CHARLES Z
FISH'S PRE-WAR
GIBSON BANJOS
RECORDING
KING WITH
5-STRING
NECK
This is a Gibson tenor banjo
made with the Recording King
label circa 1932.
The serial
number is
9426-16.
The instrument bears no Gibson markings but was made at the factory in
Kalamazoo, Michigan for Montgomery Ward. No doubt Gibson sought to cope in
this manner with declining sales of its instruments during the Depression.
Montgomery Ward, one of the biggest mail order houses in the country during the
1930's, contracted Gibson to build both the Recording King and the Studio King.
This Recording King is a
higher end model, similar to
but of a lower grade than the
style 6. It has a 5-string
conversion neck that is a
replica of the original tenor
neck and was crafted by
Harry Sparks and Alan
Jamison. The neck and
resonator are curly maple
with a sunburst finish.
The replica 5-string neck faithfully reproduces the wood and finish of
the original tenor, although, as in the case of the Studio King, the
tenor neck does not have a truss rod.
The peghead has a unique shape, similar to that of the Studio
King. It has an ebony veneer. The hand engraved mother of pearl
block with the Recording King logo has been removed from the
original tenor neck and set in the peghead of the replica 5-string
neck.
The mother of pearl inlays on
the peghead are the same as
those on the style 6's, as seen
on this neck from a PT-6.
The original tenor neck has
donated its "Grover Patent" tuners
with mother of pearl buttons to the
replica 5-string neck.
The tenor neck has a Mozambique ebony fingerboard and
hearts-and-flowers inlays. The 5-string neck replicates the mother of pearl
inlays but has a dark-stained rosewood fingerboard.
The number
written in pencil
on the heel of the
original tenor neck
(9611) does not
match the serial
number stamped
on the rim, a
practice which was
not uncommon in
the Gibson factory.
There is a celluloid binding with a sparkle
marquetry around the peghead and along
the fingerboard and resonator edges.
The hardware is
chrome-plated.
The pattern of the marquetry on the replica neck is
different from that of the resonator but is a faithful
reproduction of the marquetry on the original tenor neck.
I wrote to Alan Jamison to inquire as to whether he did indeed craft this neck,
and he kindly responded as follows:

"I finished building a Recording King neck that was started by Harry Sparks. This
would have been about 1979. This very well could be it. I believe I got the sparkle
binding from Bill Sullivan and I remember it did not match, but was the closest I
could find after searching for months.

I recall also the banjo was chrome, not nickel plated and he wanted the fingerboard
a little wider than standard which gave the neck a larger, more "full" feel.

The owner at that time was Joe Stone, the promoter of the "Stone Valley Bluegrass
Festival" in SW Indiana. I think I have a picture somewhere of Joe and I on stage
with my band "Buckeye Ridge" and he is playing that banjo.
The flange is a two-piece tube-and-plate, and the flange cut-outs differ from those of
most Gibsons of this era. They are identical to those of the GB-1 on these pages and
the Studio King.
The number "16" is stamped on the rim, which is 4-ply maple
machined down to accomodate the flange and the tone ring.
The tone ring is a 40 hole archtop.
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