circa 1905 Washburn Model 1025 Five String Banjo Used

This delightful Washburn banjo is a throwback to another time in the banjos’ history, and it was clearly intended to compete with S S Stewart banjos from the same turn-of-the-last-century era. It came with the celluloid friction pegs shown, and was originally strung with gut strings. The black tuners shown are Peg Heds, with ingenious internal gearing despite looking like regular ebony violin pegs. As a result, this is a delight to play and easy to tune, and the skin head delivers a warm plunky tone. On the underside of the head, in pencil, are written 3 initials and “2165 Center St. Berkeley, Calif”. This address is one block below the UC Berkeley campus, and while we don’t know for sure we do know there was a banjo club at Cal at that time, so…..

This banjo has the original finish, nickel-plating and parts, with the exception of the bridge and strings (original tuners could be refitted, but wouldn’t work nearly as well as Peg Heds on it now). Very cool original hooks, nuts, and shoes, with the original tailpiece that neatly bolts to the tension hoop. The original engraving to the pearl inlays is a nice touch, as this engraving is easily worn off from use.