1964 Vega Pete Seeger Banjo - Original Owner - Mint Condition- PS5- Vintage

Description: Yes, I am the original owner of this l mint condition 1964 Vega Pete Seeger, yellow labeled, PS5 banjo.*Free shipping to lower 48 states only. No shipping to Alaska or Hawaii. No international shipping. Local pickup outside of Baltimore MD is available, one mile off I-95*I purchased it in early 1965 from Chuck Levin's Washington D.C.Music Center, from Mr. Levin himself.(When the Washington Music Center was is Washington - now the Washington Music Center is in Silver Spring Md.) *This is not a Deering knock-0ff, or a Martin knock-off, or a Gold Tone knock-off, or a Japanese knock-off. It's an original Vega. *It was produced in 1964 by the one and only original Vega Banjo Company in Boston Mass.(The Vega Banjo name was sold in the mid seventies and had several owners thru today.) * It's the real deal, the exact same model used by The Kingston Trio, The Limelighters, Brothers 4, New Christy Minstrels, etc. all the major folk groups all the way up thru the Folkesmen in "A Mighty Wind".*It is equipped with the patented Vega tu-ba-phone tone ring for superior tone and volume. *I give it a 9.5 out of 10 condition. There is a small surface crack in the finish on the back of neck where it is painted black and connects to the pot. This is a common issue on these Vegas. All Grover tuners are smooth and solid and hold the strings "in tune". There is the standard Vega installed "railroad spike capo" for the fifth string at the 12th fret. The neck is straight and true.*This design may be at the apex for this model. The original Pete Seeger model started off with a wooden dowel mortised into the heel of the neck. This was upgraded to a single metal rod, then two metal rods, then two metal rods with 4 Allen head screws mounted in the rim where the neck connects, to set and hold the neck angle against a small metal plate attached to the heel of the neck where it hits the rim . The tuners were also upgraded from friction to geared.My model has all of those factory improvements. *I've covered up the serial number to prevent ebay scammers from using my photos. If you are serious about buying this, send me an email thru the ebay email system and I will send you a photo of the complete yellow label with the serial number. *It's always been kept in a smoke free, pet free, air conditioned home. * It's never been gigged - only used occasionally in the house to play along with the 1960's folk groups on vinyl.*The frets show very minimum wear as can be seen in the picture of fret 1 & 2 - always where the most wear is found.* It still has the original "Vegalon" head on it. When I was "into" classical guitar my fingernails on the right hand were extremely long and sharp. When playing scruggs style on the banjo, I taped a piece of an index card where my ring and pinky nails would lay on the head to prevent damage. When I removed the tape after a while, it left a small trail of sticky substance on the head. I did not want to use any strong chemical to remove it, so it's still there near the bridge. * I changed the strings one time. I replaced the Vega "Green Fuzzies" with another set of Vega "Green Fuzzies". The original strings are in the case pocket.*The original bridge is in the case pocket. I bought a new Grover bridge and I filed two new grooves into it to spread out two of the strings when playing the Dave Guard/Grandpa Jones frailing style. When playing scruggs style, I used the original grooves. You can use the original bridge, or new grooves in my new bridge depending on your spacing requirements. No modifications were made to the nut. *I have'nt played it in about 25 years due to arthritis. I was saving it for the grandkids, but none are interested in playing banjo. So..............time for someone else to enjoy this classic instrument.*Even though I wiped it down the entire banjo with a soft cloth every time I was done playing it, after a few years, the original armrest tarnished. (All of the other wood and metal parts are still in excellent condition.) *I wrote to Vega explaining the situation, and they sent me a replacement which is still in the bag because I ended up playing without an arm rest. The original armrest had one mounting tab and the replacement has two tabs. *The hard case is the original I received. Mr Levin stated that although Vega Longneck banjo was far superior to the Gibson long neck, the Gibson long neck case was far superior to the Vega case, so that's the case he included in the purchase. He was correct. The exterior is a little dinged up from moving around the house and the hinges and latches are tarnished, but overall it's in very good condition for being almost 60 years old. I give it a 8.5 out of 10 condition. There is a small tear in the liner where the nut that holds the bridge on protrudes on the bottom. * Ebay may charge the buyer a state sales tax as required by the IRS.

Price: 4500 USD

Location: Nottingham, Maryland

End Time: 2024-08-24T00:09:35.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD