Those who own or enjoy the old Gibson Pyramid and Oriole banjos.

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Administrators: 5drive (owner)

Gibson Style 2 Mastertone's

From bryantde on 3/14/2013 6:28:36 AM

You all may or may not be aware of the recent article in Bluegrass Unlimited this past month concerning a brief history of the old Gibson prewar banjos which was written by banjo historian/luthier Tom Morgan several years ago and gracefully submitted to BU.

Tom had not been made aware of the pyramid cast ring style 2 banjos so myself, along with another pyramid owner / enthusiast Bill Adams, gave him calls and sent to Tom a complete package that had detailed info, pics and historical data about these little jewels!

Keep your eyes open for another article in BU upcoming that will feature the Style 2 cast ring banjo in it's entirety that we all love so well  rightfully giving it's long awaited dues in the Gibson banjo historical status.

One of my recent customers , David Conley from MI, whom I might add is a great banjo player in his own right who plays bluegrass and bluegrass gospel (Out of the Blue Band) all over the mid-west and surrounding areas, recently purchased an original style 2 pyramid banjo  from me and I built him a conversion neck for the banjo and had the neck back in my shop in the last week or so and I proudly inlaid a mastertone block into the neck. His being the the first........I assume there will be more to follow.

The 1929 Gibson catalog plainly labeled this fine banjo as "Gibson Style 2 Mastertone" so David's banjo is now totally historically correct in displaying this badge of honor!

This model Gibson prewar banjo there   comes with original prewar tone ring, more than likely cast at Star Foundry, same place as the renowned prewar flathead........but you don't have to take out a second mortgage to be able to own one,.......not yet anyway!

Happy picking

Don Bryant in NC