My memory was spotty, but Kate’s record system filled in some of the gaps. Apparently it was 1977, and I’d negotiated my first real job for the following Fall. The anticipated bump in income meant that I could consider replacing the banjo I made for myself while still in high school (1965) by one made […]
Archive | April, 2015
I need an original AE Smith case
I just got back my birthday Arthur E. Smith Maple Leaf banjo. It is maple with fingerboard binding, diamonds in the fret board, a and a bacon-type tone system with no internal resonator. The dowel is stamped “Kathryn Spencer March 31, 1979.” Anyway, she came back to me without her original case. We had custom […]
A.E. Smith Northampton love affair
I had never heard of A.E. Smith banjos, having only gotten into playing in 2013. I bought a Goodtime and once I was good enough to play a few tunes I started looking for another open back (not that the Goodtime is not a good banjo, it is!). I came to a realization that for […]
AES 265
“The appointed thing comes at the appointed time in the appointed way.” –Myrtle Reed (1910) I’m relatively new to the banjo. I started about 18 months ago, but it’s only after retiring last October that I’ve had the chance to devote substantial time to it. When I started out, I made a number of trips […]