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Resonator banjo-ukulele

Resonator banjo-ukulele

Alternate name:Ukulele-banjo
Alternate name:Banjo uke
Alternate name:Banjolele
Maker: Gibson
Date: 1926-1936 ca.
Place Made:Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States, North America
Model: UB-1
Serial No: none
SignedSilver decal on peghead: The Gibson [cursive]
MarkingsStamped onto bridge: GROVER

Written on calf skin head in black ink: Do[faded] / 0[faded numeral]4

DescriptionNeck: brown-stained maple
Peghead: brown-stained maple; four tuners
Fingerboard: black-painted pearwood; 17 nickel-plated steel T-frets; single mother-of-pearl dots behind 5th, 7th, and 10th frets
Heel cap: none
Head: calf skin
Tone ring: none
Rim: two layers of brown-stained maple with brown-stained maple veneer
Bracket hooks: 10 nickel-plated steel
Shoes: 10 nickel-plated brass
Tension hoop: nickel-plated brass
Dowel stick: none
Resonator: 5-ply brown-stained maple plywood; unbound flat plate resonator; attached to rim with 4 nickel-plated steel screws
Nut: ebony
Tuners: 4 nickel-plated steel tension pegs with black plastic heads
Tailpiece: nickel-plated steel
Finish: brown lacquer

DimensionsTotal instrument length: 490 mm (19-9/32”)
Vibrating string length: 316 mm (12-7/16”)
Fingerboard length: 214 mm (8-7/16”)
Fingerboard width at nut: 31 mm (1-7/32”)
Fingerboard width at body: 41 mm (1-5/8”)
Head diameter: 152 mm (5-31/32”)
Resonator diameter: 154 mm (6-1/16”)
Rim and resonator depth: 76 mm (3”)

ProvenanceOwned and played by Herbert Buckingham Khaury aka “Tiny Tim”
Given to Mr. Ernie Clark by Khaury’s widow, Sue Garner Khaury
Sold to Mr. Christian Carlson by Clark “several years” before 2008
Credit Line: Geoffrey Robert Rezek Collection, 2014
Not on view
Object number: 14932