This is a rare Epiphone Black Gem banjo and possibly the one ever built. This could have been a prototype that was never launched into production. In 1925 Epiphone announced a new line of banjos consisting of White Beauty, Bluebud, Blackbird, and Golden Rod. Examples of the White Beauty and Golden Rod have been documented as well as Black Beauty. This banjo is built like the Black Beauty with the heavy cast bronze archtop tone ring and heavy brass flange similar to the early Recording flanges.
The buyer will have their preference of setup work for this banjo. This will include choice of head, strings, and tailpiece. The original tailpiece has some brass showing so I am offering a vintage Waverly as a replacement. The buyer also has the option to have geared tuners installed at an additional cost. I had this banjo setup and playing for a few weeks and it sounds as you would expect from a quality built Epiphone.
Neck - unknown wood with black painted finish
Rim - unknown wood with black painted finish, heavy tone ring and flange described above, black painted resonator.
Setup - TBD
Case - Vintage, well fitting, possibly original
Notes - See above for setup work, some scratches to the finish. The fingerboard will be cleaned and oiled.
Specs:
- Scale length -23"
- Nut width - 1.10
- # of frets - 19
- Weight - 9lbs 2oz
- Action height - n/a
- Strings - n/a
- Bridge - n/a
- Head - n/a
- Serial number - no