Old Fender Artist Banjo
D.E.
Serial number 04674. Also What kind of banjo head came out on those
late 60s early 70s fenders 5-star or remo? Thanks Derek
Mike Stanger
dea...@ntelos.net (D.E.) wrote:
Hi, Derek...
I think this is a 1974 model. Don't know for sure, but my guess is the
standard head was a Weather King. My guess is that the banjo is probably
domestic, but the company started importing around this time, more or
less. I remember that they were still making them in the U.S. in 1976,
because they produced a limited edition Concertone that year.
The domestic Fenders are very good- John Hartford played one in the
early 70's, as did Butch Robbins and a bunch of other players. Although
I prefer Ode banjos from the same period, the Fenders were on equal par
with the Ode, and were better than almost all of the Gibsons and Vegas
of the time. These days, one may be improved a little with one of the
new high quality tone rings now available, but everything else on them
is very high quality.
They are quite different in tone, action, and looks from the later
Japanese (and then Korean) imports. The easiest way to tell the
difference between the domestics and imports is the flange hole pattern.
the domestic Fenders have a dot-dash pattern of holes (-o-o-), and the
imports have holes that have the Gibson pattern. If you take the
resonator off of a domestic, you will see that the flange is very, VERY,
heavy brass that is singular to Fender. The flange takes a right turn
downward and wraps around the rim. this part of the flange is about an
inch or more wide. The import flange is either Gibson style tube and
plate.
Another quick identifier for the domestic Fenders is the wood used. The
lower end models have blonde rock maple necks with a center strip of
rosewood, and the top end have walnut necks with 3 center laminations.
Resonators on the lower models are plain rock maple w/ a very Fender
looking sunburst, and top end is walnut with checkerboard prufling rings.
regards,
Stanger
Mike Stanger
Hi, Derek...
duh... forgot to read your header closely. The Artist model was the 2nd
from the top of the domestic line. An excellent banjo of the 70's, and
very close in appearance to their best, the Concertone. The biggest
difference between the two was the Concertone had a slightly fancier
inlay pattern on the peghead, and the peghead had a few more cuts in the
shape. The tailpiece on the Concertone was an Oettinger, and the Artist
had the 70's adjustable Presto. The Concertone also had gold plating vs.
nickel on the Artist. Both played and sounded the same.
regards,
Stanger
wygyg
I wish I had mine back. Well....I guess I wish I had a bunch of them back.
And you are correct....beat the gibbys by a long shot in my opinion.
So many banjos.....so little time.
Roger (seemingly the only damn banjo teacher in central illinois)
"Mike Stanger" <mrst...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:mrstanger-2BF7A...@news1.west.earthlink.net...
D.E.
Thanks for that info. I just bought this banjo off of ebay I
havent got it yet.The lady I bought it from said it had a sticker
inside resonator that said Artist 04674 Fender Musical Instruments
Santa Ana Ca. I have a baldwin ode that I love (I really like the 27"
scale). I hope this Fender Artist turns out to be a good sounder. I
like to keep my banjos all original as much as possible. Again
Thankyou Mike ........Derek
D.E.
Have you ever heard of banjo player Jimmy Arnold? He played a
Fender Artist for some time. He and Butch Robins were friends and a
guy liked there playing so much he give them each a fender banjo. If
you can get a copy of Jimmy Arnolds album on rebel records-Strictly
Arnold- you need to. Jimmy played the fender on that album. The man
was an amazing banjo player his cut of charmaine is incredible. Ive
heard that Bela Fleck met him somewhere and said "so you are the JIMMY
ARNOLD!" Scott Vestal liked his playing as well. Jimmy was a musical
genuis.
Derek
Alan Forrest
purchasing an early 1970s Fender Artist and have a few questions.
Having never had the opportunity to play one in person, I am really
curious about the sound (tone, volume, etc) of this generation of
Artists. Any suggestions about how they compare to other banjos on the
market such as Gibson/Stelling/OME/Deering/Etc.? Can I expect a
properly setup, prime example to hold its own against one of todays banjos?
What about the playability? I understand that many of the Fender
Artists have slim necks and are quite comfortable to play, but that they
tend to be on the heavy side due to the brass flange. Correct?
I don't have a particular banjo in mind, so I am asking for general
answers. I understand that, like any brand or model, there are some
real winners and some real dogs. I am trying to find out if this is
something that I may be interested in investigating further.
Thanks very much for your help.
-Alan Forrest
Mike Stanger
Me, too. I have an old friend who bought one ca. 1970, and I played it
often- even owned it for a brief time. He eventually got it back, and I
haven't seen him or the banjo for years. I ought to look him up and see
if he wants to get rid of it again!
Those California Fenders were kinda like pre-Stelling Stellings in some
ways. Their necks are very Stelling like- rather wide, flat, and very
fast action. Good tone, and I never saw one that wasn't very neatly
done. For a bunch of electric guitar makers, the Fender crew really
produced a quality banjo for those few years.
One interesting thing about them is the finish- it is some of the
earliest use of catalyzed polyurethane I know of. This stuff is
extremely durable and scratch resistant, but can be double hell to work
on. Fender adopted this stuff for their guitars around then, and I'm
sure the banjos were finished on the guitar line.
I've seen a few over the years with clouded resonators; this can be a
problem with the material, as the finish's grip on the wood isn't very
strong. Clouding occurs often when the finish develops a chip that goes
down to wood and allows surrounding areas to loosen. But it's so tough
that getting a chip that severe is rare.
regards,
Stanger
In article <uoxtc.13237$Tn6....@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net>,
Mike Stanger
As I mentioned, I always preferred the Ode's tone over the Fender's
slightly, but they were quite close in most respects. I think the Ode's
tone was slightly fuller and deeper, and the Fender had a less deep, but
slightly crisper, tone. I have neveer had a chance to play a Fender
archtop, but sure would like to. I think they would be a very good
banjo, but might be a little tricky to really dial in the killer tone.
Fenders seem to be like this- very slight adjustments to them result in
big tonal/action changes. (just like several new makes today)
Unlike the Odes, the top 2 models, the Artist and Concertone, were very
close cosmetically. All of the Fenders had rosewood boards and Schaller
tuners. They were heavy, indeed. The flange contributed much of the
weight, and it is incredibly sturdy and massive. Solid brass, too. The
tone ring was much like others then- more brass, less bronze than most
of the good ones today. I think that flange made a substantial
contribution to the Fender's bright, crisp tone.
Fender used wood purfling under the fingerboard binding and on the
resonator rim and back, a la the RB4 and RB5, and most of the ones I've
seen are a rather light colored walnut. I think that was the only wood
used for them.
another interesting thing is I think the parts were chrome plated, not
nickel. I've neveer seen a Fender that has the common tarnishing of
parts, but don't know for a fact that chrome was used.
regards,
Stanger
In article <40b799eb$1...@news.unc.edu>,
JohnB58972
"Rainbow Ride". "Southern Soul" is available on CD. He played a lot of
different banjos ( a top-tension on "Rainbow Ride") and they all sounded great
(the player has more to do with the sound than the banjo).
John Bass