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The Maple Blossom tenor banjo is a professional grade 19-fret tenor banjo made of maple with quick response from the shallower air chamber, has the brightness of Maple with great crisp tone and good bass response that is fast and easy to play.

You get a professional grade instrument in a reasonably affordable price range with the full bell bronze tone ring, quality maple and nice inlays. You also get a quality neck that is a bound and adjustable, comfortably shaped, and plays accurately up and down the neck. Many professional players play the Maple Blossom Banjo. This banjo was originally owned and played by Darren Maloney from County Cavan and currently owned by Karol Lynch from County Clare. That said you’d be buying a bit of banjo history with some jigs & Reels mileage on it.

The Maple Blossom is made from Eastern violin grade curly maple and stained with a dark walnut stain.  When this individually selected wood is built into a banjo with the genuine Deering -06-bronze tone ring, 3-ply violin grade maple rim, and one piece zinc flange, the result is a banjo that is so bright, crisp and clear that every note pops out of this banjo with precision and power. With that amount of bell bronze and brass the banjo weighs in as a heavy weight instrument.

To buy a new Deering Maple Blossom today would cost $4300 US dollars plus expensive shipping and local taxes. You can purchase this first class condition tenor banjo for £2150

Banjo comes with padded gig bag but would recommend purchasing a fitted ABS case which would cost £85

Quick summary

Neck:

• Dark Walnut Stained Quality Maple
• Slender & Fast Deering Neck Shape
• Mother of Pearl Flower and Leaf Inlays
• Radiused Ebony Fingerboard
• 19 Pressed in Nickel Silver Frets
• Adjustable Truss Rod
• Deering Super Smooth Planetary Banjo Tuners

Pot:

• 3-ply Maple Rim Precisely fit with a Genuine Deering -06- Bell Bronze 20-Hole Tone Ring
• Brass Notched Tension Hoop
• 24 Round Hooks and ¼″ Hex Nuts
• 5 Star Clear Banjo Head, Medium Collar
• 5/8″ Ebony Bridge
• Nickel Plated Zinc Flange, Nickel Plated Hardware

Resonator:

• Dark Walnut Stained Curly Maple
• Trimmed in white/black/white

Dimensions:

• 19 Frets
• Neck Width at the Nut 1 5/32″
• Scale Length Nut to Bridge 23″
• Resonator Diameter 13 7/8″
• Overall Instrument Length 35″

The photos of this beautiful 1930 Vega Little Wonder sum up any description I will give. This Vega must have been kept in its case for most of its life as it shows little signs of being played. As with all of my banjos this one also has been disassembled, polished, and put back to factory settings. The maple neck and rim have the same serial number (94627) which dates it at the year 1930 (86 years old) and I’m guessing the pie crust resonator is original also. The 3 piece maple neck is straight and I have the action set low, so it plays very easy on the fingers. The geared tuners are original ‘Grover Pat’ which all work fine and the head stock bears the Vega Star MOP. The bone nut also looks original which adds to the distinct bright sound, the bridge is the new type maple & ebony tip.

I have replaced the head with a clear Remo 10 15/16″ as it will enhance the sound better resting on the little wonder tone ring. The nickel plating on the tension hoop, tone ring, hooks & nuts are in excellent condition which is rare for an 86 year old banjo. The original presto tail piece was damaged so this is a new nickel plated Presto replacement. The engraved flange plates are also in excellent condition, usually the Little Wonder model has the plain flange plates. The maple pie crust resonator is in excellent condition and really adds a punch to the sound from this banjo.

Overall a fine vintage banjo and one worth owning, professionally setup and comes with a hardshell case. Banjo is now Sold

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I have added a video to let you hear how the vega sounds, the action is low and lovely to play.