The resonator-back version of the famous Whyte
Laydie tone ring equipped Vega banjo is far less common than the open
back. This example has the fairly
standard 11 15/16” diameter head, which has been replaced with a frosted-on-the-face
Mylar mama; it has a scale length of 22 7/8” nut to saddle, a 1 3/16”
fingerboard width at the nut and a 1 5/16” strings spacing (C to G) at the maple
and ebony replacement bridge. It has one notable aberration and that’s
that the headplate (stained pearwood, King Friday) is scuffed in the middle
where two additional holes were filled.
Why it has two additional, evenly spaced holes there is beyond me. I’ve never heard of a tenor banjo have
cam-style Scruggs tuners. Perhaps the
person (euphemism) who owned this wanted to convert it to an instrument that
two single strings and two double strings.
On the back of the
headstock it is more obviously ‘cause there’s two dowel-filled holes. None of this affects its structural integrity (“Rocky
said ‘Doc, it’s only a scratch’”); well, maybe a bit more than a scratch but nothing
fatal. Tuners are “Grover Pat.” Stamped, geared and matching with grained
ivoroid buttons, and if they ain’t original they’re certainly old. The
black fingerboard (possibly ebony) is inlaid with a 8 mother of pearl
dotmarkers in 5 positions, starting with a single dot at fret 3; and there is a
star at fret 5 and an etched and blackened even larger star on the headstock that reads “Vega” although the etching is a
bit worn. There is normal light
hand-wear on the back of the neck, which is 3-piece, having maple on the
extremes with a thin black line up the middle, and there is a corresponding
black border (ebony perhaps) under the ivoroid bound 19-fret fingerboard. There are some chips on the inside of the lip where the metal flange pieces contact the tortoise shell binding on the top side of the resonator.
This
banjo shows light finish clouding on its 28 flat and individual flange
sections, some darkening of the plating (some might say “rust”)
on its 28 vertical brackets. Its tailpiece
is a proper replacement of a repro “No-Knot” with its 1901 patent stamp; the
armrest is original with its stamped “Vega” star and normal signs of arm
wear. The rim, inside and outside, is
maple capped on its back edge with stained pearwood, and the heel cap is the
same. The interior wood dowel has
printing on two sides – one side has one of the two serial number stamps (the
other is inside the rim, and yes, they match); and a dark pressure stamp that
seems to say “White Laydie” but is hard to read. The facing side of the dowel, when one opens the
back, has the Vega-in-a-star, then “Made by The Vega Company, Boston, Mass. U.S.A,” then another star, then
“Style R, and then some patent numbers.
It retains its metal cap over the southern terminus and metal tensioner
at the northern. A single stout screw
holds the 8-pie slice “The Vega Company, Boston,
Mass. USA” stamped maple resonator to the
rim. We don’t see very many resonator-backed
Whyte Laydies and we don’t see many full scale ones either. This is, then a fantastic opportunity for
some lucky future owner since it’s both clean, capable and affordable.