We present to you one of the highest grades of Vega banjo known to exist – the Number 7 Whyte Laydie. Fancy of appointment and aristocratically ornamented, and touting the world renowned scalloped brass tone ring that bears its name, this is the type of banjo plectrum players yearn to find their entire lives. That’s the good part. In reality, however, this banjo has a number of issues – one of the most important of which is that somebody has refinished the back of the neck in glossy sunburst shading - the original patina of age has, of course, taken a ride on the tail of the Hale Bopp Comet; another of which are the small sections of missing binding. This unschooled and professionally inadequate reptilian dentist used a thick finish that covers up some of the detail in the carved heel. The back of the headstock was, at that time, refinished and now displays cloudiness in the finish up the center of the back of the neck. There is finish checking on the back of the neck. The front of the headstock, also refinished or over-sprayed, depicts, in inlaid pearl, a large urn with flower measuring 4 ¾” in height, 1 ½” in width with twin handles. In the tradition of its cultivated era, nine of its fret positions are inlaid with large flowery etched pearl designs (and the ebony fingerboard itself was oversprayed as well - what the heck, gotta spray gun so I gotta spray) but most of the black etching has been finger-padded off of the inlays.
The back of the headstock has an oval at center with the etched “Vega” inside an oval with a St. Petersburg style parapet facing upward and downward. This is a 28-bracket banjo having the White Laydie tone ring. The diameter of the original skin head is around 11”; it has the Oettinger (four-finger) style tailpiece and the newer tuners are geared, nickel-plated, with ivoroid plastic buttons – these tuners were replaced in perhaps the 1950s – the original tuners would have had large mother of pearl buttons, which some miscreant removed and probably used as earrings. There is a break in the binding at the treble side, from frets 15 to 17.
Like so many Vega resonator banjos, this has an 8-cut pie plate maple resonator held in place by one stout screw at the center. The most charming thing about this is that, on the inside back, people (quite possibly college students) have written things like “Walker! Please don’t forget me – no. Evelynne Walker.” “N. Venetta Goay, Gambridge City, Indiana, 4-29-28, School Marm, and how.” plus four other inscriptions, some of which are difficult to read.
The back of the resonator shows some belt buckle marks and scratches; there is a 4 1/2" area of missing tortoise shell colored purfling around the perimeter of the resonator. The back of the banjo has a outside rim cap of herringbone at the center and colored wood marquetry in repeating patterns on both sides, with tortoise shell outermost. This back decoration has been well protected all these years by the resonator, so it (alone) is clean and un-vivisected by the person who refinished the neck including the fingerboard. There is some cosmetic damage to the wood dowel that runs through the body around the metal tensioner (the person had to remove the neck to refinish it and trying to put it back together he scraped the dowel in that section). On the back of the heel is another decorative figure that reminds one of a parapet or church steeple.
The neck is, unfortunately, mildly bowed. There is nothing we can do about this deflection since there is no adjustable truss rod and those fancy (but very thin) fingerboard inlays preclude our being able to perform a refret and planing to straighten the fingerboard. So it must remain “as is” and that’s the way we’re selling it.
If this were a five-neck banjo instead of a long scale four-string, and if its condition were excellent and wholly original, it would today have a market value of between $8,000 and $9,500. (Wow!) It is not a five-string, but it is a 22-fret plectrum, tuned the same as the remaining 4 strings of a 5-string, and we’ve noticed that there are not a lot of plectrum banjos in circulation. And it is rather fancy. (One thing to keep in mind is that would make a bodacious – good gracious - conversion to 5-string neck banjo!) Our workshop has set the banjo up and it actually plays reasonably easily and sounds notably clean, clear and with good projection. We realize this banjo’s limitations, but thought you might be interested in it if the price were, “as is,” only: