Vega banjos came out of Boston in the late 1800s, originally a collaboration between instrument makers who were better known for their work on brass and orchestral gear. But by the early 20th century, Vega was a serious name in the banjo world, helped along by players like Eddie Peabody and the explosion of ragtime and jazz. Their craftsmanship was top-shelf; even the lower-end models had a kind of refined utility to them, and the higher-end ones, like the Tubaphone line, were basically the Cadillac of banjos in their day: loud, crisp, better made then much of the competition, and on par with the Gibsons of the day.

This late 1920s Vega No. 3 Tubaphone checks all the right boxes if you're into vintage American banjos with actual musical value, not just wall-hanger potential. It's built around Vega’s signature Tubaphone tone ring: a metal ring with a hollow, perforated tube that sits atop the rim, designed to give the instrument more volume, clarity, and shimmer without getting harsh. The rim is a multi-ply maple construction, paired with a two-piece mahogany neck that’s carved quite beautifully at the heel, and capped off with a segmented maple resonator that’s fairly Art Deco in vibe.

This banjo’s been through a fair bit, with the neck shimmed for proper angle, a new rosewood bridge, and the original Grover tuners going through a fair bit of cleaning to get them to their fullest potential. One of them has also been replaced with another form the same time period.

The binding on the fretboard has fallen off, and we’ve elected not to replace it to preserve originality. Plays great now, even with low frets.

Comes with its original hard shell case, and like everything Vega made back then, it was built right in Boston.