It not often that a Lucci tenor banjo will come up for sale, in fact this is the first one that I have owned. I have seen photos of them in the famous Tsumura 1001 banjo collection book and have always admired their build but have never heard how they sound. Unlike the standard 11″ head fitted to most tenor banjos the Lucci Sinfonica has a 11 3/4″ head size which gives it a deeper rich basser sound. I’ll make a video to let your hear for yourself, in the meantime a little bit of history and details of this amazing banjo…
A little bit of history (summerised from banjohangout)
In 1892, Gennaro Iucci came to America to establish roots in New York City from his native home Avellino/Naples, Italy. By the early 1900’s Michael Iucci and his father were operating a small music shop in Little Italy selling instruments and music literature out of 238 Mott St NY. After a fire in 1903, the business was moved to 377 Broome St; this would become their home-base for years to come. Both Michael and his father worked the lutherie business as Mandolin Makers until Gennaro’s death in 1915. They produced & repaired many violins, mandolins, harp-guitars, tenor banjos and mandocellos to name a few, and at various stages on this timeline. Their instruments carried a 5yr warranty as seen in the photo below.
There were 4 phases of the Lucci tenor banjo leading up to the likes of the Sinfonica I have for sale
- Phase 1: Iucci tenors used the Banjophone tone-ring (Pat 1906 – Wm. B Farmer) (~1910-1915).
- Phase 2: Iucci tenors used the Bell Tone (Pat 1233881) (1916-1920).
- Phase 3: Iucci Tenor special – Triangular flange cut-outs /w maple neck/resonator (Seen with both the Eze-Tune (PAT.US1296183) and Kerschner style tailpieces) (1921-1924).
(This phase shows signs of Phase 4 type banjos with an evolving peghead coming to be known as the Iucci trademark.)
- Phase 4: Starting on Oct 25th 1925 Michael ran an ad in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle mentioning for the first time the “New Tenor Banjos” – Sinfonico
These banjos appear to be built on spec using Iucci’s own designs by highly trained craftsmen/luthiers, as is apparent in most other NY Small shop owners. Around 1919 many of the small shop NY maker filled patents. Ciro Dell Russo filed a strikingly close version of Iucci banjo model (US1341199) as well as a close variant by Puntolillo (US1345104) who made the Majestic banjo. The following Iucci banjos are extremely rare & collectable, well-built and have incredible tone.
Valuations of mint examples as of 2015 USD:
Early: $500-$1000
Style 1-2: $1000-2500
Style 3: $2500-3500
Style 4: $3500-4500
Style 5 Original: $4500-6500
Style 6: $6500-8000
The Sinfonica came in 5 Styles (Flange and archtop rim all-in-one metal design)
1-Nickel Plated w/ Maple Neck
2-Nickel Plated w/ Brazillian Rosewood
3-No.2 w/ Gold plated
4-No.3 + fancy pearl inlayed fretboard (similar to #5)
5-The same setup as No.3, but the resonator is inlayed (back/sides) with pearl + Neck in entirely pearl inlayed + layered/veneered ebony neck
Aside from banjos, Iucci continued to produce Tenor guitars, Flattop guitars, Archtop guitars, Mandolins (mando-banjo, bowlback, etc.), Mandollas, Lutes, Harp-Guitars.
He is estimated to have produced 500+ high-end instruments in total. Although, not high volumes, most later instruments by Iucci all are of extremely high quality. The collectability of these instruments is also very high as most reside in private collections, and are purchased immediately upon entry into the market. IUCCI instruments are featured in Akira Tsumura’s collection, Tsumura playing cards, The Musical Collector (Willcut), International Banjo 1982, Amendt Collection. Also his instruments have been played by the likes of lead soloist for the Long Island Banjo Society – Charlie Gardella, as his life long banjo; Carl Lunsford (Turk Murphy Band), Harry Reser, William Carlino, Harry M. Monty, Bill Brisotti, Mike Amato and of course Iucci himself, etc…
He lived as a widow (wife Margaret d. May 19th 1939) in relative obscurity until his death c. 1968
About the banjo
Beautiful 19 fret tenor banjo with extended 9 piece Brazillian rosewood neck with centre maple/rosewood laminates for strength and stability. The banjo is in excellent condition with no scratches or damage or repairs. The head stock is highly decorated in floral MOP inlay bearing the name Sinfonica Style 2. Original machine tuners (similar to weymann type) all working perfectly. The neck is bound in white binding with black side dots and beautiful floral position markers to match the head stock. The neck is bolt on type, so handy if you have to travel abroad, it can be packed into a case (just a thought)! The one piece nickel plated flange is what gives this banjo its unique bassey tone and has 2 sets of holes around the bottom edge. 24 hooks and nuts which attach to the side of the tension hoop. The real showcase of the Sinfonica is the beautiful 12 piece pie crust resonator with rosewood sections, separated by checkered wood marquetry strips and centre MOP circle. The resonator detaches with little nickel plated nuts (2 missing). Deluxe spring tension clamshell tailpiece (similar to epiphone type) and nickel plated armrest. Recently fitted with new Remo white top frosted head and one of my own mahogany/cocobola rosewood 3 leg bridges. New nickel strings 12, 18w, 26w, 36w and comes with original brown/tan alligator leather case with red velvet lining. Play one of these in a session and you will get many heads turning…
Technical Information
- Scale length 22 – 3/4″ (578mm)
- Nut width 30mm
- Neck width at 12th fret 40mm
- Resonator width 14 – 2/8
- Depth of body from top tension hoop to bottom of resonator 3″
- Hand cup size at 2nd fret (from one binding edge to other side) 61mm
- Remo head 11 – 3/4″
Sold
video coming soon
