbers up into the Depression years. This one was made in 1919, when the jazz age was still roaring but banjo sales on the whole were about to take a steep decline.

The Tubaphone is a substantial instrument all around. The heavy laminated maple rim is fitted with the patented Fairbanks bracket band and tortoise celluloid edge capping, and of course capped with the incomparable Tub-a-phone tone ring.
The laminated maple neck has an ivoroid-bound ebony fingerboard inlaid with dots and some engraved pearl pieces. The headstock has an engraved Vega star inlay. The vintage Tubaphone is always a very classy instrument; this one shows some wear overall but is a fairly rare find in any condition. These Vegas, and particularly the top-of-the-line Tubaphones, are as fine a banjo-guitar as has ever been made and great instruments for anything from vintage Jazz and Ragtime to Old-Time country styles.

"Play that thing, Mr. St Cyr!" - while with Louis Armstrong's Hot Five, Johnny St. Cyr used a six-string Vega very similar to this one, as did New Orleans great Danny Barker for much of his career. This one plays great and has all the sound needed for everything from solo fingerpicking to small-group ragtime to orchestral jazz.
 
Overall length is 36 3/4", 11 3/4" diameter head, and 2 3/4" depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25" Width of nut is 1.7485".

$150 Flat shipping and insurance in CONUS only via UPS Ground.m