| CHARLES Z FISH'S PRE-WAR GIBSON BANJOS |
| TB-2 1926 |
| This style 2 tenor has the serial number 8339-41, which dates it circa 1926. This was the fanciest non-Mastertone in the Gibson banjo line during the 1920's. |
| The wood is maple finished in a walnut color. It has a white celluloid binding on the neck and on the back edge of the resonator only. |
| The peghead shape is unique to style 2. It features a flowerpot inlay and slanted "The Gibson" logo. The banjo does not have an adjustable truss rod in the neck, a feature which was designed by Gibson engineer Thaddeus "Ted" McHugh in 1921 and which was incorporated into most Gibson banjos thereafter. |
| The instrument has three of the four original Grover tuners, each attached by two mounting tabs. |
| The fingerboard is rosewood, with a varied-pattern inlay that was also used on some pre-war Gibson flathead guitars. The scale length is 19 inches (18 frets), which is the described length for tenor banjos through approximately 1924, thereafter lengthened to 21 inches (19 frets) and then, beginning in the 1930's, to 26 inches (also 19 frets). |
| The banjo has a Grover Presto tailpiece. |
| The rim is 3/4 inch. It has a single coordinator rod and neck fastening nut. The head diameter is 11 inches, which conforms to the specifications for instruments made in 1925 and thereafter. |
| It does not have a true tone ring but a brass hoop that sits on the rim. It is similar to that of the RB-1 on these pages, although this hoop has a greater diameter. It is identical to that of my MB-3. |
| The brass resonator plate, or flange, attaches to the resonator through four hexagonal-head screws. The tension hoop, or stretcher band, is grooved and accomodates flat-type brackets. |
| After 1926, the tension hoops on most Gibson banjos were notched and accommodated rounded brackets. The late 1930's RB-00 on these pages, featuring a tension hoop with a grooved pattern somewhat different from that of this TB-2, is an exception. Both instruments have "E2" stamped on the inside of the tension hoop, both of which are solid brass. |
| The flange has a diamond-hole pattern |
| The diamond-hole flange is attached to the rim by bolts, referred to as a plate-and-shoe assembly. The serial number is stamped inside the rim. . . |
| . . .and written in chalk inside the resonator. |
| I no longer own this instrument. |