ZEPP Country Music, Inc.

This antique banjo has a handsome cherry neck (relatively unscarred, too!), with a beautifully carved heel.

Its original parts are mostly here, including the heel-dowel stick brace. All that I can tell is missing is the pair of ebony neck brace wedges. It has a skin head (not original) on it, and we set it up with Nylgut strings (which hadn't stretched out all the way when I took the photos, which is why they still had excess string curled in the photos. After they'd had a chance to settle, we detuned them, pulled the excess, now-stretched out string through the tuners, and then clipped off the loops). This banjo plays wonderfully and has a great sound.

Owing to its small pot, this banjo does not have a case, though a little bit of padding with a towel could make it fit an 11" case nicely.

The instrument is in all-over Good-to-Very-Good condition, having some pitting of the nickel, a few small dings in the neck, and a very nearly invisibly repaired heel crack (common on these banjos--when steel strings came into use, folks would try to use the heel-dowel stick brace to try to lower the action and end up cracking the heel, instead). Whoever fixed this one did an outstanding job.

$1395 without case.

	The traditional S.S.S. peghead has remarkable inlay.			It has its original friction tuners. Note the underlayment on the pegead and fingerboard.
	The heel carving is very nicely done.			The ebony fingerboard has small, square MOP inlays
	Its 10-1/2 inch pot is spun over and has acquired a fitting patina over the last 110 years or so.			Inside, it still has its ivoroid "Special Thoroughbred" label.
	It even still has most of its "Thoroughbred" sticker!			The cherry neck is in great shape for its age!

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