Reliance banjo

We restored this Reliance banjo in 2017. The fifth string runs through a tunnel. Its features include a natural-skin head, a cast-iron tone ring and an ebony fingerboard with mother-of-pearl inlays. The original tuning machines retain their chased floral covers. The exact build date is uncertain; our contemporary post suggested the 1920s or 1930s, possibly earlier.

Work

Restoration

Maker

Reliance / Houghton & Sons

Strings

5 · with a tunnel for the fifth string

Head / tone ring

Natural skin / cast iron

Fingerboard

Ebony with mother-of-pearl inlays

Restoration

2017