The recent `No Knot` 5-stringer restoration pointedly reminded the BRC founder of his website motto: All Banjos Deserve a Second Chance. Postponing plans to build a banjo for an upcoming art show, he earnestly set out to restore a dreary and deeply tarnished antique instrument that had been languishing for months under a table in the workshop.

The fretboard and tuning pegs were gone, mother of pearl inlays in the peg head were fragmented or absent, no remnant of a head remained, and much of the hardware was pitted with rust. The base of the neck had a smudged plaque embossed with ” Puritan.”

Research revealed that this circa 1895 banjo was likely made in Chicago by the Lyon & Healy Company that also marketed similar 5 -stringers with plaques labeled “Mystic” or “President” and sometimes  “Encore.” Unique structural features at the neck-rim junction indicate that this model was a student/intermediate level instrument.

In comparison, some high end 5-stringers of that era had the familiar neck brace-cross pin used to stabilize the dowel stick-pot junction as seen in this circa 1900  banjo. It is not known when this mechanically dependable device was invented, but it is ubiquitous today and bears no patent data.

Less expensive turn of the century banjos, as seen in this archival picture from the BRC collection, frequently had only one or two wood screws across the pot or dowel stick-neck interface. A supplemental stout metal brace spanning the construct was not ornamental but integral in stabilizing the junction.

The “Puritan” had a well-secured and engraved buttress plate made of brass that reenforced the two wood screws hidden below it clasping the pot to the heel of the neck. 

The inner wooden pot was  “spun over” and clad with a German silver (nickel , copper, and zinc alloy) outer rim. Some collectors admire this shiny antique feature and the tone it reportedly imparts to the banjo. A new rosewood fretboard was fretted and installed, and it was modestly inlayed with mother of pearl. The recessed “Puritan” plaque at the base of the neck offered a profile that looks like a forerunner of the modern day `scooped` fingerboard.

Clawhammer enthusiasts would probably concur that all banjos, especially an open-back treasure like this one, deserve a second chance.

When this antique and unmarked banjo first appeared in the BRC workshop, it was a forlorn grime covered instrument with a detached fretboard, fractured or missing mother of pearl inlays, and a yellow brown calfskin head that had dried into parched shoe leather.

For months, it collected dust in an ignored corner of the shop before it finally won the attention that it deserved. A meticulous clean-up surprisingly disclosed an Elite “No Knot” tailpiece that was known to be applied to high grade 5-stringers at the turn of the century.

On the under surface of the tailpiece was a patent date of May 2, 1899.  There were several patents of this unique No-Knot tailpiece from 1892 to 1914 to accommodate various models of banjo. The ancient bridge appears to have been carved from whalebone. Scrimshaw and whale bone carving were a sailor`s past time at sea until the whaling industry ended in the US in 1927.

Upon closer inspection, the fretboard revealed deep fingertip grooves in the first 3 frets spaces indicating that this instrument had been industriously played by its owner who obviously cherished its music. Missing frets were replaced, and the mother of pearl inlays were patched -up. For a facelift, a snowy white new calfskin head was installed.

Lastly, the nut at the base of the peg head was noted to be angled slightly, and this is interpreted to be a calculated design feature to compensate for string length intonation usually accommodated in modern bridges.  Of note, Stelling banjos have string compensations slotted into the nut.

This handsome banjo now hangs at the top of the stairwell leading to our workshop to remind the BRC founder that even the most humblest of old banjos has a story.