WS14-1
Fairbanks & Cole Un-designated Fretless “
early style” 5 String
S/N: 1535 1881 12 x 19 9/16”( Nut to Rim) 4 1/8 lb.
Fully original.
Condition: Near mint except
some damage to the very elaborate ivory tailpiece.
Background: With the Fairbanks & Cole era
roughly being the 1880s, one would expect to find many true fretless banjos.
Surprisingly, they are fairly rare. Jim Bollman estimates he has seen only about
6 or 8 “plain Janes” and far fewer decorated examples.
Banjos I call the “early style” have tall and very contoured pegheads,
moderately big dimensions, and inlays of geometric shapes arranged in patterns.
On instruments with frets, the inlays always seem to appear in frets 6, 8, 11,
and 13. Most of them carry no model designation.
I have been unable to identify these banjos in either Fairbanks & Cole catalog
and they all seem to have been made in the first half of the decade.
About this instrument:
1) Ex- Bollman Collection.
2) The most elaborate true fretless Fairbanks & Cole known.
3) Triangular inlays of pearl run down both sides of the fingerboard, actually
in the ebony board. They are spaced at ever- changing intervals that are
appropriate for where fret wires would be positioned if the instrument were
fretted. In the catalog these are offered as an option called "side frets". At
the rim end the sequence terminates with a couple of square inlays. At the
peghead end, just above the nut there is one final triangle that is turned 90
degrees to point toward the tip of the peghead.
4) Incredibly tasteful and fancy carved ivory tuners. I have not seen these on
any other banjo but they do appear to be illustrated in the catalog.
5) The ivory tailpiece, although damaged at the bolt hole, is fantastic with a
double row of beads around the edge and an elevated star above a distressed
background.
6) A 5 piece star is inlaid in the back strap ( Relatively rare on Fairbanks &
Cole banjos).
7) Superb ivory bridge.
8) The heel carving is the essence of understatement. It consists of a single
groove artistically coursing over the heel.
9) The outside of the rim is decorated with a lovely mixture of pearl, metal,
and wood marquetry.
10) Massive numbers of pieces of colorful pearl in geometric shapes grace the
entire instrument.
11) The tension hoop has a raised inner surface with a rolled top edge that
curves attractively over the top of the hooks. The outer surface is lowered and
hides the flesh hoop.
12 ) Elegant low profile, 2 point shoes.
13 ) The nuts are fascinating. At first glance they appear to be typical long,
ball end nuts with square upper portions. Careful examination reveals that they
are made of 2 parts somewhat like those seen on some of Fairbanks’ banjos from
the 1870s but much more finely made so that the ball portion actually screws
slightly into the upper part. Obviously a transitional step in the evolution of
ball end nuts.
14) Cobra ( flat) hooks.
15) Pictured on page 46 in "Acoustic Guitars and Other Fretted Instruments, A Photographic History" by George Gruhn & Walter Carter.
Click to enlarge: