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1925 Gretsch Orchestrella 19 fret tenor banjo, beautiful condition and ticks all the right boxes . Made from rock maple the sound is bright and powerful with nice unlying undertones. It has that true plonkey banjo sound that people talk about and it sure is attractive to look at. The headstock MOP design is very ornate and has the name Gretsch Orchestrella and year 1925. The 5 piece neck is nicely profiled and has a slim rounder feel rather than ‘V’ shaped, it is very easy to play and delightful to hold. The resonator is made from birdseye maple with 4 pie crust sectors, ebony trim and fitted with a nickel flange with 14 sound holes. The side of the maple rim also supports sound holes, surrounded with nickel plated grommets both on the outside and inside to project the sound from the pot. The neck is straight with good original frets and diamond MOP position markers. It has the original bone nut, new strings and bridge fitted and replacement geared tuners as the originals were friction (won’t stay in tune) tuners. The arch top tone ring is the flat bar type, side mounted with holes drilled at equal distances around the circumference. The nickel plating throughout is in good condition. All original parts except for the replacement kerschner tail piece and a new Remo clear head. I also have the original armrest not shown in the photos but will be fitted for the sale. Comes with a new quality hardshell black case.

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https://youtu.be/4eLTyYJCW0E

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Grafton 19 fret tenor banjo, hand built in Faversham, Kent. This is the tubaphone tonering model which has been recently replaced by the white lady tonering model. As you can see from the photos the banjo has been well cared for by its ‘one owner’ and never been taken out for sessions. My young lad started on a Grafton 17 fret little gem model and played it for a few years before upgrading. They are a solid built banjo by the folks at Andy Banjo Works with quality imported parts and definitely outweigh their foreign counter parts by a mile, for tone and playability.

Banjo Details

Scale length: 23″ with 19 frets

Rim: 11″ diameter x 15mm thick 3-ply laminated maple

Brackets: 24 x heavy-duty brackets with 24 notch heavy-duty tension ring

Tone ring: Tubaphone style

Head: Standard Remo 11″ head

Neck: Solid maple neck with separate hardwood fingerboard; diamond-shaped position markers; solid 2 point neck-to-rim fixing

Binding: Smooth ABS binding down both sides of the neck with dot position markers

Truss Rod: Double action steel truss rod, fully adjustable in either direction

Fretting: 19 frets, carefully levelled, crowned, polished and hand-dressed for smooth playability

Top nut: Bone, precision hand-slotted for the gauge of strings fitted for optimum action at the first fret

Neck attachment: 2-point neck attachment with twin co-ordinator rods for optimum stability

Tuners; Good quality planetary tuners with 4:1 ratio

Armrest: Solidly mounted Gibson-style armrest

Tailpiece: Heavy, good quality cast “New Kerschner” style

Strings: Brand-new, top-grade hand-made strings  gauges 12/18w/28w/38w

Bridge: Top quality maple and ebony bridge, precision hand-slotted for optimum playability and action

Resonator: 14” nominal outside diameter with 4-point thumbscrew fixing – the flange is attached to the banjo body rather than to the resonator so it stays in place when the resonator is removed

All this adds up to a serious semi-pro-grade standard-scale tenor banjo that will last you many years

Comes with a quality heavily padded soft case

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