Chords for Jim Mills.."Sharing The Latest Find"...1930's Original Gibson RB-11

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Gm] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _
_ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ _ _ [Gm] _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ [N] _ Hi folks, Jim Mills here, Jim Mills Banjo in the old banjo showroom again today sharing
the latest find.
What we have here is an early 30s _ RB11 Gibson pre-war banjo.
RB standing for original 5 string and matter of fact everything on this banjo is original
right down to its original small gauge frets, friction peg, both nuts.
One thing folks to look out for especially on 1930s one piece flange original 5 string
banjos, a lot of them advertised I see out there when you look at them closer.
One of the main things to search and make sure is correct original on them is an original
5 string tension hoop and the way you can tell that is the opening in the tension hoop
here at the neck notch is wider on an original 5 string and they're extremely hard to come
by as they only put them on 5 string banjos from the 1930s and the tenors are thicker
here at the opening.
Obviously they had a thinner neck for a tenor banjo but that's a very costly part and if
it's not original with a banjo that should absolutely be reflected in its price.
This one is totally original in every way possible other than its head, strings and
bridge it's exactly as it left the factory.
And again there are no serial numbers or factory order numbers on early RB11s or style 11s
in particular up until about 1937-38 they started stamping a factory order serial number
on the back of the peghead but many of them don't have any numbers whatsoever just feature
the Gibson label inside the rim which this one does as well.
And the style 11s also for those of you who don't know were not stained like a lot of
the many of the banjos that came later on.
Gibson was trying to produce a fancy looking banjo with this beautiful fingerboard and
peghead overlay as well as the back of the resonator features it also in a flower motif.
This is actually a type of plastic called celluloid that was popular in the 1920s and
1930s and 40s and was made to simulate mother of pearl.
And the design you see on here is silk screened on and then they sprayed a coat of clear coat
over that to protect it.
Well a lot of them over the years if they've been played very heavily the silk screening
inlay position markers would be worn off.
This one's in relatively good shape as are the frets, the original frets by the way.
But one thing about the style 11s again for those of you who don't know they were not
stained they were actually painted the wood on the side of the resonator is actually painted
as well as the neck.
And for that reason most of them found today that have had any kind of playing time on
them the paint actually wears off, flakes off, chips off especially in the back of the
neck area and this one absolutely features that.
And the sides of the resonator are in relatively good shape compared to a lot of them.
The other thing you'll see in style 11s today when found a lot of them have been touched
up repainted and look like a brand new paint job on a Corvette.
And as a collector player I'd much rather see one with honest playing wear.
And this one has quite a bit of playing wear.
It was played quite a bit but sometimes that's a good thing they can sound better [B] sometimes.
But you see the brass on the armrest which is typical of one that's been played.
But overall a good solid strong banjo.
The flange is not pulled up hardly at all.
The tension hoop may be the slight flare like most all of them from this period.
But still in a good sound shape and a wonderful banjo to play.
And another thing about the style 11 and bluegrass music in particular the style 11 has its own
fame mainly because it was the banjo used on the very first recordings of what we know
today as bluegrass music.
This would be the foundational band featuring a 21 year old Earl Scruggs playing an RB-11
very much like this banjo.
And September the 16th 1946 they went to Columbia [Bb] Studios and recorded again what we know as
the first bluegrass music.
That band consisted of Bill Monroe on mandolin, Lester Flatt on guitar, Earl Scruggs on a
RB-11 Gibson banjo.
A gentleman called Chubby Wise on the fiddle.
And another gentleman playing upright bass named Howard [G] Watts and that is the seminal
foundational band of bluegrass music as we know it today.
And we owe a lot to Mr.
Earl Scruggs.
Again five string banjos during this period were not popular at all.
And they made very few of them.
From production totals we think they made approximately 140 of these banjos in original
five string like this one.
And if you account for all that period of years passing by and fires and floods and
wars and tornadoes and earthquakes and just butchery from so called luthiers working on
them all these years you can absolutely account I would think 10-15% of those are gone.
And then the other thing you face with what we call sub-master tones, let me clarify that.
A lot of folks in the banjo circles today call any 1930s banjo basically with a one
piece flange design that did not feature a heavy cast tone ring from the factory like
this banjo a sub-master tone.
The master tone started with the style three so anything below that was considered a sub-master tone.
And the body of those banjos and this one as well feature a full thickness rim, one
piece flange, tension hoop, armrest, all that's basically identical to what would come on
a master tone.
But they featured, this banjo and all the sub-master tones featured a quarter inch roll
brass tone hoop that sat directly on top of the wood rim, your head sits directly on
top of that.
And a lot of the benefit of that today, the main thing you'll notice first thing when
you pick it up is it feels like a shoe box.
It doesn't weigh [Ab] anything yet it still has all this power and tone.
And a lot of folks are starting to figure this out.
I've always knew they were great for 30 years and I read a lot of stuff on forums and things
of that nature where people are coming around and saying, hey man, I haven't heard anything
sounds any better than that.
You know it's just got that [D] growl, that pre-war Gibson tone.
And I said, well, a lot of that has to do with the wood rim and resonator in these banjos.
A big cast tone ring is a wonderful thing and can be the icing on the cake, but in my
opinion and a lot of other people's, that inherent pre-war Gibson tone that we're all
searching for is already in these banjos without a big heavy cast tone ring.
So a lot of folks are coming around to how great they are.
_ But again I was saying about the RB11s in particular, a lot of them I see today that
were, they left the factory as original five strings, but they've been cut down and had
tone rings put in them and they're no longer fully factory original.
This one is all original, unmolested, untouched.
Again like I say right down to the original frets and friction peg.
And it is available here.
So if you have any interest in anything like this, don't hesitate to give me a call.
All my information is at the bottom of the page.
And again they're super banjos in my opinion and a lot of other people's.
And hope you enjoy it.
I'll play a little more on the way out. _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _