• The Deering Vega Senator banjo is the perfect “crossover” and parlor banjo. It is a light-weight, classic open back banjo, with a warm, woody tone with a lightweight tone ring that adds just enough punch and high-end clarity to play bluegrass with your buddies but warm, fat and woody enough to play in your parlor as a classic clawhammer or fingerstyle solo instrument.
• Aug 28, 2012  Trying to date our 'new' banjo. Vega is imprinted on the front of the headstock, Martin and Co. Logo is stamped on back of headstock. There's a Martin decal on the insideof the rim that looks like the Martin that is stamped on headstock. On the rim is stamped the number: 242.

• Deering Vega Serial Numbers List
• Deering Vega #2
• Deering Vega Serial Numbers Chart
• Vega Banjo Serial Numbers
• Deering Vega Serial Numbers For Sale

ARCHIVED TOPIC: Martin Vega 1970's banjo? *updated with pics*

Serial Number. The first thing to look for is a legitimate serial number. A serial number could tell you a lot about the history of an instrument. Only the very inexpensive banjos of the 1930's did not have a serial number (however, there are some exceptions in the very late years of the 1930's and early 40's). Openback Models A serial number sticker should be placed on the inside of the rim which states the full serial number and th. FAIRBANKS AND VEGA BANJOS The years matched to the serial numbers are an The Deering Banjo Company purchased the Vega name. First off thanks for this post of serial numbers. It really helps. I have a Farmall Super C according to the decals. The nameplate shows FC as the model (which should be a Farmall C) but also has a 6 digit serial number corresponding to a 1952 Super C.

Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/177392

jbeck2616 - Posted - 05/03/2010: 16:06:09

I inherited a excellent condition Martin & Co. Vega VIP from i believe the 1970's era.. I know nothing about it and took it to a local guitar shop where the owner said he wouldn't know much but he would try and help.. he said it looked amazing and we found the serial number but when he looked in a book that he thought he could find out more about it he didn't find the serial number..
I am wondering if anyone can help me with information about this instrument and a rough value of one.. I am planning on keeping it but I would still like to know its value. Thank you!!
jeremy

Edited by - jbeck2616 on 05/03/2010 17:27:30

banjowannabe - Posted - 05/03/2010: 16:12:18

If you can post pictures, it would be very helpful. When Martin owned the Vega name, they produced several models and some variations within those models. You can also get info. directly from Martin, but they will want pictures also.

5stringpicker2 - Posted - 05/03/2010: 16:25:30

Yeah, Get us some pics to look at. that would be very helpful in helping you with info on your Vega.
(I )'----<::)

jbeck2616 - Posted - 05/03/2010: 16:26:13

ok im not too sure how to post pictures since i just made this account but it looks like they uploaded to my photo album.. let me know if you can see them.. by the by.. i found something in the case that said VIP-5 if that helps..

jims38134 - Posted - 05/03/2010: 17:01:25

what is the serial number?
jim

jbeck2616 - Posted - 05/03/2010: 17:05:00

i believe the serial number is.. 2308.. the only other number is 1635 but im sure when we looked inside the number was 2308.. it was also written on a yellow envelope in the banjo case storage area.. wish i could be more help..

jbeck2616 - Posted - 05/03/2010: 17:15:59

i think i found a picture of a banjo that looked exactly like it.. it was a 1976 Vega/Martin V.I.P. plectrum. but again i do not know..

Bill Rogers - Posted - 05/03/2010: 17:19:21

If there is no Martin decal on the peghead or a yellow tape label or any Martin label in the pot, it's probably an early Galaxy Vega. It would also help to see pix of the tone ring.

jbeck2616 - Posted - 05/03/2010: 17:21:45

Bill - it does say CF Martin & Co on the back of the peg head.. is that what you mean?
I just added a picture of the inner part of the banjo.. it again says Martin and co and has the 1635 number I posted earlier inscribed on the inside.. no yellow tag though..

Edited by - jbeck2616 on 05/03/2010 17:31:45

scruss - Posted - 05/03/2010: 17:45:57

A Vega VIP like this one sold at Elderly for $1750: elderly.com/vintage/items/70U-3010.htm

jbeck2616 - Posted - 05/03/2010: 17:54:17

ok yea, that looks a lot like the one I have.. I have read in another old archived thread on here that only 50 something of these banjos were made.. someone else wrote that like 503 were made.. but both this one and the one that you posted from elderly.com are in the thousands for serial numbers.. any clarification?? thank you all so much for trying to help me figure this out! Vsco film presets free mac.

frailin - Posted - 05/03/2010: 20:22:41

I'd say that Tidy Cat's still got a lot of reserve left in it.

TB-4 Guy - Posted - 05/03/2010: 21:12:05

That's a very nice-looking banjo. Since it has the Martin Decal on it and it's from the 1970's that means it was built at Nazareth, PA. I'd figure that Elderly was close on the value at $1,750, the price shown on the one they sold.
It looks like it has a nicely-made tone ring in it That's a keeper!

mikehalloran - Posted - 05/03/2010: 21:27:24

The identifier is that the metal parts are made in Boston. A few late 70s Martin Vegas had Gibson style flanges supplied by Galaxy - shortly thereafter CFM sold Galaxy Trading the whole ball of wax, metal, tools, name everything.
This banjo is definitely the real deal.
When Greg Deering bought the Vega name, he didn't know that Galaxy had metal and tools. He had to make a mad dash to the scrap yard to rescue these parts when he found out. I have heard this story from Greg more than once.

jbeck2616 - Posted - 05/03/2010: 21:41:46

thank you! when my dad passed away he wanted me to have it and I hope to keep it in the family for a long time to come.. I'm not exactly sure what year it is from and I am not sure how to narrow that down.. I figure the 1970's since people say they Martin owned Vega from 71 to 77 if I remember correctly. Now I just need to find someone in the seattle area who can work this thing over and make it shine like new! thank you all again, you have been really helpful!
Jeremy

TB-4 Guy - Posted - 05/03/2010: 21:48:43

quote:Originally posted by jbeck2616
thank you! when my dad passed away he wanted me to have it and I hope to keep it in the family for a long time to come.. I'm not exactly sure what year it is from and I am not sure how to narrow that down.. I figure the 1970's since people say they Martin owned Vega from 71 to 77 if I remember correctly. Now I just need to find someone in the seattle area who can work this thing over and make it shine like new! thank you all again, you have been really helpful!
Jeremy

You could contact C.F. Martin customer service. They have an 800 # on their website. They should have the records on it.
Good luck.

rexhunt - Posted - 05/04/2010: 15:15:11

quote:Originally posted by TB-4 Guy
You could contact C.F. Martin customer service. They have an 800 # on their website. They should have the records on it.
Good luck.

You could contact them but their record keeping back then was less than exceptional. They can date an instrument but that's about all. I had my D28 back to the factory 3 times in the 70's for warranty repair but when it needed it again last year, they had no record whatsoever of me owning the guitar. Thank goodness I held onto the original recipt.
Nice banjo and yet another variation on the tu-ba-phone tonering.
Rex

The Old Timer - Posted - 05/04/2010: 15:24:29

Those are pretty nice banjos, solidly made and they ring pretty bright I think. A somewhat small fan base, unfortunately. Grandpa Jones played one of these (probably not a Martin) for years on Hee Haw and the Grand Ole Opry.
I've never seen that particular tone ring before, with that 'extra' flat or angle stock hanging on the top of the usual square 'tube'. Has anyone else ever seen this particular tone ring? I understand Martin designed (or bought) an entire new tone ring design for the V-41 and V-45 models though, every un-Vega like. Gruhn has a V-41 for sale, BTW.

jbeck2616 - Posted - 05/04/2010: 15:35:56

hey guys thanks again, I did call Martin today and Rexhunt, that is exactly what they did.. the guy they sent me to said all they can say is it was made in 1976 and made with mahogony and ebony.. and he was trailing off when he said the last two haha.
To The Old Timer: I know nothing about banjos as I just play guitar but I am interested in learning.. what do you mean by the tone ring? which picture are you referring to? Thank you all again, you guys have helped a lot!

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mikehalloran - Posted - 05/04/2010: 16:25:16

Martin did not make any metal parts. In the 1960s, Vega experimented with a few different variations of the Tubaphone tone ring. CFM used these up in different banjos along with leftover Tubaphone rings. I've seen 4 variants in the VIP and three in the PS-5.
Come to think of it, I have never seen an Electric/Whyte Laydie tr in a Martin Vega. The Little Wonder ring was still around.
AFIK, These were all gone by the time Deering obtained Vega. Greg got stretcher bands, flanges and brackets but no Tubaphone rings.

jbeck2616 - Posted - 05/04/2010: 17:01:17

So does my banjo have the whyte laydie and what is it? Lol

Edited by - jbeck2616 on 05/04/2010 17:02:10

The Old Timer - Posted - 05/04/2010: 18:15:53

Jeremy, your very first photo, showing the inside of the pot (where all the phillips head screws/bolts are visible holding on the bracket shoes from the inside, the tone ring is the topmost metal stuff holding up the plastic head). You can see a large metal part that has groups of triple holes drilled in it. That is the usual 'Tu Ba Phone' tone ring, which is a piece of square hollow 'tubing' bent into a circle. Normally it has a 'lip' at the top outside circumference, which is NOT visible in photos of the inside of the pot. Yours has a shinier additional piece at the very top that looks like it is bent down over the inner circumference of the usual Tu Ba Phone ring.
I don't really know that it's an 'added' piece of metal on the top, it could just as well be some kind of machining away of some of the face metal on the usual Tu Ba Phone ring part. I'm saying that I've never seen a VEGA tone ring with that downward lip showing separately at the top.
Also, Tu Ba Phone tone rings have a variety of 'holes' and piercings visible on the inside. Yours is somewhat unique in that it has 'groups' of three holes at a time. The oldest design has uniformly spaced holes all the way around. Some in the 1960s had pairs of holes joined by a slot, so it looked like a 'dog bone' or 'dumbbell'. The 'Audiosonic' variety in the mid-late 60s didn't have round holes, it had pairs of horizontal slots just under an inch long, going all the way around the inside of the tone ring. I've never seen one with groups of three holes, with undrilled spaces between the groups.
A Whyte Laydie tone ring looks COMPLETELY different with a series of free-standing metal 'arches' very noticeable between the metal bottom and the metal top lip that bears up under the plastic head. I don't think VEGA used it in the modern era, except reportedly in the Sonny Osborne model in the mid 60s.

JonT - Posted - 05/04/2010: 19:31:11

It does indeed look like a V.I.P. The fretboard inlays - I've heard them called 'crown-and-football' - are typical of this model. The example I owned a few years back had the 'dogbone' tone ring, which was pretty much a development of the Tubaphone tone ring, as far as I could tell. It certainly delivered Tubaphone tone.

mikehalloran - Posted - 05/05/2010: 07:15:11

quote:Originally posted by jbeck2616
So does my banjo have the whyte laydie and what is it? Lol

It is an unusual variant of the Tubaphone. I have seen this version before.

jbeck2616 - Posted - 05/05/2010: 12:28:59

ok folks.. so I emailed Martin and Co around the same time I called them and they basically said what everyone here posted but anywho.. I figured I would share it with you just incase they wrote something someone else didn't know or had wrong or this may help someone else.. here it is..
Jeremy,
Martin acquired the Vega Company of
Boston in May of 1970. By that time the primary instrument
was the banjo. At the time of the move from Boston to
Nazareth, the records transferred were minimal, therefore
our records are limited.
The V.I.P. models was ideal for all musical forms,
Blue Grass, Country-Western, Folk, Jazz.
Features included exclusive Vega audio-sonic tone ring;
bell brass for all metal parts affecting tone
new fancy scrolled peghead with ultra filigree pearl work
engraved pearl position markers inlaid in solid ebony fingerboard
Ten-ply maple rim with heavy notched hoop and bracket band
planet gear pegs
sleek walnut finish with fancy wood marquetry inlay around
resonator circumference.
It was offered in
4-string tenor $556.00
4-string plectrum $556.00
5-string $556.00
custom gold plated, extra $756.00
Special,Gold with engraved flanges & arm rest, extra $812.00
Martin sold the Vega Banjos from 1972-1979. According to the serial number 1635
this was most likely made in late 1976 or early 1977.
Best regards,
Sandy Trach
C. F. Martin & Co., Inc.
Customer Service

mikehalloran - Posted - 05/06/2010: 01:20:36

>Features included exclusive Vega audio-sonic tone ring;<
The VIP may have 'featured' that tone ring but only some actually had it. Yours, for example, does not.
I may have the Vega Martin catalog still. If you remind me with a PM, I'll look for it and scan it into a pdf file when I get back from Alaska next week.

Edited by - mikehalloran on 05/06/2010 01:23:08

rexhunt - Posted - 05/06/2010: 09:43:22

Looking at a 1970 catalog, only the VIP is listed with the audiosonic tone ring. The Seeger and the Vox say 'The Famous Vega Tube-a-phone'. The Fenster model has an 'Improved tone ring with specially designed audio apertures, made of bell brass'. I get the feeling that all this is from the marketing department and as far as the actual banjo, it's whatever the guy putting it together picked up - be it the slit, dog-bone, or traditional. Of course, this is just a feeling I get.
Rex

wrangler - Posted - 05/06/2010: 10:08:58

I think that it was very nice of CFM to write back with the info straight from the horse's mouth. There has been some debate as to exactly when Martin bought Vega. They answered that.

mikehalloran - Posted - 05/06/2010: 20:44:27

quote:Originally posted by wrangler
There has been some debate as to exactly when Martin bought Vega.

I don't understand why. Mike Longworth and others documented that many years ago.
What isn't well known is that a short run of Martin/Vega four strings were made with Galaxy metal parts. It could be as few as the four in the NAMM brochure. I know someone who has one and the brochure. All Martin/Vega five strings with Galaxy metal are fakes. Galaxy metal parts are easy to identify - they have Gibson style flanges even the few with Korean Tubaphone rings (Galaxy did a few and they aren't bad at all).
Fortunately, this makes it easy to identify real Martin/Vega banjos - except for those last four, they have Vega metal parts with the distinctive flange.
Much less documented is the transition from Galaxy to Deering. Even what I have posted is what I know from talking to Greg Deering. I have never seen it anywhere in print.

Edited by - mikehalloran on 05/06/2010 20:50:01

a posting by Pete Curry on
Ken Laing’s ‘Musician’s Rendezvous’ board

The following information was assembled by me in preparation for a book about the Vega Pete Seeger — an instrument that has been virtually ignored by banjo historians. Walter Scott and I had planned to work on this book together. But as you know, Walter is no longer with us. Walter and I did exchange some e-mail over the past year, however, and his input is noted in what follows.

The Vega Pete Seeger, Part 1 Posted by Pete Curry on 2/9/2002, 10:51 pm

Early History

The Vega Pete Seeger model 5-string banjo came into being during the 1950s as a result of requests that the Vega Company received for an extended-neck banjo like the one Pete Seeger played. As Seeger explains in his book, “The Incompleat Folksinger”:

Well, it was like this. It was payola. About four or five years ago the Vega banjo company of Boston called me to say they’d received several requests to make banjos with especially long necks (an idea I got in 1942 when trying to play “Viva La Qunice Brigada” in the C minor position [i.e. first position, C tuning], which was a bit too high to sing).

Vega asked, “Could we officially call it ‘the Pete Seeger Model’?”

“It would be an honor,” says I.

“Would you like us to pay a royalty on each one sold?”