| CHARLES Z FISH'S PRE-WAR GIBSON BANJOS |
| MB-3 |
| This style 3 mandolin banjo has the serial number 8386-24, which dates it circa 1926. The hardware is nickel plated. The bridge and tailpiece are original. |
| Like the style 3's of this period, it features a maple neck and resonator, which are red-stained. Celluloid binding is attached to the back edge of the resonator and to the sides of the neck. |
| This mandolin banjo differs from the style 3's of the Mastertone line in several respects. The logo inlaid on the peghead reads "The Gibson," rather than "Gibson," a feature shared by all Gibson mandolins of the period. |
| Unlike other style 3 banjos, it has a diamond-hole flange with a "bracket and shoe assembly," as seen on the 1926 TB-2 on this website. There is a notched tension hoop, and the hooks are flattened. The nuts are large and have a rounded bottom. One of the original four hex-head screws that attach the flange to the resonator remains. At about the time this instrument was made, Gibson replaced the hex-head screws with thumbscrews. The rim is 10.5 inches, changed a few years later to the 11 inch diameter also standard (after 1924 or 1925) on the TB, PB, RB and GB models. |
| Unlike the early Mastertones, this instrument does not have a genuine tone ring but a hoop between the rim and the head that is similar to but less elaborate than a ball bearing tone ring. It is identical to the hoop on the 1926 TB-2 on these pages. The shoes are held onto the rim with hexagonal-head screws. There is a single coordinator rod and a neck fastening nut. |
| The tuners are original. |
| The fingerboard, which is Brazilian rosewood on most of the Mastertone banjos, is Mozambique ebony. It features snowflake-and-diamond mother of pearl inlays. |
| The serial number is stamped on the 3-ply, 3/4 inch rim and written in chalk, although barely legibly, inside the resonator. |
