AE Smith Northampton Custom 5 String Banjo (1980s)
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AE Smith Northampton Custom Model 5 String Banjo (1980s), made in Brattleboro, Vermont, serial # 472, natural finish, laminated maple rim, laminated maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.
In 1973 luthiers Kathryn Spencer and Mark Surgies founded their own banjo imprint under the name AE Smith (or Arthur E. Smith) likely in tribute to the Carolina's beloved showman Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, the man who wrote the classic "Duelin' Banjos." They especially utilized the abundant maple forests of southern Vermont to craft a small line of high-quality instruments with some original designs and others more inspired by the golden eras of Orpheum, Fairbanks, and Vega to name a few.
Here is a clean example of one of the company's calling card banjos, the 5-string Northampton, with few twists as it was a custom made for an employee. This employee eschewed the brass tone ring that would have come stock in a Northampton for a beveled wood rim Farland-style banjo, a style preferred by John Hartford among others. The 24-hook rim is laminated maple with several handsome alternating lines of inset maple, rosewood, and cherry inside the rim.
The neck is a 3-piece laminated maple neck with a thin mahogany center strip and topped with a dot inlaid rosewood fingerboard. It bolts to the body with a single Gibson-style co-ordinator rod, another custom modification versus the standard wooden dowel. The headstock, inlaid with a mother of pearl maple leaf, is faced in rosewood and carries typical 1980s Five Star Planet tuners with large ivoroid buttons and nut. This Farland style wood-rim banjo boasts a pleasant and musical sound on its own but still offers enough punch to cut through at any picking session.
Overall length is 37 in. (94 cm.), 11 in. (27.9 cm.) diameter head, and 2 3/4 in. (7 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 27 in. (686 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/16 in. (30 mm.).
Overall this banjo remains in superb condition with minimal signs of wear and sings with a bold, loud voice for a wood rim design. There are a few scuffs and very minor dings here and there, but nothing really of note. The original frets show little to no wear and the original Five Star Planet tuners work just as they should. There are some miniscule surface marks to the metal hardware but very little actual playwear. The serial number is stamped subtly inside the rim and on the headstock, still a documented factory piece despite the employee's special design elements. It plays very well and resides in the period correct hardshell case it likely has been in its whole life. Overall Excellent Condition.
In 1973 luthiers Kathryn Spencer and Mark Surgies founded their own banjo imprint under the name AE Smith (or Arthur E. Smith) likely in tribute to the Carolina's beloved showman Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, the man who wrote the classic "Duelin' Banjos." They especially utilized the abundant maple forests of southern Vermont to craft a small line of high-quality instruments with some original designs and others more inspired by the golden eras of Orpheum, Fairbanks, and Vega to name a few.
Here is a clean example of one of the company's calling card banjos, the 5-string Northampton, with few twists as it was a custom made for an employee. This employee eschewed the brass tone ring that would have come stock in a Northampton for a beveled wood rim Farland-style banjo, a style preferred by John Hartford among others. The 24-hook rim is laminated maple with several handsome alternating lines of inset maple, rosewood, and cherry inside the rim.
The neck is a 3-piece laminated maple neck with a thin mahogany center strip and topped with a dot inlaid rosewood fingerboard. It bolts to the body with a single Gibson-style co-ordinator rod, another custom modification versus the standard wooden dowel. The headstock, inlaid with a mother of pearl maple leaf, is faced in rosewood and carries typical 1980s Five Star Planet tuners with large ivoroid buttons and nut. This Farland style wood-rim banjo boasts a pleasant and musical sound on its own but still offers enough punch to cut through at any picking session.
Overall length is 37 in. (94 cm.), 11 in. (27.9 cm.) diameter head, and 2 3/4 in. (7 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 27 in. (686 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/16 in. (30 mm.).
Overall this banjo remains in superb condition with minimal signs of wear and sings with a bold, loud voice for a wood rim design. There are a few scuffs and very minor dings here and there, but nothing really of note. The original frets show little to no wear and the original Five Star Planet tuners work just as they should. There are some miniscule surface marks to the metal hardware but very little actual playwear. The serial number is stamped subtly inside the rim and on the headstock, still a documented factory piece despite the employee's special design elements. It plays very well and resides in the period correct hardshell case it likely has been in its whole life. Overall Excellent Condition.