Buchanan's "Improvement" 5-string banjo Circa 1928?
This banjo is a wonderful mystery. From the British Banjo Makers website : "A display advertisement in the April 1928 issue of "B.M.G." proclaimed:- BUCHANAN BANJOS Makers and repairers of all fretted instruments. 6 Granville St. West, GLASGOW, C.3. but nothing has been discovered about "Buchanan" banjos nor has any other advertisement about them been found." This banjo, however appears to be of much earlier manufacture. The neck is beautifully carved at the heel and the peghead, and a simply wonderful 5th string arrangement is employed where the 5th string nut is in the usual place but the string is routed along the side of the neck to the peghead, in contrast to the usual British practice of tunneling the string under the fretboard from the 5th fret to the peghead tuner. The rim appears to be made of solid, highly embossed, nickel or silver plated brass with an integral flange that eliminates the need for bolts inside the rim. A very nice neck angle adjuster is present along with a fancy lyre metal tailpiece. The pearl inlays are fairly simple, but the block inlay near the rim is beautifully engraved. The tuner blocks are also nicely engraved. Simply amazing!
