Bandolin
Alternate name(s)
- Melody banjo
- Mandolin banjo
- Tango banjo
Maker
Anastasios Stathopoulo
Date1910-1915 ca.
Place MadeNew York, New York, United States, North America
Serial No.none
SignedBranded into back of peghead and heel cap: A.STATHOPOULO / NEW YORKMarkingsStamped onto synth-skin head: REMO [inside 4-pointed crown] / WEATHER KING / __BANJO__/ MADE IN U.S.A.
Stamped onto bridge: GROVER
Stamped into tailpiece, in cursive text: Elite
DescriptionThis early, short-scale tenor banjo, or bandolin, features a neck made from nine-ply, laminated maple and mahogany. Fitted with a violin-style pegbox, the instrument has a shallow, pyramid-shaped head. This type of instrument was created to supply players with a light, agile instrument for dance bands of the 1910s. The Stathopoulo family would later found Epiphone.
Neck: mahogany with 7-ply alternating maple/mahogany center stripe
Peghead: lute-style with dark-stained hardwood [rosewood?] veneer on square face of scroll; 7-ply center stripe continues up from neck
Fingerboard: ebony over ivory-celluloid layer, decoratively cut, extends over synth-skin head after 12th fret; 15 nickel-silver T-frets for bass strings, 17 for treble strings; single mother-of-pearl dots inlaid behind 3rd and 15th frets; double mother-of-pearl dots inlaid behind 5th, 7th, and 12th frets; three mother-of-pearl dots inlaid behind 10th fret
Heel cap: brown-stained maple
Head: synthetic skin
Tone ring: nickel-plated brass
Rim: full-spun brown-stained maple with nickel-plated brass overlay
Bracket hooks: 24 total – 14 are nickel-plated steel, 10 are nickel-plated brass
Shoes: 24 nickel-plated brass
Tension hoop: nickel-plated brass
Armrest: none
Resonator: none
Dowel stick: rosewood
Nut: bone
Tuners: 4 nickel-plated brass pegs with black plastic heads
Tailpiece: nickel-plated brass, made for 5-string instrument
Finish: clear lacquer
DimensionsTotal instrument length: 575 mm (22-5/8”)
Vibrating string length: 353 mm (13-29/32”)
Fingerboard length: bass strings – 209 mm (8-7/32”); treble strings – 221 mm (8-11/16”)
Fingerboard width at nut: 29.5 mm (1-5/32”)
Fingerboard width at body: bass strings – 42 mm (1-21/32”); treble strings – 23 mm (29/32”)
Calf-skin head diameter: 254 mm (10”)
Back diameter: 252 mm (9-29/32”)
Rim depth: 60 mm (2-3/8”)
Credit LineGift of Curtis Teague, 2002
Object number10118
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