Gibson Style 6 Banjos


Michael Corcoran's Gold Sparkle Style 6 (9242-19)
Michael Corcoran's banjo  is a sparkle-bound model 6 flathead, the he estimates is  from 1931 (I would put it a little earlier than that based on the number). The neck was made by Monte Hendricks, a luthier from Pollock Pines, California who makes Hendricks banjos.

Michael's opinion on the Hendricks neck

"Although I previously had necks made by Tom Morgan and by Randy Wood, the Hendricks neck is far superior.  In addition to Monte's outstanding craftsmanship, as evidenced in the near-perfect inlay work and binding, the neck is characterized by several innovations of Monte's. One is his design of the truss rod configuration, such that the nut on the rod is accessible from the butt end of the neck, where it joins the shell. Thus there is no weakening of the peghead by removal of wood to accommodate the nut (and no truss rod cover on the peghead). In addition, the widening of the neck below the fifth string tuner is via a pointy protrusion that results in a slightly wider fingerboard and gives the banjo a subtle art deco look. Altogether the neck's feel and playability are superior to those of any other banjo I have played."

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Other Information Provided by Michael Corcoran on the Gibson Style 6

"There were 5 neck styles made: tenors (TB-6); plectrums (PB-6); a neck intermediate between the tenor and plectrum, the plectrum-tenor (PT-6); guitar-banjos (GB-6); and the 5-string regular banjo (RB-6). A reputable collector, Earle White in California, has sighted one, but only one, original 5-string. He told me that he saw an old guy in Boston, over 10 years ago, who had an original RB-6. All other 5-string model 6s, as far as anybody knows, are 4-string for which 5-string necks were made in recent times."

"The model 6's are also characterized by 2 different patterns of binding, checkerboard and gold sparkle binding. The two binding patterns are generally associated with different tone rings. Until recently, checkerboards were all thought to have either raised head (arch top) tone rings, or were flatheads with the "low-profile" tone ring, a light weight flathead tone ring that is generally viewed as producing a less desirable sound than the standard "high profile" tone ring. (Tom Morgan has suggested that the low profile tone ring was an experimental transition from the arch-top, perhaps a step in the evolution of the high-profile ring). However, Curtis McPeake's instrument list of 12 September 1998 includes a late 1930 TB-6 with checkerboard binding but a high-profile tone ring, which he indicates is rare for this model"

"Flathead sparkle-bound model 6s have two-piece (tube and plate) flanges, and are more valuable than raised head model 6s or model 6s with low-profile flathead tone rings (which are typically associated with checkerboard binding). Some experts (e.g., Tom Morgan) feel that the two-piece flange is a more resilient design than the one-piece flange, as found on Earl's Granada. Some people even feel that the sparkle-bound model 6s with two-piece flanges and high-profile tone chambers are the best banjos Gibson ever made"
 
 
 

Len Kalakian with his Style 6 Checkerboard (9106-6) 
Len's banjo is a farily early version of the Style 6 (I put it about 1928) with a 40-hole archtop tonering.  The neck was made by another Len -- Len Poulsen in Salt Lake City.

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Please feel free to contact me via email (tbiggs@cfl.rr.com).